The ‘big excuse’, if we really needed one, for returning to the Maasi Mara was intrigue of the annual wildebeest migration in East Africa.  This is often touted as one ‘great wildlife spectacles’ and I was happy to go along with this view.  Well we went, saw, experienced and concluded that it is absolutely one of the most amazing sights of mass animals.  I had not expected it to be so impactful because, after all, isn’t it just a load of big antelope running about and crossing rivers?  Well, perhaps it’s because it’s also a quite weird experience.  First though the taster photo then I’ll expand a bit on the statement.  

This was a very large crossing and one that even surprised our experienced guides both by its scale and duration.  There was a big wide sustained stream of animals galloping down from the open plain behind the high bank for nearly half an hour.  The dust kicked up by the herd was vast and eventually covered everything and the flies were thick around us (well all over me) while we watched and photographed.  But it was also the noise that was amazing.  The wildebeest grunt, call and - in these numbers - just make an enormous drumming white noise from hooves pounding and water splashing.  It is almost overwhelming in its universality, even from a few hundred meters distance.  

There are a few myths and legends we found out needed dispelling.  First, all the books and maps would have you believe the wildebeest migrate in an annual roughly circular orbit through the Serengheti to the Mara and round back again.  This tends to make you think the Wildebeest cross the river and then move on in a relentless journey.  Well, on average they do.  However, in practice and at the local level there is a lot of back an forth with animals crossing the Mara river from West to East and then East to West, rinse and repeat.  Second, there is a lot less carnage and death happening than many wildlife films would have you believe.  Crossing rivers seems to be more part of the normal ‘all in a day’s grazing’ activity for the wildebeest.  They don’t seen to be at all concerned about making a crossing though there is a good deal of ‘heard mentality’ happening and once one or two go over the bank to the river, everyone follows.  Third, there doesn’t see to be much going on between the ears of your average wildebeest.  Mainly it seems to be follow what the guy/gal in front is doing.  Nevertheless they are fantastically adept at getting out of the way of things quickly be that lions, leopards, cheetah or, indeed, your average Toyota landcruiser.  However, see that all happening a thousand or ten-thousand fold and the scene is truly epic and the photos need to be printed 100” across to have the appropriate impact.  

A larger selection of images can be seen here. 

Gear: This particular photo was taken on a Nikon D500 with a 200-500mm f/5.6 lens at 320mm.  1/1250s, f/8 and ISO400.  This was one of those occasions where it was worth finding a vantage point some way back from the crossing entry point so I could frame up the river with the animals facing us.  This also helped relieve us of some of that choking dust that the herd was kicking up and I could cut through it to show the wider scene.   It also meant we weren’t crowded by other vehicles.  I processed this in black and white because this is strangely monochrome scene anyway, especially as it’s heavily backlit.  There was quite a bit of post processing here to reduce the effect of the dust and backlighting in the monochrome result.