The Great Migration in Africa is an awe-inspiring sight that attracts thousands of travellers from across the planet every year. The wildebeest migration is the most famous African animal migration. However, it is not the only wildlife spectacle worth catching on safari in Africa.
To see hundreds, thousands, or millions of African animals migrating in the wild is a rare and memorable safari experience. From the stampeding herds of the Great Migration in Kenya and Tanzania to the flamboyant flocks of carmine bee-eaters gathering along the Zambezi in Namibia, these animal migrations in Africa are worth adding to your bucket list.
Here, we explore all the biggest and most epic African animal migrations. We'll show you the major wildlife migrations in Africa, starting with the great migration, and tell you when and where to see them.
Skip to the month-by-month calendar of major African animal migrations
The Great Migration Africa moves from the plains of the Serengeti in Tanzania to the Masai Mara in Kenya. Many regard this wildlife show as the greatest animal migration on earth. The scenes of over 1.5 million wildebeest, zebras, and antelopes crossing the Serengeti plains and braving the crocodile-infested Mara River have been a mainstay of wildlife documentaries for decades. This is the biggest and most epic movement of animals in Africa. The great migration is at the top of most African safari bucket lists.
Contrary to popular belief, the African Great Migration is not a single event but a continuous movement of animals over the entire year. Where rain falls, grass grows, and the cycle of life and death follows. That being said, there are two flash points of the great migration in Africa worth planning your migration safari around: the January and February calving season in the southern Serengeti and the crossing of the Mara River into the Masai Mara in Kenya, which we will cover later in the blog.
Every January and February, the great wildebeest migration begins in Tanzania’s southern Serengeti National Park. These lush green plains in the Ndutu region of the Ngorongoro Conservation area become an African safari enthusiast’s wildest dream as female wildebeests give birth to about 8,000 calves a day!
There are two main drawcards to this part of the wildebeest migration. Firstly, the chance to witness the birth of a new gnu is high. Secondly, you have a good chance of seeing some predator action. Savannah predators have a nose for vulnerable life, and such a large aggregation of new life attracts predators: lions, leopards, cheetahs, hyenas, and wild dogs. From start to finish, about 250,000 wildebeest are lost to predation, river crossings, and fatigue during the annual Great Migration.
Witnessing this finely balanced survival act where calves must find their feet in minutes or risk being eaten is the African bush at its miraculous and brutal best. From the end of March, the herds move gradually from the southeast to the southwestern Serengeti, sometimes in large groups and at other times splitting up. During this time, the herds are grazing, and the calves are gaining strength for their northward migration at the start of May.
Wildebeest Fact File |
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The lakes of the Great Rift Valley in East Africa are a birdwatcher's paradise. Here, you can encounter an African animal migration of the avian variety. The lakes of the Great Rift Valley boast not only abundant wildlife but abundant bird life, too. From raptors like eagles and vultures to sparrows, finches, kingfishers, storks, herons, ducks, and ostriches, birdlife in East Africa comes in an incredible array of shapes and sizes. The toast of the avian world is the aggregation of flamingos on these lakes in Kenya, for possibly the most colourful African animal migration.
The secret ingredient to this bright and colourful flamboyance is the food. Greater and lesser flamingos seasonally migrate between lakes in search of the best and most abundant food sources. Carotenoids - the same pigment that gives tomatoes and carrots their respective red and orange hues - turn flamingos coral orange and bright pink. The source of these carotenoids is the algae that thrive in the shallow waters of these alkaline soda lakes.
In years past, flamingos flocked to Kenya’s Lake Nakuru, but due to increased rains in the area, these patterns have shifted. The rains raised the levels of Lake Nakuru, and the alkalinity decreased, leading to a reduction of algae and, therefore, the flocks lessened from over a million birds to mere thousands. The flamingo migration thus shifted elsewhere. These days, the flamingoes flock to Lake Bogoria in Kenya, roughly a 2.5-hour drive north of Lake Nakuru.
Lake Bogoria is a place of wild beauty. Surrounded by mountains and flanked by bubbling geysers and hot springs, the lake has a mythical atmosphere accentuated by a distinct lack of visitors. The flocks of flamingos feeding in the lake are the stars of the show. If witnessing this astounding African animal migration is on your bucket list, then Kenya’s Lake Bogoria is a must. Due to the lack of accommodation, Lake Bogoria is often added as a day trip from Lake Naivasha or Lake Nakuru.
Flamingo Fact File |
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The Sardine Run along the east coast of South Africa has been described as “the largest biomass migration on the planet”. Millions of these tiny shimmering fish move along the Eastern Cape coastline to the warmer waters of the KwaZulu Natal South Coast.
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African animal migrations of any kind are subject to seasonal fluctuations, and tracking tiny fish in the ocean is even more challenging. As a general rule, the sardines move from the south, Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth) and East London (early May to June) to Coffee Bay, Port St Johns, and Mboyti (June to July). Experts suggest that instead of chasing the sardine migration, book according to your dates and wait for the sardines to come to you.
So how do you witness this wildlife phenomenon? Just as with other animal migrations, there is a whole host of oceanic life that relies on the sardine migration for sustenance. Sea birds, game fish, sharks, dolphins, and even whales move in to take advantage of this abundant food source.
The highlight of the Sardine Run is witnessing the decimation of a bait ball. A bait ball is a glittering mass of sardines, separated from the main shoal, that moves in unison as if it were a single, fluid organism. These bait balls are targeted by predators. Dolphins blow bubbles to concentrate the fish, sharks attack from below, and when the bait ball nears the surface, cape gannets dive from above… eventually, the sardines are so tired and disoriented that they lose the energy to fight and the predators pick them off until only loose scales glitter in the water.
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Needless to say, the best way to witness this epic marine animal migration in Africa, is to get on a boat, preferably with the option to be IN the water with an experienced guide. With so much predatory action, the sardine run is the perfect time to get out on the water!
Sardine Fact File |
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The second flash point of the Great Migration of Africa is the crossing of the Mara River. The Wildebeest Migration also crosses the Grumeti River in northwest Serengeti around May/June but the river, being smaller and shallower, presents more places for the herds to cross resulting in less dramatic wildlife sightings.
The Mara River presents the herds of the great migration with arguably their most daunting challenge. Access to the river from precipitous banks, huge Nile crocodiles in the water, frenzied panicking herds, and predators lying in wait, are some of the dangers that lie in wait for the wildebeest and zebra attempting this river crossing. It is also an incredible opportunity for lucky safari enthusiasts to witness one of the greatest wildlife shows on earth.
The great migration is the ultimate large animal migration in Africa - the pinnacle of safari drama. The wildebeest migration follows a roughly circular route through the Serengeti eco-system which spans both the Masai Mara in Kenya and the Serengeti in Tanzania. As you can see in our map of the Africa great migration, the herds cover a lot of ground.
Every year at the end of the southern hemisphere’s winter and the beginning of spring, southern right whales migrate from the Antarctic waters to the sheltered shallows of the Western Cape. They have spent the winter months feeding and now move to the waters around Hermanus, Gansbaai and Cape Town to mate and calve. Hermanus in particular, offers fine wine, great beaches and excellent food to enjoy while you witness these giants migrate.
After a year-long gestation period, female southern right whales give birth to a single calf. Between August and October, you can watch these oceanic behemoths and their 1-ton offspring navigating their first few months together. These gentle giants spend their days frolicking in the shallows, displaying flukes and flippers, and wowing crowds with occasional breaches.
While an ocean safari is always worthwhile, Hermanus arguably has the best land-based whale watching in the world. Only a 90-minute drive from Cape Town, the entire town bustles with activity during the whale-watching season (as the capital of the scenic Cape Whale Route). Hermanus even has a week-long eco-arts festival in September that attracts people from all over the world.
Southern Right Whale Fact File |
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The carmine bee-eater is a bird as distinctive as it is beautiful. Pink, rust, and turquoise blue plumage make this bee-eater a must-see African migration animal. While the carmine bee-eater spends the summer months in woodland savannah as far afield as South Africa, come August, the birds begin to mass on the banks of the Zambezi River in northern Namibia.
The carmine bee-eater is monogamous. By late September, the birds have begun to pair off and breed. Courtship is complex with male birds offering ‘gifts’ of dead insects to woo their prospective mates as well as doing aerial combat to prove their fitness and agility. Bee-eaters make their nests at the end of long burrows in dry river banks. During excavation, large numbers of the birds remain on the ground and, when threatened by predators like yellow-billed kites, take off en masse. Thousands of birds bursting into carmine flight is dizzyingly beautiful.
By the end of November, these African migration birds have returned to their summer hunting grounds, leaving their nests to crumble until the following year. Witnessing these colourful birds in huge colonies in and about the Zambezi River is a must for twitchers and anyone chasing the best African animal migrations.
Carmine Bee-eater Fact File |
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At only about 4,000ha²/400km², Kasanka National Park in northern Zambia is an unlikely destination for one of the biggest African animal migrations. Every year, towards the end of October, this tiny jewel attracts millions of African straw-coloured bats in an epic spectacle of mammalian flight.
The African straw-coloured bats migrate from all over central Africa to feed on the fruiting trees of the evergreen swamp forest. By January, all of the bats are gone. It is estimated that between 8 and 10 million bats descend on Kasanka, making this the largest mammal migration in the world. This particular African animal migration is responsible for up to 60% of forest seed dispersal, as well as flower pollination, making this event not only spectacular but also ecologically crucial.
Kasanka National Park has a few custom-built bat hides where there are two bat-specific viewing times. You can see the bats in the evening when they set out to feed and in the morning when they return to roost with up to twice their body weight full of fruit! It is quite something to listen to the sound of branches straining and cracking under the increasing burden of tired and stuffed bats!
Bat Fact File |
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The zebra migration in Botswana actually consists of two related migrations. These ancient wildlife migrations are still a relatively new discovery to African safari enthusiasts. This African animal migration was undocumented up until 2004, when cattle fences (designed to limit the spread of bovine diseases) were removed. The removal of these fences saw the resumption of the zebra migration in Botswana. It is now recognised as the second-largest land mammal migration in Africa (after the great migration in East Africa). The two distinct zebra groups in this African animal migration are the Nxai Pan zebra migration and the Okavango Delta to Makgadikgadi Pan herds.
In November, after spending the summer months along the banks of the Chobe River, the migrating zebras in Chobe National Park begin to move south to the Nxai Pan National Park. It is a journey of about 250km and is triggered by the rains which fall on the Nxai Pan. These rains mean nutritious grazing, so the zebras migrate. They stay in the Nxai Pan Conservation area for about three months before heading north again to the Chobe River banks.
The second group of zebras migrates for the same reason but is accompanied by wildebeests (gnus). These migrating zebras spend the summer months around the Boteti River, which flows south from the Okavango Delta in northern Botswana. The same rains that trigger the migration of the Chobe zebra to the Nxai Pan trigger the Boteti zebras to move east towards the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans. Scientists are puzzled that only about 55% of the Boteti zebras migrate. The rest are permanent residents around the Boteti River.
To see this zebra migration in Botswana, safari experts suggest that you concentrate your efforts on either the Nxai Pan or the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans to witness the abundant game and bird life as well as the zebra herds.
Zebra Fact File |
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NOTE: African animal migrations are wilderness events that come with an element of unpredictability. While wildlife migrations in Africa can be generally and pretty accurately predicted, they are subject to environmental fluctuations. Rains fall earlier or later. There is less or more rain than expected. There are bumper years and years of drought. The animals are subject to their whims. This is meant as a ROUGH GUIDE to help plan your migration safari in Africa and to maximize your chances of seeing these exciting wildlife events.
For help planning your wildlife migration safari, contact African Budget Safaris and talk to one of our friendly travel experts.
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