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It was to be the most unforgettable day: an encounter with Africa’s Great Wildebeest Migration. The previous evening we’d sat on the terrace of our luxury safari lodge and watched vast swathes of black moving across the plains. In the dusk, those first battalions of wildebeest had looked like locusts, pouring into the Masai Mara from the plains of the Serengeti.
We were up early, tense with excitement. Soon, our open safari vehicle was heading for the famed Mara River.
‘The wildebeest are building!’ shouted John, our guide, as we drove along the river’s steep embankments. I looked across the muddy waters to where animals were starting to mass. It was a sea of dark hides, curved horns and shaggy beards, the air filled with their
loud honking.
Looking closer, I noticed that in among the wildebeest were the stripy shapes of zebras and groups of Thomson’s gazelles, joining their comrades on this mighty endeavour. In the distance, from every direction and stretching to the horizon, I saw lines of animals, many in single file, heading towards the river.
‘Each year, more than two million animals trek from Tanzania to Kenya and back again on a never-ending cycle to find water and grass,’ explained our guide. ‘The climax of Africa’s greatest theatre piece is the fording of the Mara River. And it looks like today we’ll be blessed with a crossing.’
PHOTOGRAPHY: ANDREW SCHOEMAN, SHUTTERSTOCK
The Great Wildebeest Migration is astonishing. Each year, more than
1.5 million wildebeest trek from the Serengeti to the Masai Mara
and back again in search of fresh grazing. Their crossing of the
Mara River is the climax of this odyssey, a spectacle
filled with drama, death and endeavour.
mara river
marvel
by Justin Fox