11-Day Great Migration Safari: Serengeti & Maasai Mara

Following the Great Migration Herds

A Great Migration safari itinerary built entirely around the herds. More on the timing in our guide to the Mara River crossings. Traveling in January to March instead? See calving season.

Make it yours Day by day

The route Arusha → Southern or Central Serengeti → Northern Serengeti → Maasai Mara

The Great Migration safari itinerary, day by day

Two seasonal shapes of one journey: the July–October crossing route through the northern Serengeti and the Maasai Mara, and the January–March calving route that stays with the herds in the south. So tell us your month and we will match the right shape to it. New to the migration? Start with the complete Great Migration guide.

Nothing here is fixed. In fact, this is the route we plan most often. Tell us what to keep, lengthen or swap, and we’ll send you your own version, fully priced.

Best time to go

July–October for the river crossings; January–March for calving season in the south.

US travelers: check current entry requirements for each country on travel.state.gov (we also walk you through visas at booking).

Route One · July – October: the river crossings

Day1

Arusha

Arrive Kilimanjaro; overnight beneath Mount Meru while we brief you with this week’s herd reports.

Days2–4

Central & Western Serengeti

First, fly from Arusha to the corridor camps positioned ahead of the herds (scheduled bush flights may make brief stops). Then three nights moving with the columns as they push north.

Days5–7

Northern Serengeti

Next, fly or drive up to Kogatende and Lamai, minutes from the Mara River, for whole mornings at the crossing points with the patience the sight demands. However, crossings are never guaranteed; position and time are how the odds are won. More on choosing between the two in our northern Serengeti camp guide.

Days8–10

Maasai Mara

The efficient scheduled connection: a morning flight from your Serengeti airstrip to Tarime, a private road transfer with immigration formalities at the Isebania border, then the short Migori flight into the Mara. Allow the better part of the day; we handle all of it for you. (Routing via Nairobi Wilson exists when schedules require it.) Then three nights in a private conservancy on the migration’s northern stage.

Day11

Home

Finally, fly to Nairobi Wilson with departure assistance through to your international flight.

Route Two · January – March: the calving season (10 days)

Day1

Arusha

Arrive Kilimanjaro; overnight and briefing as above. However, in these months the story is in the south.

Days2–6

Ndutu & the southern plains

Instead, fly from Arusha toward Ndutu for five nights on the short-grass plains, where hundreds of thousands of calves are born and the predators work the edges of the nursery herds. This route stays with the herds; it does not continue north, because in these months the migration doesn’t.

Days7–9

Central Serengeti

A short repositioning flight or drive to Seronera’s resident big-cat country, with leopard along the river lines while the columns begin to stir.

Day10

Home

Finally, fly from the Serengeti to Arusha (intermediate stops are normal) for the onward international flight.

Where you’ll stay on this Great Migration route

We select your accommodation privately after we understand your dates, pace and priorities. Then we recommend each camp, lodge or villa for its location, guiding, privacy, room configuration and seasonal suitability. Finally, you’ll see the places we suggest, and why, in your proposal.

Plan your private safari

All lodging & meals

Every camp night, all meals and house drinks on safari.

Private guide & vehicle

A private expert guide and 4x4 where specified; at fly-in camps, game drives may be shared unless a private vehicle is reserved.

Fees & flights within Africa

Park fees, light-aircraft hops and meet-and-greet on every leg.

One transparent quote

Priced to your budget, your camps and the season. No set packages.

This journey at a glance

Duration & route

11 days · 11-Day Serengeti & Mara

Best months

July – October crossings · January – March calving

Best suited to

Photographers and first-time East Africa travelers

The heart of it

Following the herds to the Mara River

Typical private investment

Every itinerary is priced individually, to your budget.

Based on two guests sharing. Final pricing therefore depends on season, camps, private guiding, internal flights and itinerary length. International flights are excluded.

Generally included

Every camp named night by night · internal flights and transfers · park and conservancy fees · meals and game activities per each lodge’s terms · airport meet & greet · a founder’s direct line while you travel.

In other words, this itinerary is a starting shape, not a package. Above all, every journey is fully tailor-made around your dates, pace and interests. Design this journey privately →

Questions about this journey

August to early October gives the best odds on the Mara River, but crossings are weather-driven, never scheduled. We position you at camps within reach of the river and build full river days into the plan.

Both, and that is the point of this itinerary. The herds cross between them; camping on both sides doubles your window. If you must choose, your travel month decides it, not the border.

Full beds, en-suite bathrooms and proper dining under canvas, moved seasonally to sit where the herds are. Less marble than a lodge; better positioned than any of them.

Make this journey yours.

Tell us when you’d like to go and what you’d change. We’ll send back your own fully priced version within a few days.

This Great Migration safari itinerary is a proven shape, and the month you travel will reshape it.

Plan your safari