A million wildebees... each one driven by the same
ancient rhythm, fulfilling its instinctive role in the
inescapable cycle of life: a frenzied three-week bout of
territorial conquests and mating; survival of the
fittest as 40km (25 mile) long columns plunge through
crocodile-infested waters on the annual exodus north;
replenishing the species in a brief population explosion
that produces more than 8,000 calves daily before the
1,000 km (600 mile) pilgrimage begins again. Tanzania's
oldest and most popular national park, also a world
heritage site and recently proclaimed a 7th world wide
wonder, the Serengeti is famed for its annual migration,
when some six million hooves pound the open plains, as
more than 200,000 zebra and 300,000 Thomson's gazelle
join the wildebeest's trek for fresh grazing. Yet even
when the migration is quiet, the Serengeti offers
arguably the most scintillating game-viewing in Africa:
great herds of buffalo, smaller groups of elephant and
giraffe, and thousands upon thousands of eland, topi,
kongoni, impala and Grant's gazelle.