The bucket list. Now a household name, it’s the list of experiences or achievements you’d like to accomplish before you “kick the bucket”. It’s an opportunity to contemplate what is really important to you; a chance to realise your wildest dreams. As a luxury experiential travel company designing unforgettable journeys on three different continents, we are experts at making these lifelong aspirations come true. Each and every day, we are most fortunate to be able to witness the magic and emotion of people’s dreams coming true. Aren’t we lucky?!
Setting foot on African soil is high on many people’s bucket lists and witnessing East Africa’s incredible Great Migration is perhaps one of the most popular requests. Undeniably one of Africa’s most sought-after adventures, the annual wildebeest migration is truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience that should be on every wildlife enthusiast’s bucket list.
The constant movement of grunting gnus and other herbivores across the vast Serengeti/Mara plains consists of more than 1.5 million wildebeest, 500 000 zebra, 18 000 eland and 200 000 Thompson’s gazelle, all in relentless pursuit of lush new vegetation to graze. Of course the enormous herds of thundering hooves are forever being stalked by predators lurking nearby, giving onlookers the most jaw-dropping, action-packed wildlife sightings.
The Great Migration is determined by Mother Nature. The movement of the nomadic herds is guided entirely by weather patterns, rainfall and vegetation growth, so no two years are ever the same in terms of the path the animals take. Hard to imagine that there’s wifi in the middle of the limitless Serengeti/Mara plains, but our guides in the field are equipped with the cameras and the technology to send regular updates on exactly where the herds are throughout the year.
The migration is now in high season, meaning that the enormous mega-herd is currently stationed in the northern reaches of the Serengeti and slowly making its way across the border into Kenya’s Masai Mara. This year, there was an unanticipated splitting of the herds, with massive splinter herds making their way northwest to the Western Corridor, while the mega-herd itself continued to move further north.
This was fantastic news for our guests, as they were able to view the natural spectacle from five of our &Beyond properties in Kenya and Tanzania. Not only that, but it meant that the animals were braving the nail-biting, arduous trek over both the Grumeti and Mara Rivers! To witness swarms of wildebeest in the hundreds of thousands literally plunging themselves into crocodile-infested waters and cheering them on as they make the desperate, panic-stricken dash to the other side is the ultimate adventure.
Why not start your own bucket list? The beauty is that it can be continuously altered and updated with new dreams and goals as you start checking things off. The time is now. Let’s go on an adventure!
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