Serengeti Safari Camp

Rains in the southern Serengeti have drawn the wildebeest south in search of fresh grazing on the nutrient rich short grass plains. This is where the wildebeest would love to call home, and where a million wildebeest start their life every year.

This is when the wildebeest calving season starts, a real bonanza for predators. In the woodland, giraffe, elephant and buffalo are generally easy to locate.

When the wildebeest calving season is in full swing now, you’ll have a good chance of witnessing a birth. It is often quite dry at this time and the herds might split into smaller units scattered around the southern plains in search of the best conditions.

January and February see warm sunny days often with afternoon thunder showers. As we move into March localised rain continues to fall on the short grass plains.

April is one of the best times to explore the eastern part of the ecosystem, especially the beautiful Gol Mountains. The scenery is spectacular, and the vast numbers of animals add to the drama.

In early May the migration is still to be found on the southern plains. Later in May, they start moving north and west, searching for sweet grass and water around Moru and then Seronera.

Warm sunny days with more regular scattered showers. Nights begin to cool.

With the ecosystem continuing to dry out, the herds continue westwards, towards the Grumeti River in the Western Corridor. The riverine forest here harbours plentiful buffalo and elephant, while there are many hippo and huge crocs in the river.

Scattered rainfall throughout the Serengeti get the herds moving.

All those hungry mouths rapidly deplete the grass and water in the western corridor and soon they start to move on. The migration can be spread over a huge distance, with the first zebra herds arriving in the north Serengeti in early July.

Come August the dry season is well under way. The migration now moves into the north in a big way, with the herds criss crossing between the Maasai Mara and the Serengeti. The dry conditions mean that they congregate near water.

September and October see the wildebeest continually cross the Mara River in search of fresh grazing.

Rain on either side of the Mara River keep the wildebeest crossing between the Maasai Mara and the Serengeti.

The perfect season to combine Serengeti Safari Camp with Lamai as the migration is so spread out this month.

It is time for the wildebeest to start heading south in preparation for the arrival of the next generation. Our camp casts off from Lamai and begins its own odyssey south. Wherever rain happens, the change is dramatic.

Normally the Short Rains start in November. Dramatic thunder clouds herald the onset of this changing season, giant thunder clouds rolling over distant Serengeti horizons add to the drama.

Into December, the herds start to gather in the southern Serengeti. Days are generally warm and humid cooling down after a rain storm.