#2 - The Serengeti calendar: when to make your date with Tanzania’s wildest adventure

 

The Serengeti is considered Africa’s best national park and where the Big Five thrive. Flightlink offers daily flights to the Seronera airstrip (and to Fort Ikoma) in the heart of the reserve, but when is the best time of year to go? Well, there’s good wildlife viewing all-year round, but if you’ve got your sights set on something special, here’s some dates for your diary.

 

January-March: Calving season on the Ndutu plains

 

Between January and March, the mega herd of wildebeest, zebra and antelope – with the animals forming huge columns of up to 40 kilometres (25 miles) in length – collects at the vast expanse of grassland of the Ndutu plains in the south of the Serengeti for the onset of calving season. Nature can be cruel, and the vulnerable newborns attract the attention of predators including lions, leopards, cheetahs and hyenas. The short grass in this area allows for unimpeded views of the millions-strong herds and is well known place to spot cheetah. With so many predators and prey coming together, this time of year offers good chances of seeing a hunt.

 

April-July: River crossings in the Western Corridor and game spotting in Seronera

 

The advent of the dry season means the mega herd starts to break up with some heading north and others west in search of water sources. The open savanna, woodlands, floodplains and riverine forest of the Western Corridor of the Serengeti are home to a great diversity of year-round wildlife, but this time of year sees the first of the en-masse crossings of the Grumeti River during the migration. Those that head north reach Seronera, an area in the middle of the Serengeti with reliable water sources that also attract a healthy population of resident big cats – lions, leopards, cheetah – as well as a diverse variety of gazelles and antelopes. Wildlife spotting galore!

​

August-September: River crossings in Kogatende, North Serengeti

 

At the tail-end of the dry season the migration continues northwards to the higher ground and greener pastures of the Tanzanian and Kenyan borders. Kogatende, in the north Serengeti on the banks of the Mara River, is a great place to see the most dramatic and spectacular part of this perennial odyssey. The herds plunge single file into the fast-flowing river, risking death by drowning or ending up the next meal of one of the thousands of crocodiles who lie in wait for this wildebeest buffet. Those that cross the river and make it up the steep bank onto dry land are then often exhausted prey for the ever-present lions and leopards. At this stage in the migration cycle, the herds are still split into different clusters, allowing multiple opportunities to view the crossings.

​

October-December: Seronera, Central Serengeti

 

The return of the rains entice the wildebeest to return southwards into the Serengeti where new green grass once again populates the plains. The grazing grounds of the Seronera area in central Serengeti with its several perennial water sources are a popular choice. As ever, a resident population of large predators keep vigil. Towards the end of December, the heard moves south once again, returning to the Ndutu plains as the never-ending loop of life continues in the Serengeti.

​

​

THIS ARTICLE FIRST APPEARED IN ZEBRA STRIPES ISSUE 1 >>>