Tracie143:
You might want to contact Buckles (an '05 bride), as she went to Africa in June .... you may also want to look into where the Great Migration is in June also - I believe it is in the Northern Serengeti, which is in Tanzania and not yet in Masa Mari, in Kenya.
DH and I originally were doing Kenya also, and because of all of our research and the information we received we realized that it would be a shame to fly across the globe and miss what Kenya & Tanzania are famous for - the Migration.
If you see this website
African Dream Safari's, it shows that the Great Migration is in the Western (northwestern) portion of the Serengeti. The reason most people go to East Africa on Safari is to see the Migration - I hope your travel agent steers you in the right direction of where to be.
From the website:
Typically in late May (the beginning of the dry season), the great herds depart the plains and follow the Mbalageti and Seronera Rivers into the western corridor. A smaller population heads directly north through the central areas. The western corridor is the wildebeest’s wet/dry transitional zone. The vast herds will remain here until about July when the dry season completely parches the land and they must venture north towards Kenya and its greener pastures. The movement through the northern Serengeti fluctuates from year to year but the herds usually reach the Mara watershed in Kenya by early August.
....
The zebra follow a similar migration route except for a few differences. ..... Toward the end of the wet season, zebra move more directly north through the central Serengeti and reach the northern Serengeti and Masai Mara earlier than the wildebeest.
Game viewing in central Serengeti is at its best during the dry season (June – November) as resident animals are more concentrated in the immediate area due to the lack of water on the plains. Resident herbivores include impala, buffalo, hippo, warthog, topi, hartebeest and giraffe. Resident carnivores include lion and leopard.
In addition to the resident wildlife, significant concentrations of migratory animals are found in the Central Serengeti during the dry season including cheetah, Thomson’s gazelle and hyena.
Western Serengeti
The corridor stretches west from Seronera in the central Serengeti to almost Lake Victoria. The relatively narrow corridor is roughly 50 miles long and is characterized by dense stands of acacia tress interspersed with broken woodlands and open plains. The dominant feature is the Grumeti River, which runs almost the entire length of the corridor.
The western corridor straddles the northward migration route of the enormous wildebeest herds.
Typically in mid May (the beginning of the dry season), the great herds begin to depart the plains and follow the Mbalageti and Seronera Rivers into the western corridor. The western corridor is the wildebeest’s wet/dry transitional zone. The vast herds will remain here until about July when the dry season completely parches the land and they must venture north towards Kenya and its greener pastures. The pinnacle of the northward wildebeest migration takes place in the western corridor with the famous Grumeti River crossing. The river is infested with the Nile crocodile, the world’s largest crocodile. For some of these prehistoric animals, it has been a year since they have last eaten and they eagerly await the wildebeest river crossing. Additionally, The Grumeti River also supports a unique riverine forest, which is home to the beautiful black and white colobus monkey.
The western corridor is also home to significant numbers of resident wildlife. There are large populations of resident wildebeest and zebra that do not join their migratory cousins as they pass through every year on their journey northwards. Other resident animals include giraffe, buffalo, eland, topi, impala, waterbuck and Thomson’s gazelle. These resident animals support large concentrations of predators including lion, leopard, cheetah and hyena. The big cats are frequently sighted but not to the extent as seen in the central Serengeti. However, there is simply no other area in Africa that could compete with the central Serengeti’s localized predator densities.
The best time to visit the western Serengeti is from late May to mid July, which coincides with the northward wildebeest migration. Additionally, mid to late November is a good time to catch the southward migration when a significant portion of the wildebeest herds gather in the west before making their final movement to the southern plains.
Here is a map, if you see Grumeti in the Serengeti, Tanzania - that is most likely where the Migration will be in June.
