If a safari is a journey, then nothing better embodies the spirit of an African safari than the continent’s unmissable migrations – epic voyages across national boundaries in search of new life. Following in the footsteps of migrating African animals requires a little planning, but will likely give you indelible memories.
Migrations are like a production of Aida – they feature a cast of thousands, if not millions, and have their own irresistible rhythms. While the herbivores are the stars of the show, the gauntlet of predators they run provides heart-stopping moments of life-and-death drama.
The zebra migration across the Makgadikgadi Pans in Botswana can be a dazzling experience, and is perhaps Africa’s least-well-known mass migration.
When you imagine being on the move with the migration though, you probably instinctively picture serried ranks of wildebeest on the plains of Tanzania and Kenya.
Depending on when and where you join those herds, you could witness the start of something, like wobbly wildebeest calving in the Serengeti, or the end, when many wildebeest lose their lives while either bravely crossing the Grumeti River or fording the Mara River. It’s the full circle of life, from ‘aw’ to jaw or paw.
Those really in the know, however, might head to Zambia. Here, you can see the ‘other’ wildebeest migration at Liuwa Plains, or indeed, see the migration of another kind altogether: the bat migration of Kasanka.
