The Serengeti and the adjacent Masai Mara in Kenya are best known for the annual Great Migration, when almost two million animals move in a massed throng across the plains and woodlands. This dramatic event is triggered by annual rainfall patterns that determine the availability of grazing. Tens of thousands of animals follow the seasonal rains, fording both the Grumeti and Mara Rivers in their search for fresh pastures, giving birth to their young en route. While wildebeest make up the great majority of the migrating masses, thousands of zebra, eland and Thomson’s gazelle join in the seemingly endless columns of wildlife. While Grumeti is known for its massive Nile crocodiles, in October visitors can watch tiny crocodile hatchlings emerge from eggs laid in nests on the river banks.

Temperatures are generally pleasant in the Serengeti, rarely rising above 32°C/90°F or falling below 10°C/50°F. September, October and January are the warmest months, while July is usually the coolest. Rainfall is seasonal, with short spring showers taking place in November and December, and dramatic afternoon thundershowers from March to May. The camp is set on the banks of a permanent oxbow pan formed by an overflow of the Grumeti River. The surface of the pan itself is cloaked with a vivid green layer of water lettuce, shading resident hippo from the intense African sun and providing ideal foraging conditions for wading birds.

Large parts of the western corridor are dominated by woodland, a favoured grazing habitat for giraffe, impala, dik-dik and elephant. The most commonly found trees here are various species of thorny acacia, which attract Grant’s gazelle, olive baboon and vervet monkey, while tiny, wide-eyed bushbabies feed on the sweet and sticky sap after dark. Birds are especially abundant in these woodlands, where safe nesting sites can be found. Islands of granite outcrops in the central and southern Serengeti provide homes for communities of rock and bush hyrax, as well as agile klipspringer. Lion and leopard are also commonly found seeking shade among the boulders.