Our Tanzania great migration safari is created to give you a front-row seat to one of the best wildlife shows on earth! Nothing is overlooked with this itinerary, so you can be sure that you’ll experience the very best of Tanzania.
From the coveted sightings of Africa’s majestic big cats, and a glimpse of a rare black rhino in the spectacular Ngorongoro Crater, dramatic wildebeest migration in the Serengeti, to the sheer numbers of elephants and dwarf baobab trees in Tarangire, this bucket list itinerary will take you to the wilds of Tanzania for spectacular wildlife viewing.
For an even more soulful encounter, consider joining in an authentic cultural experience with members of the legendary Maasai tribe in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area.
Seeing the great migration in Tanzania
Witnessing the great migration is a once-in-a-lifetime experience that should top the bucket list of every safari enthusiast. During the annual Great Wildebeest Migration, when an estimated two million wildebeests cross the vast plains of the Serengeti into the Masai Mara of Kenya. To give yourself the best chance of appreciating the unparalleled scale, power and momentum of this natural wonder, it’s important to do everything you can to be in the right place at the right time. Thanks to our local knowledge of wildlife behaviours and movement in Tanzania’s parks and sanctuaries, we can save you many hours of dead-end online research, frustration and crushing disappointment.
So, what is the Great Wildebeest Migration?
It’s an endless loop of hooves and horns, hope and heartbreak, encompassing Africa’s Serengeti and Masai Mara – countless creatures in search of the rains and new grass. Over a million and a half trudging, leaping wildebeest are involved each year, alongside roughly 400,000 Thomson’s gazelle, 300,000 zebra and 12,000 elands.
When is the best time to see the great migration in Tanzania?
Based on our personal experience of many years of guiding in Africa and historical data, we know that from mid-June and July the migratory herds usually split into groups. One big herd heads to the Western Corridor and spreads across Grumeti Reserve and Ikorongo. Many of them will then cross the crocodile-infested Grumeti River, which is a very impressive sight to behold. However, if most of these gnus cross to the other side of the river by early July, they can easily finish the green grassland there within two to three weeks, at which point they will be forced to head further north for more food and water.
The other large herd will go straight to the far north and attempt to make small crossings to Masai Mara. The mega-herd takes a bit longer and generally reaches northern Serengeti in August. During this time, you will be able to see crossings at least twice a day, in large numbers and at longer intervals.
It’s indeed hard to predict the exact timing of the crossing into the Mara. As we know, nature doesn’t always stick to a plan and these migratory herds depend heavily on unpredictable rain patterns. Over the years I have seen many clients have their hopes dashed after arriving in Tanzania and asking to be taken to specific locations in the Serengeti at a certain time of the year, only to find that the wildebeest decided to follow a whole different plan.
The truth about the great migration in Tanzania and Kenya is that the animals are continuously moving, plodding along more or less the same annual route through Serengeti and Masai Mara. Witnessing the migration is all a matter of being in the right place at the right time, and choosing between permanent camps and semi-mobile operations, which can follow the herds.
Why should you plan your safari to witness the great migration in Tanzania with our experts?
We are a team of locals from Africa who know our home like the back of our hands, and we are delighted to share it with you. We know the quality of accommodation options and will only recommend the places that we have personally stayed in and thoroughly inspected. By having us plan your trip for you, we can provide you with more realistic expectations than trying to figure everything out on your own, based on suggestions from booking engines, or worse, from big off-the-shelf packaged companies that have never been to Africa.
Unlike most travel companies, we only offer fully customized, private-guided African safaris that allow you to have full control over your experience and all the flexibility you need to plan your daily game drives with your private driver, exclusive safari vehicle, and an English-speaking safari guide. Ultimately, you choose exactly what you’d like to do, when you would like to start your private safari trip, and where you’d like to go.
Will you plan my great migration safari in Tanzania?
Absolutely! We would be delighted to help you plan your tailor-made safari experience in Tanzania based on your travel interests, budget and expectations. A detailed interactive digital itinerary for this private-guided safari is available upon request. Please call now at 1.315.805.4040 or email us for more information.
While the sample itineraries on our website are intended to provide inspiration and give you an idea of how to capture the soul of Tanzania’s wilds and touch the real heart of Africa, we will work with you to customize, tweak, and tailor your trip to a tee, so that you can start looking forward to your dream Tanzania wildlife safari experience.
What’s it like to be on a migration safari in Tanzania?
To get a sense of our amazing tailor-made safari experiences from all over Africa, please watch our short video.