Migration News: Mara River crossings continue

The annual migration is in full swing with huge numbers of wildebeest and zebra in the Masai Mara and northern Serengeti. There are large herds around the Mara Triangle, Meta Plains and along the north eastern border of the Masai Mara National Game Reserve. There are large herds in the private ranches and conservancies that border the National Reserve, notably Olare Orok Conservancy.

Wildebeest have been crossing the Mara River and Talek River on a daily basis. The Mara River has consumed a large number of wildebeest, most getting killed in the stampedes while cross the river.

The highlight of the migration season also means that it draws large numbers of safari enthusiasts chasing the best location to see the river crossings. Some of the cross points can be over-run. The best way to enjoy the Masai Mara at the moment is to divide your time between the camps close to the Mara or Talek River (e.g. Mara Intrepid Camp, Mara Explorer Camp) and the camps in the private conservancies (e.g. Porini Lion Camp). This gives you a chance to be close to the river crossing, but also allows you time to get away from the other safari tourists.

Migration Update: Mara River crossing

The northern Serengeti and Masai Mara have been exceptionally dry this season. The rivers are flowing, but are very shallow making the crossings much easier for the wildebeest and zebra. They can be seen strolling across the Mara River at leisure rather than facing the normal swim. This has made the job a lot harder for the crocodiles - with very little place to hide in the shallow waters.

The herds are spread across the Masai Mara and northern Serengeti. They are having to move more to find suitable grazing in these low rainfall conditions. Last week large herds moved into the northern Serengeti following some rain in that area. The recent back-burning by the rangers in the Serengeti meant there was some new shoots for the herds. The majority of the migration is still in the Masai Mara, but spread widely across the region.

Some of our recommended camps for this time of year are:
Camps in private concessions -
Porini Lion Camp
Kicheche Camp
Offbeat Mara Camp

Camps in the Masai Mara Reserve -
Governor's Camp
Mara Intrepid's Camp

Migration Update: Mara Triangle

The migration is still moving widely across the Masai Mara and northern Serengeti. The core herds are located around the Mara Triangle. Paradise Plain is overflowing with wildebeest, zebra and Thomson gazelle. Safari guests have been enjoying exceptional gameviewing with lots of predators picking off the abundant plains game.

Recent video of a lion killing a wildebeest

This is a good video of a lion killing in the Masai Mara during the migration which is still in full swing. These safari guest were lucky not to have too many other vehicles around at the time. The driver is very irresponsible getting so close to the kill and potentially disturbing the lions, but it does illustrate how the migration works and the type of action tourists have been experiencing the the Masai Mara.

News from the Masai Mara

The wildebeest and zebra are spread across most of the Reserve, with more arriving from the Serengeti in the south. The highest concentration of herds are on the central and north plains. The core herds have been moving north from the Mara triangle onto Paradise Plain. Huge numbers have been crossing the Mara River in an almost constant procession, at Paradise and Pump-House crossing points.

There were light rains a few days ago. This has caused the herds to spread out across the reserve and move north from the Serengeti. The herds have also moved into some of the ranches that border the northern part of Masai Mara, notably Olare Orok Conservancy.

The Masai Mara is the best place to be based to see the migration. At the moment, almost any camp is ideally located for the migration. There are still some herds in the Serengeti, Tanzania, but not in great numbers.

Migration News: Mara River crossing continues

The wildebeest and zebra continue to cross the Mara River and spread out across the Masai Mara. Grazing is good on both sides of the border, in Kenya and Tanzania. The wildlife numbers are impressive with herds as far as the eye can see. All camps have reported excellent sightings of the migration herds and some spectacular predator action.

This time of year is also great for predators, with lots of sightings of cheetah, leopard and lion. There are a number of resident families of cheetah in the reserve and adjoining ranches.

Current location of the wildebeest migration

The map shows the migration across the Serengeti and Masai Mara, concentrated in the Mara Triangle. The wildebeest continue to cross the Mara River in search of grazing and water. I have indicated the Mara River on the map.


Here is an update from Governor’s Camp:
“The Wildebeest Migration has arrived in the Masai Mara.
This photo was taken on the 26th of July 2008 and since then we have been seeing almost daily river crossings.
The Governors’ Collection of Camps are located in the heart of the best game viewing area of the Masai Mara, only 30 minutes away from the regular river crossing sites.
There is still the opportunity to book a safari to see this year’s wildebeest migration.” Source: Governor’s Camp


The last comment from Governors is generally true about most camps in Kenya this year. In other words, the over-stated media coverage of the political unrest from the recent elections is still being felt in the tourism industry and the number of visitors in the Masai Mara is down this year. Given the fact that 2008 is turning out to be a superb year for the migration and there are fewer safari guests in the reserves, this is an excellent year to visit the region. Contact us to assist you in planning your visit.

Mara River crossing continues unabated

The Mara River is still the place to be for the migration, whether on the Kenya or Tanzania side. The wildebeest and zebra are still crossing the river in huge numbers and facing the threat of the waiting crocodiles. Safari guests have been privileged to see excellent action by predators, whether crocodile, lion or hyena.
The main herds are now in the Mara Triangle and will cross back and forth over the Mara and Talek Rivers during August and probably most of September. There is good grazing in both Serengeti and Masai Mara, especially where rangers burnt back the long grass in June. New grass shoots, after the moderate rain over the course of July, are sustaining the herds. The Mara River is lower than usual, but still the best source of water in the eco-system at the moment. This will keep the herds in the north until the rains start in the southern Serengeti. The herds of wildebeest, zebra and gazelle are spread across a large area of the northern Serengeti and Masai Mara, especially towards the west and north around Burrungat plains.

Mara River crossing video

This video of the Mara River Crossing was produced by CNN. It shows wildebeest and zebra crossing the Mara River into the Mara Triangle. It also has some great aerial shots of the migrating herds and panoramic views over the savannah plains of the Mara.

Migration News: Hot Air Balloon over the Masai Mara

There are huge populations of wildebeest abd zebra in the Mara Triangle. The Loita herds from the north have merged with the Serengeti herds.

Hot air ballooning over the Masai Mara offers spectacular views over the savannah with hundreds of thousands of wildebeest and zebra.

Migration update: Highlight of the year in underway

The Masai Mara migration is in full swing. Herds have been crossing the Mara River into the Mara Triangle and also heading north towards Burrungat plains. There is now game spread across most of the western and northern Masai Mara Reserve and across the adjoining conservancies and ranches. The limited amount of rain in the last 2 weeks has allowed new grass shoots to germinate providing good nutrition to the herds.

There are still huge populations of wildebeest in the northern Serengeti especially around the Sand River.

Some experienced game rangers have commented that the migration populations are extremely good this year and may be some of the highest in a number of years, but this is hard to verify. There certainly are very good concentrations of game across the Maasai Mara and Serengeti.

The best place to be based for a safari is along the Mara or Talek Rivers. The ranches and concession areas around the Reserve are also excellent options to allow visitors to do a game drive in the reserve and then escape to the privacy and exclusivity of the private concession in the evening.

Masai Mara Safari

The “early arrival” herds of ungulates continue to stream into the Masai Mara Reserve from the Serengeti. The best place to be based for a safari is along the Talek or Mara Rivers or anywhere close to the Mara Triangle in the Masai Mara Reserve. We recommend that you split your time between one of these camps and a camp in one of the private concession areas or private ranches. This allows you to see the wildebeest crossing the crocodile filled Mara or Talek Rivers for a couple of days and then get away from the abundant other visitors that inevitably accompany the migration. This is still limited availability in the Mara, but we are also already getting solid enquiries about the migration in 2009!

Masai Mara migration of 2008 has begun

One of the highlights of the annual migration, the arrival of the wildebeest into the Masai Mara, has commenced. The first arrivals from the Serengeti have started crossing the crocodile infested waters of the Mara River. This is what most people consider to be the quintessential “annual wildebeest migration” and this year looks likely to be a spectacular event. Only the first few thousand, of an estimated 2 million plains game, have arrived in the Masai Mara, but their arrival is a great source of excitement amongst safari enthusiasts.

There is plenty of water and the Mara and Talek Rivers are flowing strongly. There has been some rain in the last few days. New fresh shoots of grass are appearing where rangers burnt the long grass over the last few weeks. In other parts of the reserve the grass is still long making game viewing a bit more challenging. This will soon change as the wildebeest, zebra and gazelle churn up the soil with their hooves.

Camps in the Mara and adjacent ranches are reporting strong interest in this year’s migration, but most camps still have limited availability. This is unusual for the high season as most camps are normally fully booked 6 months to a year in advance. The current lower tourist numbers is probably due to the bad publicity associated with recent elections in Kenya, the increase in the price of international flights and the downturn in the world economy. This is good news for those visitors that do get see the crossing this year as there may be less people around. But, it is still early enough in the season for this to change.

Even though the big news is that the migration has started entering the Masai Mara, it is important to note that the entire migration is spread over a large area covering the Serengeti and Masai Mara. The tail end of the migrating herds is around Ikorongo in the western corridor of the Serengeti, large populations can be found in the northern Serengeti, while some herds are heading in easterly direction towards Lobo. For the next couple of months the wildlife will move back and forth across the northern Serengeti and Masai Mara, constantly criss-crossing the rivers and Kenya-Tanzania border.

Migration Update: Masai Mara

The main herds of wildebeest are still in the Grumeti area and moving north, but there is already talk about when the wildebeest may be in the Masai Mara. There have been reports of the first wildebeest on the border of the Serengeti and the Mara Triangle, but these are likely to be small break away groups that came directly from Ndutu through Seronera, bypassing the western corridor. It could also be resident herds that were left behind during last year’s migration. It should be remembered that the migration is not one single mass of 2 million plain’s game moving in unison. Instead, there is an overall movement of wildebeest, zebra and Thomson’s gazelles (and their ensuing predators), but this is made up of smaller pockets of game that may break away, regroup and turn back on themselves numerous times.

Another indication of the arrival of the main herds into the Mara is arrival of the zebra. The zebra herds generally precede the wildebeest herds and these herds have been seen in large numbers crossing the Mara River. Human pressures may also be partially accountable for this as the zebra herds have been grazing in Maasai pastoral land and have been competing for grazing with cattle.

No-one can be completely sure about how all these factors affect the migration paths and rate of movement, but most of the experts and guides seem to believe the migration could arrive early in July. The long grass has also been recently burnt clearing the way for fresh sweet shoots that will be a draw card for the plains game.

Masai Mara Update: Mara River crossing

The big news to report during May is the unexpected arrival of the zebras in huge numbers. Thousands of them are in our area of the Mara covering the Musiara Marsh, Paradise and Topi Plains. These zebra are the residents of an area east of the Masai Mara Game Reserve and they normally migrate into the Reserve every year but this year the migration has happened earlier than we would expect. This may be due to competition for grazing with Masai Cattle in the concession areas bordering the Game Reserve. The zebra have been filing down towards the Mara River in large herds and towards the end of the month we were seeing them crossing the Mara River on an almost daily basis. The resident crocodiles seem delighted as their annual feeding frenzy arrived a few months early and we have seen very large crocodiles manoeuvring into strategic crossing points along the river. On the 23rd five hundred zebras crossed the Mara River; on the 28th a further two hundred crossed with the crocodiles snatching a couple of zebra on each occasion, and on the 30th a very large herd crossed the Mara River and six were taken by crocodiles. On another occasion twelve Thomson gazelles bravely took the plunge and crossed the river ahead of the zebra herd. Sadly all twelve Thomson gazelles were taken by crocodiles and the following herd of zebra all managed to cross without incident! The following day many zebra were seen crossing again and our driver-guides remarked that these are the best sightings of zebra crossings we have had in many years.

Source: Governor's Camp, Mara River, Masai Mara 16 June 2008



Zebras filing up to cross the Mara River

Masai Mara Update: Zebra entering the Mara Triangle

The Masai Mara has seen a lot of rain in May. There is good grazing with long grass. Movement of the migration into the Masai Mara is notoriously hard to predict and 2008 is no exception. However, the first indications are that migrating wildebeest may arrive earlier than usual. It has been reported that a large herd of resident zebra has migrated from the Loita Plains into the Masai Mara Reserve. Their entry into the park is usually a precursor to the arrival of the wildebeest from the Serengeti. These herds of zebra were seen moving across Olorukoti and Paradise Plains, crossing the Mara River at the main crossing point onto the Mara triangle.