Great Migration Camps by Month: Where the Herds Are in 2026/2027

The Great Migration is a continuous clockwise loop of wildebeest through the Serengeti and the Masai Mara, commonly estimated at around 1.5 million animals, travelling with several hundred thousand zebra and gazelle. Wildebeest numbers in the ecosystem are monitored by the Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute, and published estimates vary between census years. It has no start and no finish. The herds are somewhere every month of the year. So the question that actually matters when you book is a narrow one: where will they be in your month, and which camp puts you beside them?

This guide maps the herds month by month, names the zone they sit in, and lists the camps positioned in each one. For the broader question of when to visit the Serengeti overall, including weather and non-migration wildlife, read our zone-by-zone guide to the best time to visit the Serengeti.

Key takeaways

• The herds are in the southern plains and Ndutu from December to March, the western corridor around May and June, the northern Serengeti and Mara River from July to October, and moving back south through November.
• Calving peaks in February. Operators and researchers working the Ndutu plains consistently report roughly 8,000 calves born per day at the peak, with around half a million arriving across a two to three week window.
• Camps fall into two types. Mobile camps move with the herds two or three times a year. Permanent camps do not, so a permanent camp in the wrong zone leaves you driving for hours.
• Central Serengeti works year-round for general game viewing, but it only has the herds passing through in roughly April, May and November.
• Book mobile migration camps 9 to 12 months ahead for July through October. They are small, often 5 to 12 tents, and they sell out first.
• The calendar is a pattern, not a timetable. Rainfall moves the herds by weeks in either direction every year.

Where the herds are, month by month

In short: the herds are in the south from December to March, the west in May and June, the north from July to October, and in transit through April and November. The table below breaks the 2026/2027 cycle down month by month, with the zone name for each.

Two things about this table are worth stating plainly.

The crossings people picture, wildebeest pouring into a crocodile-filled river, happen in the north between July and October, at Kogatende on the Mara River. That is a four-month window in one zone, and it is the single most oversubscribed period in Tanzanian safari.

The calving season in the south between January and March is more predictable than the crossings, cheaper, and far less crowded. The herds concentrate on short grass in a relatively small area, and the predator action is constant because there are newborn calves everywhere. Our river crossing versus calving comparison sets the two against each other properly.

The four zones, and what each is for

Northern Serengeti (Kogatende). This is where the crossings happen. The country is hilly and wooded and the Mara River cuts through it. It matters from July to October. For the rest of the year the migration herds are somewhere else entirely.

Southern plains and Ndutu. Flat short-grass country with almost no trees. It straddles the boundary between the Serengeti and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, and it is where the wildebeest give birth. December to March.

Western corridor. A strip of land running west toward Lake Victoria along the Grumeti River. The herds pass through around May and June. Crossings here are smaller than on the Mara and less reliable, though you will share them with a fraction of the vehicles.

Central Serengeti (Seronera). The zone that works all year. Resident game is strong, it holds some of the park's densest big cat populations, and it is the sensible fallback whenever the herds are hard to pin down. The migration itself only passes through in April, May and November.

Camps by zone: where to actually stay

This is the part most migration guides skip. Below are the 27 Serengeti properties we book directly, grouped by the zone they physically sit in, so you can match a camp to the month you are travelling. Tent counts and seasonal positions come from our own booking records rather than from published marketing.

Northern Serengeti, for July to October crossings

Note how small these are. Five to twelve tents is typical, because they are dismantled and moved. That scarcity is why they book out first.

Ndutu and the south, for December to March calving

Ndutu sits partly inside the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, which matters for fees. Our park fees guide explains why a Ndutu itinerary is charged differently from a pure Serengeti one.

Central Serengeti, for year-round game and shoulder months

Western corridor, for May and June

Serengeti Explorer by Elewana sits on the Nyaboro Hills in the western corridor, with 74 rooms, a wildlife hide and an infinity pool. The corridor has fewer properties than the other zones, which is part of its appeal in the months the herds pass through.

Mobile camps versus permanent camps

This is the decision that determines whether your migration trip works.

A mobile camp is dismantled and rebuilt two or three times a year to stay within range of the herds. Kenzan Migration Camp and Gnu Migration Camp both run the Mara River in the dry months and Ndutu during calving. When you book one, you are booking a position as much as a bed.

A permanent camp stays put. That is fine in the central Serengeti, where resident game is good all year. It is a problem if you book a permanent property in the north in February, when the herds are hundreds of kilometres away in the south.

The practical rule: in July to October and December to March, book by zone first and comfort second. In April, May and November, when the herds are in transit and harder to pin down, a central Serengeti base gives you the most reliable game viewing.

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How far ahead to book

Work it in this order:

1. Fix your month. For most people this is set by school holidays or leave, and everything downstream follows from it.
2. Look up the zone in the table above.
3. Shortlist only camps inside that zone. This is where most itineraries go wrong. A property two zones away still shows you the Serengeti, but you will spend the best hours of each day driving to reach animals rather than watching them, and no amount of comfort at night compensates for that.
4. Check mobile or permanent, since a mobile camp's position changes with the season.
5. Book early. North, 9 to 12 months. South, 6 to 9. Central, inside 3 outside peak.

Mobile camps in the north for the July to October window should be booked 9 to 12 months out. A camp with five tents has ten beds. There is no flex in that.

Calving season in Ndutu is easier, typically 6 to 9 months, and the camps are larger. Central Serengeti can often be booked inside 3 months outside peak.

If your dates are fixed and the northern camps are gone, the honest options are a central Serengeti base with long drives north, or moving your trip to the calving season. Our Serengeti safari cost guide covers what each of those choices does to the price.

What the calendar does not promise

The migration follows rain, not dates. In a year with early short rains the herds can be back in the south by late October. In a dry year they linger in the north into November.

Two consequences follow, and no operator can engineer around either.

River crossings cannot be scheduled. Herds mass on the bank for hours or days, then cross, or turn around and do not. Three nights in the north gives you a reasonable chance. One night is a lottery.

The herds are also not a single mass. They spread across tens of kilometres in loose columns, and different groups do different things on the same day. "The migration is in the north" means the bulk of the animals, not all of them.

Any operator who promises you a crossing on a specific date is not being straight with you. Our guide to choosing a Tanzania safari company covers the other claims worth treating carefully.

Frequently asked questions

Booking around the herds

The migration rewards planning in a specific order. Start with the month. Work out which zone the herds are in. Then book a camp that actually sits in it.

Doing it the other way round is how people end up spending four hours a day in a vehicle just reaching the wildlife they came for.

If you want help matching dates to a zone and a camp, our Tanzania safari planners do exactly this, and the safari builder will price a route around the month you have in mind.