Masai Mara

The inside line / Curated calendar

The herds push north out of the Serengeti from late July and pile up on the southern bank of the Mara River, then cross in surges that can last four minutes or four hours. Crossings are unscheduled: guides sit at a known point — Paradise, Cul-de-sac, Lookout Hill — and wait, sometimes all day, for the front animals to commit. The failure mode is a week of no crossings at all, which is why serious operators book two weeks and stay in the conservancies where off-road driving is legal and vehicle numbers are capped.