Northern Serengeti (Lamai & Kogatende)

The northern Serengeti — the Lamai Wedge and the Kogatende area around the Mara River — is the furthest point from the main entrance gates and the least visited sector of the park. It is also, from July through October when the migration herds fill the area, one of the finest wildlife destinations in Africa. The Mara River crossings here are often more dramatic than those further north in Kenya: the banks are steep, the currents strong, and the crocodiles massive.

Outside migration season, the northern sector supports permanent populations of elephants, lions, and cheetahs in a more varied landscape than the open southern plains — forested rivers, rocky outcrops, and the escarpment rising toward Kenya create more varied terrain and better opportunities for stalking predators. Access is by chartered flight to the Kogatende airstrip or a very long drive. A handful of exclusive tented camps operate in this sector; most are on private concessions bordering the park.

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The northern Serengeti was essentially inaccessible to tourists until the 1990s, when a few camps established themselves in the Lamai triangle north of the Mara River. Today it remains the least crowded sector of the park despite being one of the most productive for the river crossing spectacle: the Mara here is narrower and faster than further north in Kenya, and the crocodiles are enormous. Spending a week in the north in August or September with a good guide remains one of Africa's most exclusive wildlife experiences.

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