Wildebeest Migration Safaris
The wildebeest route between the Serengeti and the Masai Mara. Where the herds are depends on the month.
Why go
The wildebeest migration is a year-round circuit, not an event: well over a million wildebeest and several hundred thousand zebra moving through the Serengeti and into the Masai Mara, following the rain and the grass. A migration safari with Safari Continents Travel is a route timed to put you where the herds usually are in the month you travel.
Roughly: calving on the southern Serengeti plains from January to March, the long trek north through the western corridor around May and June, river crossings in the north and the Mara from July into October, and the drift back south with the short rains in November and December. The herds do not read calendars, and a river crossing is never promised, but choosing the right camps for the month gives you the best chance.
Tanzania holds the migration for most of the year. Mobile camps move with the herds, fixed lodges in the central and northern Serengeti cover the shoulder months, and Ngorongoro Crater and Tarangire round out the northern circuit.
Kenya's Masai Mara is the stage from July to October, when the herds cross the Mara River and the reserve's own lion, cheetah and elephant are joined by hundreds of thousands of grazers. The conservancies around the reserve limit vehicle numbers and allow night drives, and a balloon flight at dawn can be added to the quote.
Tell us the month you can travel, and start with the itineraries below. Each names its camps and nights, and the travel-by-month notes beside each trip explain what that month usually looks like. A quote comes before any payment.
Best Africa Migration Tours & Safaris
Priced itineraries written for this kind of trip. The rate is per person sharing. A quote comes before any payment.
From KSh798,516 to KSh1,011,454 pps
7-Day Tanzania Family-Friendly Migration Safari
7 daysHighlights
Morning and afternoon game drives.
Destinations visited
Arusha | Ngorongoro Crater | Serengeti | Tanzania
From KSh654,394 to KSh797,218 pps
Tanzania's Best Value Migration Safari
7 daysHighlights
Game drives set around the month you travel.
Destinations visited
Arusha | Ngorongoro Crater | Serengeti | Tanzania | Tarangire
From KSh1,030,930 to KSh1,265,940 pps
Tanzania's Tented Crater & Migration Safari
8 daysHighlights
Game drives set around the month you travel.
Destinations visited
Arusha | Lake Manyara | Ngorongoro Crater | Serengeti | Tanzania
From KSh1,321,771 to KSh2,113,795 pps
Tanzania's Luxury Manyara, Crater & Migration Safari
9 daysHighlights
Morning and afternoon game drives.
Destinations visited
Arusha | Lake Manyara | Ngorongoro Crater | Serengeti | Tanzania
From KSh1,508,741 to KSh1,735,961 pps
9-Day Good-Value Migration, Crater & Tarangire
9 daysHighlights
Morning and afternoon game drives on each full day on safari. Park and permit fees for the places on this route.
Destinations visited
Arusha | Lake Manyara | Ngorongoro Crater | Serengeti | Tanzania | Tarangire
From KSh836,170 to KSh1,010,155 pps
Good Value Migration & Beach
10 daysHighlights
Game drives set around the month you travel. Morning and afternoon game drives.
Destinations visited
Arusha | Ngorongoro Crater | Serengeti | Tanzania | Zanzibar
From KSh1,623,000 to KSh2,191,699 pps
Good Value Year-Round Migration & Safari
10 daysHighlights
Game drives set around the month you travel.
Destinations visited
Arusha | Kenya | Lake Manyara | Masai Mara | Ngorongoro Crater | Serengeti | Tanzania | Tarangire
From KSh1,568,467 to KSh1,893,067 pps
Romantic Tanzania's Tarangire, Crater & Migration
10 daysHighlights
Time on foot with a guide.
Destinations visited
Arusha | Lake Manyara | Ngorongoro Crater | Serengeti | Tanzania | Tarangire
Good to know
Migration safaris follow the wildebeest between the Serengeti and the Masai Mara. Where the herds are depends on the month you travel. A date on the page is not a promise of a river crossing.
The month chooses the park
Use the travel-by-month notes beside the itinerary. Southern Serengeti, the western corridor, the north, and the Mara are not the same month.
Camps sit on different stretches
The stay name tells you which part of the route you are on. Mobile camps move. Fixed lodges do not. The quote holds the room.
Drives, not a guaranteed crossing
Full safari days include a morning drive and an afternoon drive. A crossing, if the herds are at a river, is luck and timing.
Kenya and Tanzania on one trip
Some outlines cross the border. The quote confirms the border formalities and any light-aircraft fare.
Enquire now
Pick the itinerary closest to what you want, tell us who is travelling and when, and we send a quote. Nothing is paid until you accept it.
Where to go
- Bwindi
- Kenya
- Lake Manyara
- Lake Victoria
- Masai Mara
- Nairobi
- Ngorongoro Crater
- Serengeti
- Tanzania
- Tarangire
- Uganda
Read the full where-to-go guide for this style, or search all destinations.
From the journal
Wildlife
20 Best Places to Stay to See the Wildebeest Migration
20 Best Places to Stay to See the Wildebeest Migration is a planning note from Safari Continents Travel. It sits beside the destination guides for the parks and coasts already on this site. Published trip prices are a guide. You receive a quote before anything is paid.
Wildlife
How the Wildebeest Migration Works
How the Wildebeest Migration Works is a planning note from Safari Continents Travel. It sits beside the destination guides for the parks and coasts already on this site. Published trip prices are a guide. You receive a quote before anything is paid.
Planning
What to Pack for a Great Migration Safari
What to Pack for a Great Migration Safari is a planning note from Safari Continents Travel. It sits beside the destination guides for the parks and coasts already on this site. Published trip prices are a guide. You receive a quote before anything is paid.
Wildlife
What You Didnt Know About the Wildebeest Migration
What You Didnt Know About the Wildebeest Migration is a planning note from Safari Continents Travel. It sits beside the destination guides for the parks and coasts already on this site. Published trip prices are a guide. You receive a quote before anything is paid.