The Great Migration: 8th Wonder of the World

Have you ever seen so many animals in one shot that it boggled your mind? Have you ever seen only  wild animals filling your line of sight? Well, I was lucky to see such a spectacle during my recent wildlife holiday to Kenya.



This sight is seen during the ‘Great Migration’ or the ‘Great Wildebeest Migration’, when a large number of animals make an annual circular trip from the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania to the Maasai Mara Game Reserve in Kenya. This is undoubtedly the largest mass movement of land mammals on the planet and one of the most breathtaking events in the animal kingdom.



Their sheer numbers can be overwhelming and sometimes very hard to visualize. Try to visualize this…1.5 million Wildebeest, 400,000 Thomson’s Gazelle, 250,000 Zebra and 15,000 Eland. Add to this the 250,000 resident herbivore numbers (Topi, Impala, Cape Buffalo, Grant’s Gazelle, Kongoni, Giraffe, Warthog, Waterbuck, Elephant and more) and we are talking about something that is unfathomable.



This natural phenomena starts around June/July in the Southern plains of Serengeti when the grass gets scarce and the water dries up. From here, the animals move in a clockwise direction through wooden grasslands and head north towards the Maasai Mara Game Reserve where green grass and water is in plenty as the rains have just finished in Kenya.



During this northward movement, these animals have to cross the crocodile infested Grumeti river and then the mighty Mara river. It is these river crossings that people watch so fondly on National Geographic, Discovery and Animal Planet. By around late July to early August, these mighty mass of animals are in Maasai Mara. Their sheer numbers ensure a lot of food for the lions, cheetahs, leopards and hyenas who try and follow their route.



Over the course of the next 3 to 4 months, these animals feast on the green pastures of the Maasai Mara and by the time they make their return, the Mara landscape looks barren and threadbare. In the meanwhile, you can constantly hear the grunting sounds of the Wildebeests and their rumbling hooves as they simply put their head down and dash. I am not sure if there is a method to their madness, but you can definitely see that they are built for speed.



While this migration stays in the Maasai Mara, it is feasting time for the predators and abundant food ensures that it is the ideal time to have offsprings..It is not just the predators who enjoy this time, but also the scavengers such as the jackals and the army of vultures who find a lot of half-eaten kills.



By around late October to November, the reverse migration begins and the ungulates move back to the Serengeti plains of Tanzania where they stay till May. It is during this stay at Serengeti that they give birth to offsprings and within a short time period, they begin the annual migration again.



This great migration, a relatively recent phenomenon from the 1960s and Africa’s greatest wildlife spectacle is one that sets the tone for life in Northern Tanzania and South-Western Kenya. A lot of lives depend on it. This is definitely one of the top things to see before you die, especially if you are a wildlife lover. It is simply my ‘8th Wonder of the World’ and may be for a countless more.

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Upcoming Travel: Wild Kenya

I have always been amazed whenever I saw the great migration on National Geographic/Discovery/Animal Planet or other wildlife television channels. The sheer numbers and the diversity have always bamboozled me. And as I kept seeing more of such wildlife series, my yearning to see this spectacle in real got much stronger and finally that day has dawned as I am headed towards ‘Wild Kenya’ tomorrow.

The ‘Great Migration’, which is often dubbed as the 8th wonder of the world is the special component of my trip. This is when the animals from the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania make the annual migration to the greener pastures of Masai Mara Game Reserve in Kenya. The migration season is from July through September and starting October, the animals start the reverse migration to Serengeti. I am spending 4 days at Masai Mara Game Reserve where the action takes place (The Big Five + millions of wildebeest, millions of zebra, hundreds of thousands of gazelle and lots of hungry predators: lion, leopard, cheetah, hyena, Nile Crocodile and others). 2 of these days will be located in the center part of the reserve and next to the Mara river to be close to the wildlife frenzy and the other 2 days will be on the eastern part of Mara, which is where most of the camps and lodges are located. I am hoping that I will also be able to take a hot balloon safari over the Maasai Mara and get an aerial view of the spectacle. Though I have not finalized on this hot balloon ride as it is working out quite expensive on an already expensive trip. So I am on a ‘Let’s see’ mode on that.

Apart from the Masai Mara, I am planning to spend 2 days at Lake Nakuru National Park in the Rift Valley, which supposedly has the biggest congregation of flamingos in Africa. It is also famous for the black Rhino.The Great Rift Valley is also known to be the place where mankind evolved from, but I am not exploring that side of the Rift Valley. 2 other days will be spent in the northern part of Kenya in the Samburu National Reserve. Northern Kenya is more drier and desert-like than the rest of the country. Samburu and Buffalo Springs are also known for great game and again a lot of wildlife can be sighted here.

The wildlife component of the Kenya trip lasts 8 days and 13 safaris. In between, I plan to explore the tribal life especially the Masai and the Samburu tribes given that I am going to be located real close to them. And an additional 3 days in Nairobi to explore the fast-growing East African city, sample its special cuisines, a definite visit to the famous Carnivore restaurant even though I am a vegetarian and to may be do some shopping.

A short trip in my standards, but hopefully it will be a sweet one. I am hoping that I will have great experiences and photographs to share when I am back.

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