Mara River

The Migration: A “Wild Stampede”

The Mara River crossing is the ultimate “life or death” gamble. From July through November, massive herds of wildebeest and zebra arrive at the banks, gathering in huge numbers as dust clouds churn overhead.

• The Build-Up: Driven by the scent of rain in the Lamai Triangle to the north, the herds build up on the banks in a state of high tension. They may pace for days before a single animal takes the plunge, triggering a collective “breaking of the dam.”
• The Chaos: As Myles Turner wrote in 1966:
  “The movement becomes a wild stampede… hundreds of wildebeest struggling to swim across. Inevitably, casualties are high. Some animals become stuck in the mud. Others are crushed by wildebeest jumping off the steep banks on to those already in the water. Sometimes it is as if they are intent on committing mass suicide.”
• The Toll: It is not uncommon to see hundreds of carcasses floating downstream or piled against the riverbanks, where vultures gather in “ominous clusters” in nearby trees.
• The Southward Turn: By November, the wildebeest lift their heads toward the rain-washed skies to the south. They embark on an extraordinary journey, marching in single-file lines for miles as they begin their pilgrimage back to the southern plains.

Wildlife: Prehistoric Giants and Secretive Cats

• The Nile Crocodile: These “grinning” prehistoric giants are the largest in the world. Interestingly, they only feed once or twice a year during the crossings. Outside of these windows, they are surprisingly shy, often found basking atop boulders.
• The Hippo Oxbow: About a mile east of Kogatende, the river forms an oxbow where pods of over 50 hippos huddle. Kay Turner (1962) described them as “heaving and splashing… honking and roaring below us.”
• The Hyena Mystery: According to biologist Hans Kruuk, hyenas are strikingly rare here. Because they prefer open plains over woodlands, carcasses often lie unattended by scavengers, leaving skeletons remarkably intact.
• The Shy Predators: Lions and leopards are abundant but tend to be more secretive and “car-shy” due to the extreme remoteness of the area.

The “Mara River Adventure Drive”

This region is one of the few places in the Serengeti where off-road driving and walking safaris are permitted. Under the protection of an armed ranger, guests can walk the sandbanks to photograph hippos or watch an elephant “gliding down to drink in the moonlight,” as Kay Turner once observed.

• Kogatende Ranger Post: This post, located just south of the river, is built like an ancient fort. It was designed in the 1960s to protect rangers during an insurrection by the Wakuria tribe when the Lamai Triangle was first incorporated into the park.