Quick Question on Migration in East Africa in September?
 

Hi There - This may be a silly question, but I am hoping to travel to Kenya/Tanzania in September of this year, where I believe the migration will be taking place in the Masai Mara.

Would you arrange your itinerary so that the Masai Mara is your LAST destination so that you save your best game viewing for last? One travel agent suggested this to me and said that I might be disappointed if I start off in the Masai Mara and then I don't see quite as much game throughout the rest of my itinerary. Not sure about this, but just wanted to get some opinions.

I am a bit concerned about availability for September, so not sure if I should focus on trying to save the Mara for last or just go when the lodges are available and not worry about the "order" of the parks I visit...

Any thoughts? Thanks!!

A very good question with obviously no ultimately correct answer!

My view is this:

If you go on a standard safari tour similar to the packaged trips offered by Micato, etc (dominating this forum lately), it best to do the Mara last in September. You will not see the same concentrations and variety of wildlife elsewhere and it may get boring especially if your itinerary is not very good - I guess this is why it is important to have many other people in the car to talk to when game viewing is slow!

However, if you go on a custom safari designed to visit areas away from the tourist tracks and with eco-awareness and local involvement it is best to get the big excitement out of the way so you can slow down and focus on the smaller details that are so crucial in the bigger East Africa picture .

Nowadays, I prefer the latter approach.

While I'm a big believer of "saving the best for last" - sometimes you have to no control - what accommodations are available where and when. It can also depend on into/out of which airports your international flights. If arriving Tanzania, I'd do that portion first, then into Kenya and hopefully a homebound flight from Nairobi. If into Nairobi, visit the parks/reserves here, then to Tanzania and depart from here, unless your homebound flight is out of Nairobi.

At this point in time, however, as I mentioned earlier, it might all come down availability. If this is your first safari, everything, in whichever order will be wonderful. Then, when planning your next safari :), giving yourself plenty of lead-time, you can coordinate how much time you wish to spend where and the specific order.

Basically, I'd try to get space as soon as, regardless the order.

Last September we visited the Mara as the second stop on our trip. It was certainly awesome. However, it didn't diminish the remaining stops: Lake Manyara, the Crater and then Tanzania under Canvas in the northern Serengeti. You'll have a great time regardless of order!

Efficient travel logistics, reducing costs, and availability are all priorties over a big finish for me.

I have not had any disappointing Africa destinations.

Whatever else you do, move quickly. Things are filling up for September, especially if working with the smaller and/or custom operators. I just booked my trip, and we were working on it for the past 6 weeks, and we had difficulty finding availability (see my other posts), but Good Earth worked with us and finally got us confirmed lodging for our itinerary, though not our first choices in some locations, we are waitlisted for better lodging in Tarangire/Arusha but do have backup confirmed. If you go with the big names like Micato and one of their stock (non-custom) safaris, they may have rooms blocked out at the top lodges, and can confirm you right away, but you will spend more. I'd recommend seeing what is available quickly, and talk to 2 or 3 tour operators. Note that they often will quote you an itinerary with prices and lodging but wont check availability until you confirm the itinerary is what you want.