Mammal Connochaetes taurinus
The Great Migration itself: 1.5 million animals circling the Serengeti, calving in the south each February.
The wildebeest is not a handsome animal, but in numbers it is the greatest wildlife spectacle on earth. Around 1.5 million of them follow the rains around the Serengeti each year, with zebra and gazelle alongside.
In February the herds gather on the short grass plains around Ndutu, where half a million calves are born in a few weeks. By August they are crossing the Mara River in the north. Our month-by-month guide explains where to be and when.
Serengeti, the Ndutu plains of Ngorongoro, and Tarangire’s own smaller herds.
Guide’s tipCalving season is the easiest time to watch predators at work. Stay with a herd and let the morning unfold.
Sightings are never guaranteed: these are wild animals in wild places. What we can promise is a guide who knows where to look.
Destinations
The parks and reserves where our guides look for it, each with its own best season and safaris.
Huge elephant herds, ancient baobabs and Tanzania’s endemic birds.
A volcanic caldera with black rhino, lions and big grassland birds.
Vast plains, the Great Migration and big cats all year round.
Keep exploring
Loxodonta africana
Tarangire’s big herds are the classic sight: families drifting between baobabs to the river in the dry season.
Panthera leo
The Serengeti holds one of the largest lion populations left in Africa. Prides of twenty are not unusual.
Panthera pardus
Secretive and beautiful. The Seronera valley’s sausage trees are the best place in Africa to find one by day.
Acinonyx jubatus
Built for the short grass plains. Watch one scan from a termite mound in the southern Serengeti.
Diceros bicornis
Critically endangered and closely guarded. The Ngorongoro Crater is the most reliable place in Tanzania to see one.
Syncerus caffer
The Big Five’s heavyweight. Herds of several hundred are a daily sight in Arusha National Park and the crater.
Giraffa tippelskirchi
Tanzania’s national animal, with jagged star-shaped patches. Common almost everywhere except inside the crater.
Equus quagga
The migration’s other half. Hundreds of thousands of zebra move with the wildebeest across the Serengeti.
Tell us your dates and the birds or animals you most want to see. We’ll reply within 24 hours with a route and a full quote.
