KENYA 2025 : TOURISM AND THE MIGRATION

What is "The Migration"? Every year between the Serengeti in Tanzania and the Maasai Mara in Kenya, an estimated 1,5 million+ wildebeest and nearly 1 million zebra follow a clockwise route in search of grazing. You can see massive congregations of animals in different areas at different times of year. This migration is phenomenal to see. In July a most spectacular aspect of this migration is when thousands of wildebeest swim simultaneously across the Sand or Mara river. Being nature lovers, bush dwellers and wildlife enthusiasts, it's been on our bucket list to witness this first hand. So I can't really point fingers at others who want to do the same. This year, as in many previous years, there has been a lot in the news and on social media about over-tourism amid very bad practices by lodges and tour operators and despicable behavior and selfish attitudes of the tourists blocking the path of the animals. After more than two hours wait we were extremely fortunate to see a crossing and it truly was one of the most amazing wildlife experiences of my life. There where rangers controlling the vehicles, giving the wildebeest time to gather and our guide Ken did a marvelous and experienced job amidst the chaos and very poor behavior of many other drivers and demanding tourists.

There's no simple solution to this over-tourism. We definately want to return to Kenya and especially Tanzania but we are not sure we want to come back in July or August again and we really don't want to hang out in the over-busy areas. We love the idea of the adventure of driving up from South Africa next time and now that we have scouted things out, we hope a couple of our usual, adventurous travel companions will join us!