Overview : This world famous annual event is a spectacle of unbelievable proportions and an experience of a lifetime to witness. This mass movement takes place in the Serengeti National Park and ecosystem that supports the greatest remaining concentration of plains game in Africa, including more than 2 million mammals.

Wildlife : Numbering 1 500 000, the wildebeest are the dominant herbivores in this ecosystem, and along with 200 000 zebra, 18 000 eland and 500,000 Thompson’s Gazelle, they move in search of better grazing and water. Only through migration can the herds use the widespread resources of the ecosystem and build up such huge numbers.

The open plains provide the predators and scavengers which follow these massive herds, with relatively easy pickings. It is not unusual to be in the right place at the right time to see a “kill” from start to finish. It is important to realize that many other species also exist permanently in these areas, and although fewer in number, can be seen in amongst those on the move.

The Cycle of the Migration : The sequence of events commences as far south as the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and the south-eastern parts of the Serengeti on the fertile Ndutu and Salei plains with the annual calving between January and March. As the grazing deteriorates and the surface water lessens at the end of the rainy season in May and June, the migration of the adults and newborn starts in a northwest direction towards the Serengeti western corridor almost as far as Lake Victoria. They start moving further north into the Lamai Wedge and Mara triangle, and it is here that the annual breeding season will take place over a period of 3 to 6 weeks. The plains are filled with rutting and fighting as the territorial wildebeest bulls keep bachelors away and mount as many females as possible, usually managing to impregnate 90%. The breeding coincides with the start of the dry season at the end of June and the herds continue northward in search of the permanent water and greener grass of the Masai Mara in Kenya.

The herds cross the crocodile infested Grumeti and Mara Rivers on their way north (this crossing is even more treacherous on the way south when the first rains have filled the river to a fast flowing torrent). They start arriving in the Masai Mara in July - August, and by the end August the northward part of the cycle is usually over. Come late October/ early November, when the grazing is finished in the north, and the rains resume in the south, the animals turn back moving relentlessly to where they came from. These animals are in a journey that has no end. The females will give birth once back on the Ndutu and Salei plains replacing those that did not make it, thus ensuring the survival of the species, and restarting this perpetual cycle of passage. The ecosystem survives since the delicate balance of the food chain is maintained.

When to go : At the end of the rains in May and June when the wildebeest and other migratory mammals begin to head north west to the Serengeti and Grumeti River. And from mid-November until the annual calving in the south-eastern parts of the Serengeti between January and March. So effectively you would see the migration in different stages between December and June.

A Success Story : Unfortunately, for the sake of mans’ progress in the rest of the world, many natural migration routes of animals have been interfered with and in sometimes completely blocked by man made obstacles. Thus, it is a notable achievement that the Tanzanian government has protected this expanse of wilderness allowing the animals freedom of movement.

How to get there : By road: one can enter from the east through the entrance to Lake Manyara National Park and through the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. The heart of the Serengeti lies 335 kilometres from Arusha. From the west one can approach from Mwanza and Musoma taking the road east and entering through the Ndaraka Gate.

By air: there are numerous charter and scheduled flights from Arusha, Lake Manyara and Mwanza.