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What You Didn’t Know about the Great Wildebeest Migration by Tamzyn

Filed under: East Africa on April 11th, 2011

Wildebeest-migration

Are you dreaming of a front row seat to Mother Nature’s most dramatic play of survival, death and life – playing out in front of your gob smacked eyes on your Kenya adventure?

Wildebeest-Migration-Map

Overlanding Africa lets you in on fascinating facts for you to better appreciate the Great Migration on your Kenya holiday or Overland trip.

  • Each year around 2 million Wildebeest and over 1 million Zebra, Eland and Gazelle undertake the daunting Great Migration between the Southern Serengeti plains in Tanzania, and the Masai Mara plains in Kenya.
  • Thousands of Wildebeest die, either drowning in the flooded Mara River, breaking their legs after jumping down cliffs or falling prey to hungry predators.
  • The enormous herds gather at the waters edge trying to find the courage to cross the dangerous Mara River. It takes only one Wildebeest to jump in and then the rest will follow; crossing at up to 20 000 Wildebeest per hour!
  • Predators like Lion, Hyena, Wild-dog and Leopard follow the Wildebeest, Zebra and Gazelle to the Masai Mara plains thus creating the greatest game concentration anywhere on earth.
  • After about 3 months of relaxing and grazing on the Mara plains, the herd leaders begin to smell the Serengeti short rains. This usually occurs at the beginning of November (however the exact dates and times vary from year to year) and lead their herds across the Olduvai Gorge back across to Tanzania.
  • The herds arrive back in the Serengeti Plains just in time for calving season, usually in late January through mid March, when over 80% of the Wildebeest give birth over a period of a few weeks.
  • Less than half the calves born survive past their first Great Migration crossing, falling easy prey to predators.
  • The Great Migration takes place continuously, there is no exact schedule and it can all vary depending rainfall.

Booking your seat at the Wildlife Extravaganza

So you want a ticket to the greatest game viewing show on earth, but don’t know if you can afford an ultimate Kenya safari experience?

Hi there welcome to Overlanding Africa! We are masters of everything from a budget Kenya trip to epic Overland adventures – all organized just for you to experience the Great Migration without having to sell your kidneys for the memories!

For more information on any of the Overland trips you can visit our overland tour page, contact one of our friendly Overlanding Africa experts or post your comments below.

Have you been on a Kenya Safari or Overland trip lately and seen the Great Migration? Share your Kenya safari experiences, photographs and highlights with Overlanding Africa by e-mailing info@overlandingafrica.com.

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Next :  Cape Town to Victoria Falls Tour- Tamzyn’s Travel Diary Part 8

One Response to this post.Add your own

  1. Haden says:
    March 25, 2012 at 9:00 am

    Hey Overlanding Africa!
    Great post! Thanks for the info! I’ve been doing a lot of research on the migration and I think Im going to go….this year. Here’s another article that has some pretty good info on the topic as well (in case you want to check it out):

    http://thisboundlessworld.com/the-great-migration-of-east-africa-serengeti-to-masai-mara

    Thanks!!

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