Mid March update from HerdTracker, what to expect

Mid March update:

It has been very dry in the Serengeti after some early rain throughout the southern plains during January, with the Serengeti's shallow soil and solid granite sub-surface drying up quickly, this will have two possible scenarios and at this stage it could be either:

We predict a wet long-rainy season and the weather experts still say that Tanzania is to have a wet “long rains”. Would the first rains of the season fall in time to turn the herds around to head south again?

It might just do that, for now it seems the herds were forced to the Seronera Valley, Moru's Lake Magadi and Ndutu's Hidden valley for water. The long rains will slow down the march north to the Grumeti River and beyond but if the rains stay away until the herds reach the Grumeti and Mbalageti Rivers will they turn around and or just stay in the western & central Serengeti for longer this year?

I wonder if this year is not going to be the Western Corridor's turn to amaze us, with the likelihood of Grumeti River crossings happening this year, this would on average happen once every 6 – 8 years, so not to be missed. The Grumeti River crocodiles are some of the biggest in the world and they have fewer chances of river crossings so let’s see.

I am certainly heading to Serengeti HerdTracker Explorer Camp that will be on the Western corridor this May – early June. This would also open up Singita's Grumeti Reserve to the north of the Grumeti, and it is seldom that there is space at Sabora Plains and Sasakwa with the migration there.

Happy travelling!

Carel Verhoef – HerdTracker