Wildebeest Migration in Tanzania

The Wildebeest Migration is the biggest movement of land mammals on the planet! Witnessing tens of thousands of wildebeest congregating in one place is truly breath-taking, and one of nature’s greatest spectacles. The reason all these animals are on the move is because they are on a constant search for new pastures. You know, the grass is always greener! As they finish the good grazing in Tanzania, they head onwards towards Kenya where they instinctively know that the rains in April and May will have produced green grasses. See below for the annual location of the wildebeest migration.

If you are visiting either the Serengeti in Tanzania or the Masai Mara in Kenya , it’s important to know where the migration is, to help you choose which safari camps and lodges are best placed to have you in the thick of the action.

December - February

This is the start of the migration. December and the following months see the wildebeest give birth to their young on the lush grassland of the Serengeti plains and 'Ndutu' region.

Recommended Tanzania lodges: Ndutu Lodge, Kusini Camp, Olakira South, Sayari South and all the Ngorongoro Crater lodges.

March - May

With the pasture thinning on the plains and the young sufficiently strong, the herds begin to move towards the central 'Seronera' area and the North West where, nourished by the waters of the Grumeti River, the grazing is good.

Recommended Tanzania lodges: Ndutu Lodge, Kusini Camp, and the Central Serengeti lodges: Olakira South, Sayari South, Serena Lodge and Serengeti Safari Camp.

June - July

Having quickly finished the grazing in the Seronera area, the herds continue into the 'western corridor' - the area around the Grumeti River. Here they take a sharp turn northwards and head into the Lobo area in the northern Serengeti. This is the last place to see the migration in Tanzania, before the wildebeest cross the border northwards into Kenya.

Recommended Tanzania lodges: Singita Serengeti, Grumeti River Camp, Olakira Camp, Migration Camp, Klein's Camp, Mbuzi Mawe Camp, Ikoma Bush Camp, Lemala Camp, Sayari Mara, Kensington Camp and mobile camps in the northern Serengeti.

August - October

The wildebeest spend the next three months feeding on the plentiful grasses of the Masai Mara in Kenya - a result of the long rains in April and May. The Serengeti is very dry at this time, and many of the resident animals (not in the wildebeest migration) make their way to Tarangire National Park where the permanent waters provide good year round grazing.

Recommended Tanzania lodges: Migration Camp, Klein's Camp, Mbuzi Mawe Camp, Lemala Camp, Sayari Mara, Kensington Camp and mobile camps in the northern Serengeti, and all lodges in Tarangire.

Recommended Kenya lodges: Little Governors’ Camp, Kicheche Camp, Mara Bush Camp, Il Moran Camp, Cottars 1920's Camp, Kichwa Tembo, Bateleur Camp, Mara Serena, and all lodges in the Masai Mara.

November

Having spent the summer months in the Masai Mara, the herds return south - back into Tanzania, arriving at the Serengeti plains by December - where the cycle starts again.

Recommended Tanzania lodges: Ndutu Lodge, and all the Ngorongoro Crater lodges.