Where the herds usually are
The Great Migration is the year-round movement of wildebeest, zebra and gazelle through the Serengeti–Mara ecosystem, following rain and fresh grazing. The pattern below is typical, but rainfall shifts it by weeks from year to year.
- December to March: the southern Serengeti and Ndutu. Calving usually peaks in February — a strong time for predators.
- April and May: moving north and west through the central Serengeti during the long rains.
- June: the western corridor, with Grumeti River crossings.
- July to October: the northern Serengeti and Kenya's Maasai Mara, with Mara River crossings most likely in August and September.
- November: heading south again through the eastern Serengeti with the short rains.
River crossings are an opportunity, not an appointment
Herds may wait on a riverbank for a day without crossing, or cross several times in an afternoon while visitors are elsewhere. Nobody can promise a crossing, and a quotation that does should be treated with caution. What you can control is time: two or three full days near the river give you far better odds than one.
Location matters as much as dates. Ask how far each proposed camp is from the main crossing points — a camp two hours away costs you four hours of game viewing every day.
If the migration is not in season
The Mara and Serengeti hold resident lion, cheetah, leopard, elephant and buffalo all year. Travelling outside the peak months means fewer vehicles at sightings and, in the Mara, lower park fees from January to June.
