Best Time of Year for the Great Migration

Best Time of Year for the Great Migration

The Great Migration is a year-round cycle, but the timing varies depending on what you want to see, since the herds move in a continuous loop between the Serengeti in Tanzania and the Masai Mara in Kenya, following the rains and fresh grazing.

July to October River crossings in the Masai Mara
This is the most sought-after window and the classic "Masai Mara migration season." Dramatic Mara River crossings, where wildebeest and zebra plunge through crocodile-infested waters, peak between July and October, drawing the largest numbers of visitors to the reserve. August and September tend to see the highest concentration of herds actually in the Mara itself.

January to March Calving season in the Serengeti
During this period the herds are in Tanzania's southern Serengeti, where over 400,000 wildebeest calves are born within a few weeks, drawing large numbers of predators and offering excellent predator-prey action, though this falls outside the Masai Mara and into Serengeti territory instead.

April to June Migration north through the Serengeti
The herds begin moving north through the central and western Serengeti, before massing at the Grumeti River, a smaller but still dramatic river-crossing point.

November to December Return south
The herds head back south into the Serengeti, timed with the short rains, closing the annual loop.

For a website blurb, it's worth noting that the exact timing shifts a bit each year depending on rainfall patterns, so many operators use "typically" or "usually" rather than fixed dates. Want me to condense this into a short paragraph or a simple month-by-month table format for the site?