HIGHLIGHTS  print this page 

THE GREAT MIGRATION, A TOTAL SENSORY EXPERIENCE

Thundering hooves, a deep primal rumbling, accompanied by low grunts... a continuous charging mass that stretches from one horizon to the next...
Highlights/hltsmigrat_2.jpg [© 2004 gondwanastudio.com] Highlights/hltsmigrat_1.jpg [© 2004 gondwanastudio.com] 
These are the sights and sounds one can experience when witnessing a natural cycle that replenishes and renews the grasslands of East Africa. This impressive feature is the annual migration of wildebeest, zebra and gazelle from the plains of the Serengeti that cross the Tanzanian border and rivers to reach the Mara's lush grassland from late June. In fact, over 1.2 million individual wildebeest are expected to migrate this year - a journey that will continue until the end of 2007. They will move in a circular route in a clockwise direction, motivated by the rain or the lack of it, because when a seasonal drought dries up the area's water and grass supplies, the grazing animals move onto the next area along the Serengeti migration route where seasonal rains are falling. The Masai Mara National Reserve, the most famous and most visited reserve in Kenya, and which offers a breathtaking and extraordinary density of animals, is the ideal location to visit during this time. There you will have the option to experience the migration on an early morning game drive in a customized vehicle, or a walking safari with Maasai Warrior guides, or a horseback safari in areas surrounding the Mara, or even from a hot air balloon, which will give you a bird's eye view over the massive herds. The Migration draws over a million wildebeest each June to the Serengeti to calve. As there is an abundance of predators, such as lions, hyenas and crocodiles that are drawn to this spectacle, only one out of three of these calves usually makes it out of the migration alive, i.e. a perfect opportunity to witness predators attacking their prey. Yet, predators are not the only obstacles that these animals will have to face. As with every year, the herds will gather at the banks in preparation for the most dangerous stretch of their journey: the Mara River, which has, due to Kenya's recent heavy rainfall in the highland Mau escarpment, turned into a large, powerful flood. As sheer pressure will build, these herds will finally be forced to surge in the river, where in their struggle to cross, many of them will be drowned, swept away by strong currents or eaten by crocodiles. There are even wildebeest that hurl themselves off the Mara's high banks as the pressure builds to cross. A spectacular event of life and death is presented to you every year by one of the greatest performances by nature, one that has earned an encore on every occasion. Now The Great Migration is awaiting your applause. Be there.

Ask the experts for the best personalized advice...