Africa: The Great Migration

This post is long overdue! Despite the horrible internet connection on the train that prevented me from making any progress on this post, I have some very interesting things I observed on my trip to share with you on the "Travel Special" post, which will also be out VERY soon. Enough with the talk, let's get started!
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Since the African Migration is a very broad topic, the whole entire first African themed post will be just devoted to a clear introduction of what the Migration is.

The Great African Migration is the cycle that African wildebeest (about 2 million!) follow each year to find better food and water resources. The weather affects which areas of grass are more fertile, and as the weather moves along, so do the animals.

Most many people believe that the Great Migration only occurs once during the year (most widely accepted as summertime) but in fact, the Migration is a year-round event and the animals are active at any time of the year (except during the winter, where it is slightly different). After all, this is an endless cycle we are talking about!

Here is a map outlining the route(s) animals take:

Picture from The Safari Co

This map is only based on the data collected from the previous few years. According to The Safari Co, the exact path the wildebeests take each year fluctuate, but will still somewhat look like this. Notice how they don't really leave the Tanzania and Kenya area. (mostly mid-Eastern Africa)

Probably the most common animal you'll hear and see active during the Great Migration is the zebra. (My favorite animal in the whole entire world, yay!) I'll go into the specifics for this beautiful animal in another post. Bison and gazelles are also fairly common, as you may see some of these animals of each herd temporarily "mingling" and mixing together a bit especially when crossing wide rivers. (They generally follow the same path)

Since I said this event is year round, here is a summary of what you may see during each quarter of the year:

January~March

This is around mating season for the animals, and as The Safari Co puts it, "drops their young." It is a great chance to watch and closely observe the characteristics of different types of animals' "mating calls" and behavior. The animals are all in the Ndutu Plains area.

It's also when the animals produce young and add new animals to their herd! Watch the miracle of life among animals and young gazelles, zebra,s etc. prance around the plains in their childlike way.

Soon, the baby animals are getting stronger from the fertile grass brought by January and February rains. They, along with their herd, are preparing for their next movement northwards. Their herd numbers become noticeably larger (as more young are born and smaller herds merge together)

April~June

The herds will start heading towards southern Serengeti as the rains stop falling. When the rain has completely stopped they will head back up north into central Serengeti. They generally stay in the central Serengeti area where the grass has become very fertile. There is honestly not much activity around this time, since all they will do is graze. The most excitement you may see is a lion, cheetah, or some big cat or carnivore occasionally in action, hunting their prey. (Good chance to see a cheetah at full speed, though)

July~September

The animals start spreading out and their are extremely large amounts of wildebeest, zebras, elephants, and many other animals spread all throughout the Serengeti. This is an excellent chance to see different types of animals interact each other, such as a wildebeest protecting its young and elephants at their angriest. This is around the farthest they go, and in a few weeks, all the animals will head back down south, where the grass their has become greener again.

October~December

On their journey back, wildebeest cross the Mara River which are full of crocodiles. This is an incredible (but alarming) thing to watch, as wildebeest attempt to cross the river without getting their legs chomped off by crocodiles at every turn.

Assuming the rains came at a consistent time, the animals will be back by the end of the year, where the Ndutu Plains are once again rich with grass, water, and food.

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I hope you enjoyed this first African Migration Post! There was a lot to say. Next week, I will cover my favorite animal of all time--the zebra! Zebra are one of the most widely seen animals during the Migration, and they look just beautiful as a herd, a bunch of black and white stripes in the tall grass. Oh, and I'll get that Travel Special post up soon as well, as soon as my pictures on my phone can be backed up onto my computer. :) Until the next post, here are some great Migration videos for you guys to enjoy:

A brief summary of the Migration:

http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/wildebeest_migration

Crocodiles and Wildebeest in action:

This video is from National Geographic Education: http://education.nationalgeographic.com/media/wildebeest-migration/