The Great Migration: When and Where to See It

It is the largest overland wildlife movement on the planet: around two million wildebeest, zebra and gazelle moving in a vast, ragged clockwise loop between Tanzania’s Serengeti and Kenya’s Masai Mara, following the rains and the grass. People often picture it as a single dramatic event — a river full of wildebeest, a waiting crocodile — but the Great Migration is not a moment. It is a year-round cycle, and where you find it depends entirely on the month you travel. Here is how to read the calendar so you are in the right place at the right time.

The migration is a circle, not a stampede

There is no start and no finish. The herds follow fresh grazing in a continuous loop: south to the short-grass plains of the southern Serengeti and Ndutu for the rains and the calving, then north and west through the central Serengeti as the plains dry, up to the Mara River and the Masai Mara around mid-year, and finally back south again as the short rains return.

Because it is driven by rain, the timing shifts a little every year. The pattern below holds true most seasons, but the herds keep their own schedule — there is no exact date the wildebeest agree to cross a river. Build in flexibility, and treat any single sighting as a bonus rather than a guarantee.

Month by month: where the herds are

January to March — Calving on the southern plains. The herds gather on the short-grass plains of the southern Serengeti and the Ndutu area, on the edge of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. This is calving season: in a roughly three-week window around February, several hundred thousand calves are born. The concentration of vulnerable young draws lions, cheetah and hyena, making this one of the best times of the year for predator action — and a quieter, less expensive alternative to the famous river crossings.

April to June — The long march north. As the plains dry, the herds begin moving through the central Serengeti (the Seronera region) and on toward the west. April and May bring the long rains, so it is greener, wetter and lower season — fewer vehicles, lower prices, and dramatic skies. By June the famous rutting season is under way and the columns are pushing toward the Grumeti River in the west.

July to September — The Mara River crossings. This is the headline act. From around July the leading herds reach the northern Serengeti and the Mara River, and through August and into September they mass on the banks and make the perilous crossings — into waiting crocodiles and strong currents — between the northern Serengeti and Kenya’s Masai Mara. Mid-July to late August is widely considered the prime window for witnessing a crossing, though they can happen into September. This is also the busiest and most expensive time, and the herds move back and forth across the river unpredictably.

October — The turn south. A transitional month. The short rains begin to pull the herds out of the Mara and back down through the eastern and northern Serengeti toward the south. Crowds thin, and it can be a rewarding, quieter time in the north.

November to December — Back to the beginning. Following the short rains, the herds stream south again, often crossing the Mara River a second time heading the other way, and spread back out onto the southern plains by December — ready for the cycle to begin again with the next calving.

Serengeti or Masai Mara?

The single most common question, and the answer is: it depends on when you go.

For the river crossings (July–September), the Mara River straddles the border, so you can watch from either the northern Serengeti in Tanzania or the Masai Mara in Kenya. The Mara tends to offer more reliable crossing access over a shorter season; the northern Serengeti is larger, quieter and often better value, but requires getting to a remote corner of Tanzania.

For the calving and predator action (January–March), there is no contest — you want the southern Serengeti and Ndutu in Tanzania.

For most of the rest of the year, the herds are inside Tanzania, so the Serengeti is your park. The Masai Mara’s migration season is essentially the second half of the year.

How to plan around it

Book early — really early. The July-to-September camps closest to the Mara River crossing points sell out 12 to 18 months ahead. If your heart is set on a crossing, plan the better part of a year in advance.

Match your camp to the month. A fixed lodge in central Serengeti is wonderful in calving season but useless for a September crossing. Mobile “migration camps” that move with the herds are the specialist’s answer — they relocate seasonally to stay close to the action.

Manage your expectations on the crossing. A river crossing is the most sought-after sight in African safari, and precisely because it is wild, it cannot be scheduled. Herds can mass on a bank for hours and then turn away. Give yourself several days in the right area to improve your odds, and enjoy the rest of the spectacle — the sheer scale of the herds — regardless.

Consider the shoulders. Calving season (February) and the green low season (April–May) deliver extraordinary wildlife for a fraction of the peak price and crowds. If the crossings are not your only goal, these are some of the best-value safari weeks in Africa.

Beyond the wildebeest

It is easy to forget that the migration is more than wildebeest. Hundreds of thousands of zebra travel with them — and unlike the wildebeest, the zebra graze the longer, tougher top grasses, effectively preparing the buffet for the wildebeest behind. Thomson’s gazelle and eland move with the herds too, and the whole moving mass is shadowed every step by lion, cheetah, hyena, wild dog and, at the rivers, some of the largest crocodiles in Africa. The migration is really a moving ecosystem.

And the wildebeest are not the only great movement on the continent. Keep an eye out for our upcoming feature on the Kasanka bat migration and Africa’s other great migrations — including a Zambian spectacle that rivals the wildebeest for sheer numbers.