Best time to visit Serengeti migration and month - Serengeti migration month
Serengeti migration month
Where the grasses greener every year more
than 1.5million wildebeests, 600,000 zebras, gazelles, moving in
gigantic herd, describe a huge oblong as they migrate from south east
part of Serengeti national park, northern to Tanzania. This is annual
migration is probably the greatest wild life spectacle on earth today.
No one knows for sure what triggers the migration; its something the
animal know far better than we do. What’s certain is that the herds
know that the grass is greener on the other side, and they know when
and where.
Migration months
1.December to March
From early December ,the animals are on the
short grass plains in the southeast ,around Ndutu and Naabi gate ,where
calving will take place from late January to early February .About 80
per cent of the wildebeest females give birth at the same time ;within
a two -week span. this is ensure that most of the calves will survive
since the number of new born and weakened or disadvantaged mothers who
perish will be enough to keep predators satisfied with food, giving
the other calves in the herd enough time to gain strength and adapt to
the world .When the calves are just a few hours old, they can run as
fast as their parents and they start grazing before they are a week
old .This means that there is a sudden rise in the number of grazers,
which quickly depletes the local food resources, forcing the herds to
start looking for greener pasture in the north and west.
From January through April
The waterholes still retain plentifully
water from the shot rains of October/November into December. The plain
are green and dotted with flowers. The old bones of predators' victims
are obscured by hundred of thousands of migrating animals. The herds
remain dispersed as individuals or family units in the southeast plains,
moving back and forth within the long rains, which usually begin
in March, come to and end in late May or early June.
Camps Hotels and Lodges to stay
During this period, one can witness the
grazing animals in their hundreds of thousands through game
drives around
Lake Ndutu, and between
Ngorogoro crater and
Naabi hill .Staging posts include Ndutu Tented camp, Serengeti Sopa
Lodge, Seronera wildlife lodge, Serengeti Serena lodge, and the lodges
on Ngorongoro Crater.
2.May to June
GOOD TIME FOR BALLOON SAFARI IT IS MASSIVE WHEN YOU DO IT!!!!!
This is when the migration begins. As the dry
season approaches in mid-May ,both the pasture and water in the
southeastern Serengeti plain dry out .The animals respond to the new
condition by forming into huge multitudes and beginning north and west
,toward the northern border and toward Lake Victoria...
The route varies little from year to year.
First; the animals traverse the alkaline lake Ndutu, the pour out into
three major columns, along Simiyu River, then northwest along the
Mbalangeti River and Seronera valley. The animals move in long columns,
often single file and usually following a leader, usually a mature
bull. A file of these animals can be five to six kilometers long, an
unforgettable memory for the observer. A wide lens camera is helpfully
here. As the movement gain momentum annual rutting and mating takes
place.
The adult Males establish territories perhaps
only 30 meters across, by energetically scratching bare patches on the
ground, and then defend them against other males. They try to keep a
small group of females within their territories. The scene becomes
confused as the survival imperative leads them toward grass and water
while the productive imperative requires them to define individual
territories and protect their reproductive rights within those
territories. The one requires a mass movement, but the other tends
toward the establishment of smaller groups, generally of individual
males and their’ wives''.
General balloon flight
www.balloonsafaris.com start
and end at Soronera lodge at 6.00am to 3.30am for full time breakfast
champagne and then picked up to continue with game drive.
Camps, Hotels and Loges to stay
The lodges and tented camps around Seronera and south of there.
3. June to July
During this period more than half of the all
animals have moved into the western corridor of Serengeti that part
that stretches toward Lake Victoria -and the others are in north;
wherever the tall grass is available in the Serengeti is room and board
to this match of the Hoofed Grazers.
The herds there fore move through the vast scattered scrub toward
the northern woodlands. Although this area is greener and have water,
the woodlands are infested with tsetse fly which is harmfully to the
wildebeests (gnu) and zebras, so they must avoid these areas.
The wildebeests are famous for the great speed at which they run and
for their amusing antics along the way They push straight through,
generally ignoring any danger or barriers along the way .For example,
they plunge blindly down the steep banks and into the Gurumeti River,
where many down or are killed by the thousands of crocodiles for can
live all year on this feast alone.
In fact, the migration is a blessing for the mighty reptiles, fish,
and scavengers of the water courses, and the animals in their huge
gatherings because relatively easy prey for the large number of land
predators lion, leopards, cheetahs, hyenas, wild dog-and for the
scavengers such as jackals and vultures. Usually the predators follow
the herds from the end of the column's, where the tired, injured, and
old ones lag behind. Without the annual migration, the carnivores would
not survive the dry season.
Camps,Hotels and Loges to stay
The lodgers of Seronera,from which one follow
the migration on the drive to the north and northwest, from Lobo
Wildlife lodge in the north ,and on drives from Musoma or Mwanza on
Lake Victoria.
4. August to September
Camps,Hotels and Loges to stay
The lodgers of Seronera,from which one follow
the migration on the drive to the north and northwest, from Lobo
Wildlife lodge in the north ,and on drives from Musoma or Mwanza on
Lake Victoria.
5.November to December
When the November short rains start in north
Serengeti, the wildebeests begin their trek back to the south. The
herds leave the area by various routes in long columns, passing the
Lobo area before arriving once again on the shorter grass plains that
stretch from Seronera to the Ngorongoro highlands. The wildebeests
arrive here in December when the long rains are usually still on, and
most of the females give birth here in late January and early February
Book now your Serengeti Migration Safari with Kilimanjaro Brothers. Email at georgemtaki@gmail.com or brotherskilimanjaro@gmail.com
