The short-grass southern plains around Ndutu, at the border between the Serengeti and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, are where the wildebeest calving season reaches its peak between January and March. The volcanic soil produces short, mineral-rich grass that gives calves the best start, and the open terrain makes sightings easy. Up to 400,000 calves can be born within a few weeks — a biological pulse that drives an extraordinary concentration of predator activity.
Outside calving season, the Ndutu area is quiet and relatively undiscovered. The lake at Ndutu supports flamingos and other waterbirds, acacia woodland around the shore provides good leopard habitat, and the transition between the southern grassland and the more wooded central Serengeti can be seen here in a few kilometres. The Ndutu Safari Lodge, one of the oldest in the ecosystem, sits directly on the lake shore and is a classic base for the calving season.