Reserve your room at Kenya hotels for the wildebeest migration

 

 

Tourism is Kenya’s greatest source of income and Kenya hotels cater for about two million international guests annually, who are eager to experience its wealth of natural wonders, and indigenous art and crafts.

It’s worth your while to allow a fair amount of time to really see the best this East African country has to offer. Book into Kenya hotels like the Southern Sun Mayfair Nairobi and plan an itinerary that will take you to the heights of the snow-capped mountains or the depths of the Rift Valley with its characteristic extinct volcanoes and hot springs.

On the coast, you can enjoy swimming in the warm Indian Ocean and exploring magnificent coral reefs or you can go inland from your Kenya hotels in search of open savannahs and natural forests.

Safari adventures can be arranged from Kenya hotels to see the Big Five (lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo and rhino) in the wild. This is a key tourism driver particularly at the time of the wildebeest migration from the Ngorongoro area in the south Serengeti plains of Tanzania.

The wildebeest have evolved to cope with the climate, grazing and predation threat. In February, the migration begins ahead of the rainy season after a two- to three-week birthing period when about 500 000 calves make their entrance to the world. Interestingly, expectant cows give birth in large groups before midday (hardly any calves are born after noon) and labour lasts no more than an hour. The calving area is away from most predators’ hunting grounds so the danger that faces most of the calves initially is being separated from their mothers.

Kenya hotels are inundated with bookings in the four months leading up to the final northern push across the Mara River towards the Masai Mara in Kenya. Those who survive the treacherous crossing make the most of the grazing from July to October when they have to embark on the return journey, ending up at the calving grounds again in February.

Only about half the newborn calves manage the 1 800-mile distance each year. Wildebeest that are too sick, frail, weak, old or injured fall prey to leopard, lion and hyena as well as the Nile crocodiles that wait patiently for feeding time when disaster strikes at the river.

Theoline Rasebotsa is a freelance journalist

Reserve your room at Kenya hotels for the wildebeest migration


 
 
Tourism is Kenya's greatest source of income and Kenya hotels cater for about two million international guests annually, who are eager to experience its wealth of natural wonders, and indigenous art and crafts.
It's worth your while to allow a fair amount of time to really see the best t...