Timed itineraries that put you where the wildebeest are. Calving on the southern plains early in the year, river crossings in the north from July.
A migration safari follows the herds through the year instead of visiting a fixed place. Where you sleep changes with the month. In the far north, from late July to October, the camps range from luxury tented camps a few minutes from the main crossing points to simpler mobile camps in the Kogatende area. Ask how far a camp is from the river. An hour's drive each way matters here. Tsetse flies can be a real nuisance in the wooded parts of the north, so pack long sleeves and avoid dark blue clothing.
From January to March the herds are on the southern plains around Ndutu, and a mobile camp on the plains is the best base. There are few permanent lodges in this area. The camps that do exist range from simple and good value to luxury, and we will tell you honestly which suits your budget.
In April and May the wildebeest deplete the grass and water on the plains and start to move. The herds drift north and west through the central Serengeti. In a typical year the migration can be spread over huge distances, and the first zebra herds reach the northern Serengeti by early July, with the big wildebeest herds following later in the month.
In June the herds are in the western corridor around the Grumeti River. The private reserve on the northern side of the corridor allows walking, off-road driving and night drives, which the national park does not. Camps along the Grumeti inside the park are well placed for the crossings there.
From late July to mid October the wildebeest are in the northern Serengeti and the Masai Mara. The dry season is well under way and the herds gather near water, especially the Mara River with its crocodiles. In mid to late October thunder clouds herald the short rains and call the migration south. Wherever rain falls the change is dramatic, with thousands of animals arriving almost overnight.
Places Lake Manyara, Serengeti, Ngorongoro
Eight days built around the herds: Lake Manyara, Ndutu in the calving season, two days in the Serengeti…
Places Lake Manyara, Serengeti, Ngorongoro
Nine days across the northern circuit at an unhurried pace: Lake Manyara, the Serengeti, two nights at…
No operator can guarantee a river crossing. The herds gather on a bank, mill about, approach the water and turn back. Sometimes for twenty minutes, sometimes for six hours, sometimes all day without crossing at all. Then something triggers one animal and several thousand follow in a few minutes of genuine chaos. You may sit at a crossing point for a full day and see nothing.
That is the normal outcome on any single day. It is why a serious crossing trip budgets three or four nights in the north instead of one, and why anyone offering you a guaranteed crossing is either misinformed or selling.
The same applies to the calving. February is the peak in most years, but "most years" is the strongest claim available.
You can plan to be in the right region with enough days to be patient. That turns a lottery into good odds, and good odds is the honest product.
A guide who tells you the herds have moved and your best chance is elsewhere is doing the job properly, even when it isn't what you want to hear.
Dry Shoulder Green Long rains
The southern short-grass plains, around Ndutu and the Salei plains. The herds have arrived and are settling in. In most years calving begins toward the end of the month.
The peak of calving on the southern plains. Around four hundred thousand calves in two to three weeks, and all the predator activity that follows. This is the most reliable month of the whole cycle, because the animals stay put.
Still on the southern plains early in the month. Then they begin to string out north and west as the grass runs out and the rains build.
Crossing the central Serengeti in scattered columns. It is spread out, not spectacular, and the long rains make following the herds hard.
Moving west toward the Western Corridor and the Grumeti, with a lot of animals heading north through Seronera instead. The herds split, and they do not all take the same route.
The Western Corridor and the Grumeti River. Crossings here are smaller and far less predictable than the Mara crossings later in the year, and in some years there is no real spectacle at all.
Spreading north. The first zebra herds usually reach the northern Serengeti early in the month, with the wildebeest behind them. In a wet year there may be nothing north of the Grumeti until August.
The far north and the Mara River. One of the two busiest crossing months. The herds cross back and forth many times instead of once, so seeing a crossing is a matter of patience, not of picking a date.
The far north again. Many guides prefer this month for crossings: similar odds at the river, with slightly fewer vehicles watching.
Still in the north for most of the month. Late in October the thunder clouds build, the short rains begin, and the herds head south, sometimes very quickly.
Moving south and east through the central and eastern Serengeti as the rains spread. A good month for movement without the crowds.
Long lines heading back to the southern plains, arriving from late in the month into early January. The circle closes.
The Serengeti is around 14,750 square kilometres and the regions the herds use are a full day's drive apart. That geography is the single biggest practical constraint on a migration trip.
Kogatende in the far north is roughly eight hours by road from Seronera in the centre. A driving itinerary that includes the north spends two whole days in transit, which on a seven-day trip is nearly a third of the holiday. Flying isn't a luxury here. The hop from Seronera takes under an hour and often costs less than the extra vehicle days it replaces.
Ndutu in the south is much easier: two to three hours down from the crater rim, so it combines naturally with a crater day by road.
The other decision that matters in the crossing season is which side of the Mara River your camp sits on. Being on the northern side means you aren't dependent on a bridge to reach a crossing point. Ask this specifically before you book. It's the detail that matters most in the north and it's rarely volunteered.
Camps in both the north and at Ndutu are seasonal and mobile, and the good ones book out twelve months ahead for August, September and February.
Longer than a general safari, because you're chasing a moving target, not visiting a fixed place.
For the crossings, three or four nights in the far north is the working minimum. The herds may wait on a bank all day and cross at four in the afternoon, or not at all, and a single day at a crossing point commonly produces nothing.
For the calving, three nights at Ndutu. The animals aren't going anywhere in February, so the odds are better, but three nights lets you follow what you found instead of restarting each day.
Either way, add the days you need for the rest of the circuit on top. A migration trip that's only the migration means a long flight for a narrow experience. Keep the crater and Tarangire in it.
Eight to ten days is the realistic range for a proper migration trip with the rest of the circuit included. Seven can work if you fly the long legs instead of driving them.
Book early. The mobile camps in the north for August and September, and at Ndutu for February, fill twelve months ahead.
The migration isn't an event with a date. It is roughly a million and a half wildebeest and several hundred thousand zebra moving continuously around an ecosystem in response to rainfall, and they're always somewhere. The question is never whether you'll see the migration. In the right region you'll see enormous numbers of animals. The question is whether you'll see the specific spectacle you have in mind.
River crossings are the spectacle most people mean, and they're the least predictable part of the whole cycle. Calving is more reliable because the animals are stationary and the timing is tighter.
Every month in every published migration calendar, including the one on this page, is a tendency drawn from long-run averages. Rainfall shifts it by weeks in either direction, and it has shifted by more.
The practical advice is this. Travel in the right window, base yourself in the right region for your dates, give it three or four nights instead of one, and take advice from a guide on the ground over a calendar written a year ago.
Anyone guaranteeing a crossing is selling.
Tell us your dates and we will put something together.
