tanzania: lake manyara to the lamai wedge

Being that close buys real time at the river, but no crossing can ever be promised and no reliable success rate has been published for any of them.

Wildebeest reach the far north of the Serengeti around July and stay into October, and the middle of that window sees the most attempts.

What the distance gives you is patience. Herds gather on the bank and then stand for hours, wander upstream, or give up and graze, and a camp an hour away has to choose between waiting and eating.

Three nights is the length we advise for anyone travelling specifically to watch one, and the route gives exactly that.

If your dates fall outside those months the north is still strong ground, with resident lion prides, leopard and large herds of elephant and buffalo, but the river itself will be quiet.

Good by cheetah standards, which are modest everywhere, and no number should be quoted at you.

Cheetah live at low density: the research team that has followed individually known animals in the Serengeti for decades estimates around 250 adults in the whole park across roughly 14,000 square kilometres, with the plains study population moving between fewer than 50 and about 90.

What makes this sector different is not abundance but sight lines. The grass is short, cover is thin and Serengeti cheetah can be watched with relative ease on the open plains, often picked out on a ridge, a kopje or a termite mound.

This ground carried no visitors' vehicles for more than a decade while researchers worked on the cheetah, and it opened again in 2014, so there is very little traffic to share a sighting with. Lion and leopard hold the same country.

It is the half most visitors never reach, and the canoeing depends on the lake rather than the calendar.

Manyara is a shallow soda lake in a park of about 649 square kilometres, and its level rises and falls a great deal, so canoe outings go ahead when there is water to float on and are dropped when there is not.

The rest holds up all year. Tanzania's park authority licenses drives after dark in Lake Manyara, which is unusual in the northern parks and brings genet, civet and bushbaby into a spotlight, and the canopy walkway is one of the longest in Africa.

The camp stands on the Endabash riverbed beneath the waterfall, and in the dry months that gorge is one of very few water sources for miles, which is what pulls elephant and buffalo down within sight of the tents.

An armed ranger or a rifle-trained guide in every case, and the floor is twelve years old.

The park authority's own fee schedule covers adults and children of twelve and above, with no band below that, and draws the line between a short walk and a long one at four hours.

In the Lamai Wedge the walks go out at first light with the guide and spotter who are yours for the stay, which is the cool part of the day and the hour when the night's tracks are still readable.

At Lake Manyara the range is wider, from a short amble along the shore to a climb up the escarpment.

Walking here is not about covering ground. It is tracks, dung, plants, insects and birds at the pace those things need, with the driving left to do the work on the big animals.

July to October, and on this route the reason is the river.

All four sit at the top of our ratings for every stop on this route, and they are the only ones when the wildebeest are anywhere near the Lamai Wedge. The eastern plains and Lake Manyara are at their driest then too, with thin bush and game drawn in to water.

June works as a shoulder month for anyone who would rather miss the busiest weeks, though the herds may not have arrived. From November to February the north empties of wildebeest and the trip becomes a big cat and resident game route instead, greener, quieter and strong for birds.

The long rains from March to May are the ones to skip: the southern Manyara tracks go first, and the camp in the Lamai Wedge shuts for April and May.

By road at the start and by light aircraft for the long legs.

Kilimanjaro International to the first night below Meru is a short transfer, and the drive on to the southern half of Lake Manyara is the last of the long road days. After that the distances are flown.

Arusha or Kilimanjaro up to the northern Serengeti strips takes between one and one and a half hours, depending on how many airstrips it calls at en route, and the game drive from the Lamai strip to camp adds about an hour.

The scheduled carriers here allow 15 kilograms each, counting hand luggage, and ask for soft bags, so bring duffels. Any leg can be flown privately instead, usually in a Cessna Grand Caravan or a Pilatus PC-12.