Tanzania Safaris

Great Migration Birthing Season

The full cycle of The Great Migration of wildebeest, zebras, and gazelles happens in Tanzania. The Birthing Season happens in February, set between the short Christmas rains and the long rains of March, April, and May. The short grass plains of the southern Serengeti ecosystem have all the nutrients required for the herds to give birth. When the rains trigger the birthing cycle, the plains can have so many wildebeest you can’t see the ground!

Our trip dates are set to coincide with this birthing cycle. While we visit other sites for varied habitat and to see different species, most of our time is spent here, near the herds.

Tarangire National Park has a huge marsh, filled with water birds that boarders the wilderness. The surrounding acacia trees are home to lions, leopard, ostrich and more. The marsh is a fantastic area to view herds of elephants feeding, playing, drinking, swimming, and dusting. The “Little Serengeti’ is a small plains area sprinkled with iconic baobab trees. Bush birds abound. There is a high density of raptors as well as crowned crane, ostrich, and the kori bustard, the heaviest bird that can fly.
Herds of elephant, wildebeest, zebras and more come in to drink at a string of watering holes in the afternoon. Giraffe carefully make their way to the water’s edge and slowly spread their legs and lower their necks to drink, all the while looking out for predators.

Exploration of the park can reveal some of the rare species that inhabit the Tarangire River Valley. Specialties can include oryx, lesser kudu, lilac-breasted rollers, blue-cheeked bee-eaters, open-billed stork, and if we are lucky, wild dogs.

Our ongoing journey will bring us out of the park, up the rift valley, and on to the plains of Ndutu. We will have our first views of the Great Rift Valley as we move up the 3000’ escarpment, over the Crater Highlands, and descend to the Serengeti plains ecosystem. Our luxury tented camp is situated in a light woodland with easy access to the valley and four different sets of plains, rivers, lakes, and woodlands where all the action takes place. Animals are continually moving up and down the valley where lions and leopards lay in wait.

When the herds arrive on the plains, the search for birthing begins. To witness a new life brought into the world is exhilarating. To properly photograph the event is challenging. To see hundreds, no, thousands of new babies is extraordinary! It’s an amazing story that includes, birth, heroic calves that need to learn to stand, nurse, walk, and run…all in the first five minutes of a precarious life. As the calves get stronger, the mothers gather them at the edge of a lake and teach the young how to get across water. The lake is a gentle version of the Mara River that they will have to cross in six months as their life journey continues. Lake crossings are dramatic! Calves bound and swim with their mothers as they make their way to the other side. Some become separated. It’s interesting to watch as they form a creche of young babies in the middle of the lake. They wait as each long-suffering mother backtracks to claim their calf.

Each morning and afternoon we head out for a game drive to see who is in the neighborhood. We are absolutely in the middle of it with wildlife right outside our doors. Within five minutes of our camp, we have photographed lion, leopard, cheetah, serval cat, genet cat, caracal, and the African wild cat.

We have had the chance to track the lives of cheetah families for at least 12 generations! It is a treat to see a mother and young cubs gamble across the plains in search of food. They run, attack, and love each other until mom sights a herd of gazelles (the favorite food of cheetahs). The cubs somehow know to hide in the grass and stay quiet as the mother stalks closer and closer to the gazelles. When the time is right, the mother sprints from hiding and the chase is on. It’s nerve-racking to watch, spectacular to see, and rewarding when properly photographed!

Our luxury tented camp is a great home base. The tents are spectacular, the food is great, and the staff is most accommodating with wonderful service. Our comfort and safety are at the forefront. We are excited to have such a long stay in this wildlife wonderland.

Our next move is on to the Serengeti proper! This park is the granddaddy of them all! Plains, rivers, hills, and valleys are home to prides of lions, herds of elephants, hippo pools and much more! For me, the main event here is the leopard. Individual and families of leopards inhabit the Seronera River Valley, woodlands, and especially the kopjes, huge rock formations that are the leftover tops of mountains. The scenery is classic Africa, while the wildlife action never seems to stop. The feeling of openness and distance give you photographic chances of limitless quality.

 Our final stop is one of the natural world’s great wonders…the Ngorongoro Crater, a UNESCO World Heritage Sight. The crater is the largest intact caldera in the world with the rim standing at 8,000’. Inside the crater are plains, forest, streams, hills, and a flamingo-packed lake! There are resident herds of wildebeest, zebras, and gazelles. Huge elan browse and massive bull elephants retire to the peace and quiet of the crater. Prides of lions compete with powerful packs of hyenas for dominance. This is also home to over 60 black rhinos!

Mornings start early and when the sun peeks over the crater rim everything looks like cut glass. The birds call in the new day as we search for wildlife action. Elephants can greet each other by wrapping trunks around each other. Hippos joust in pools alongside cape buffalo and elephants. Saddle-billed storks, African spoonbills, hamerkops, and yellow-billed storks hunt frogs in shallow ponds. If we have not seen wildebeest birthing yet, there is a big resident population in the Crater that can give us a last chance to see this wonderful event.

The rim of the crater is also a perfect place for photography. There many exotic flowering plants and mountain birds, including golden-winged sunbirds, the bronzy sunbird, white eyes, flycatchers, and many, many more.

We hope that this will be one of your “Trips of a lifetime”!