Migration update: Rain in Ndutu

This video shows the wildebeest migration during the rainy season. The video was taken in February 2009. During the rainy season, a Serengeti safari can be be a challenging (but rewarding) experience. Expect to get wet!

Migration Update: Rains across the Serengeti

There has been a lot of rain over the last week. This has caused the Ndutu plains to spring to life with new freeze grass. The wildebeest have returned in thousands back to their favourite grazing in the Serengeti, the Ndutu Plains. The rains have been welcome as 2009 started relatively dry.

There are wildebeest (with their new foals) and zebra as far as the eye can see around Ndutu. It is a spectacular time to the in the Serengeti, but moving around is a challenge as a lot of the roads are muddy. The best place to be based over the next couple of months is the permanent lodges in the central and southern Serengeti. They have better access roads to their camps and are generally more prepared for the rain. The mobile tented camps can be an adventure!

Migration news: Wildebeest start foaling

The first foals of the 2009 migration are being born on the Ndutu plains of the southern Serengeti. This is where the wildebeest always foal during the annual migration. It is here that the grass is the most nutritious throughout the entire Serengeti eco-system and where the young foals have the most chance of surviving. The wildebeest and zebra will remain in this area for another couple of months, giving the foals sufficient time to gain some strength before the long trek north to the Masai Mara. The predators are having a easy time picking off the young wildebeest from the herds.

There have been heavy rains and the area is muddy and wet. A number of roads have been closed. A safari at this time is rewarding, but challenging.

Migration News: Mara River rises following some rain

There has been rain over the Mara in the last week. This has quickly filled the Mara and Talek Rivers and temporarily halted the crossings. The herds are backed up at Paradise and Pump-House crossing points waiting for the rivers to subside a bit. The rain should bring some much needed sustenance to the grass plains that have been maintaining huge herds of wildebeest. The herds are spread across most of the Masai Mara and adjoining Maasai community land, conservancies and ranches.

This has been a spectacular season for the migration. The wildebeest numbers are probably the highest seen in a number of years and at least comparable to 2001. There has been sufficient rain and generally the migration has been running a few weeks ahead of the normal migratory pattern. The grass was burnt back around June in the Masai Mara and the Serengeti. This was following by a decent level of rain which resulted in excellent grazing conditions for the arriving migration. They will now stay north in the Masai Mara and northern Serengeti until the first signs of rain in the southern Serengeti. They are likely to start heading south only towards October, giving them a long stay in the Mara this year.