Relax with 4full day in the endless plain of Serengeti with game drives – unequalled for its beauty and home to the Great Wildebeest Migration. The huge herds of plains game such as wildebeest, zebra and antelope dominate the park while the attendant predators such as lion and cheetah are to be found amongst the many kopjes scattered across the plain. Its landscape varies from open grass plains in the south, savanna with scattered acacia trees in the centre, hilly, wooded grassland in the north, to extensive woodland and black clay plains to the west.
Depending on your preference, there are a couple of options with regards to how your day is structured in the endless plain of Serengeti. One option could be to start your day with an early morning Balloon excursion followed with picnic breakfast at the end, second option is to break camp early and head out with a picnic breakfast on a morning game drive, returning to camp in time for lunch. Alternatively, you can eat breakfast in camp and head out with a picnic lunch on an afternoon game drive, returning in the mid-afternoon. Tell us your preference and will do everything it can to ensure that your ideal structure is met. In the evening transfer back to the lodge for dinner and overnight stay. (with lunch, dinner & breakfast)
Ngorongoro, Serengeti & Masai Mara Ecosystem (Wildebeest Migration)
Every year, around 1.5 million wildebeest; 350,000 Thomson’s gazelles; 200,000 zebras; and thousands of eland and other ungulates (hoofed animals) participate in ‘the greatest wildlife show on Earth’, The Great Wildebeest Migration throughout the Ngorongoro, Famous Serengeti and Masai Mara ecosystem, when the grassy plains of the southernmost Serengeti begin to dry and the start of short rain in Mara the ever-moving columns of wildebeest follow an age-old route in search of grazing and water that takes them across to the plains of the Masai Mara reserve in Kenya.
From December to March the Wildebeest migration congregates around the Ndutu area (the area is shared in both Ngorongoro – Serengeti), in the far south of the Serengeti. April to May, the Wildebeest migration moves north into the plains of the central Serengeti. Between June and July, the Wildebeest migration splits in two; one group goes West into the Western Corridor before crossing the Grumeti River, the other heads directly to the North of the Serengeti. August to October the herd has reformed, and meanders on the Kenya and Tanzania border, along the banks of the mighty Mara River. Returning south from the beginning of November. Unpredictable Nature the path of the Wildebeest migration is dependent on rain and that is what determines late or early crossing between Serengeti and Masai Mara. however, the dry & crossing seasons may change every year due to global warming. The three groups of migrant grazers take advantage of different heights of grass, which means they stick to their own kind with only a small overlap in their distributions.
It is unclear how the wildebeest know which way to go, but it is generally believed that their journey is dictated primarily by their response to the weather; they follow the rains and the growth of new grass. While there is no scientific proof of it, some experts believe that the animals react to lightning and thunderstorms in the distance. It has even been suggested that wildebeest can locate rain more than 50km away the endless plains of East Africa bear witness to the great annual migration of over a million wildebeest and zebras as they make their way between Kenya and Tanzania in search of fresh grazing pastures. In the latter case, the herds may split and later re-group.