By Steve Bergsman

It is said in Africa that when God finished creating all the animals he took the spare parts and created the wildebeest: the horns from the buffalo, the tail from the horse, the legs from the gazelle and the body from the hyena. With its low mane, the creature looks like a grumpy old man. The wildebeest engages in extreme group behavior, moving entirely in a herd in limitless numbers.

I had come to the Maasai Mara region of central Kenya for the migration season. This is when vast herds of grazing animals move north from the Serengeti region of Tanzania into the Mara. The quantity is beyond counting as an estimated 2 million to 3 million of God's creatures make this trek every year. Along the way it's possible to see some 400,000 zebras, 250,000 to 400,000 Thomson's gazelles and 20,000 elands - the largest grazing animal in Africa — also in transition. However, no numbers compare to that of the wildebeest, which moves en masse with some 1.5 million to 2 million animals.

It was near the end of July when I visited the Mara, and wildebeest migration was late, with just a few thousand of the vanguard arriving in the region. I was staying at a safari camp that seemed more like a resort called Angama Mara. The word "angama" means suspended in midair — a perfect name because the Mara, a vast savannah, is bordered by a sharp land rise called the Oloololo (Maasai word for zigzag) Escarpment, and atop the particularly steep wall of rock sits the safari camp.

As I stood on the camp's open veranda I could look down on the savannah and see, to quote The Who, for miles and miles and miles. Eventually my eyes got used to the view and I could start to distinguish the big animals — mere dots on the horizon — the elephants, giraffes and buffalos. But no wildebeest.

A pilot who was staying at Angama Mara had flown up from Tanzania, and he was explaining to me how the season's odd thunderstorms (July is not the rainy season) were causing the wildebeest to remain in place feasting in the local grasslands that normally would be depleted. Nevertheless, the migration instinct is strong and the vast herds were in movement. This is a big deal here and the reason so many visitors try to come to central Kenya in the summer months, in particular to see what is called "the crossing," when the herds of wildebeest break into the Maasi Mara by wading the Mara River.

For those who have never done a safari drive in Africa, the normal day will look something like this: Sometime during daylight hours a group of visitors will board a specially designed four-wheel-drive vehicle — these days mostly Land Cruisers — and travel the dirt byways looking for animals. The Angama Mara boasted specially designed open-air Land Cruisers. These are non-enclosed, open-sided vehicles with a roof to keep out the strong sun. But don't panic: You will not be attacked and eaten by a lion. In fact, at one point Sammy, our driver, negotiated the vehicle to the base of a tree, where he had seen a leopard in the high branches. Much to our surprise, when we arrived, a female lion was reclining in the grass, not more than 20 feet from our vehicle.

Sammy quickly surmised the leopard had killed a warthog (the carcass was about 10 feet from the vehicle) but the lion had come, chased the leopard up the tree and eaten heartily of the warthog kill. Now it was full and lounging in the sunshine. The lion simply ignored us.

Sammy was an experienced driver who took pride in spotting the creatures of the savannah. He was also determined that we should experience the crossing, so we set out one afternoon to observe a traditional migratory path that crossed the Mara River. When we finally arrived, we first detected about a dozen other safari vehicles already there, scattered about above the river at various observation points. Across the horizon different herds consisting of a couple of hundred to a few thousand wildebeest had gathered. From where we were we could see a herd of anywhere from 500 to 1,000 wildebeest clustered some 50 yards from a high point on the far bank of the river.

Wildebeest are curiously indecisive creatures. The herds move by instinct with almost no leadership from a mature individual wildebeest as other animals will follow an older, dominant member of the herd.

Our particular wildebeest group was maddeningly frustrating to watch, with some animals breaking away to move forward but then stopping, turning around and moving in the opposite direction. This behavior happened so often we were beginning to despair. Finally a group broke out and found a path from the top of the embankment to the water's edge. We thought, "Oh man, this is it." But it wasn't. The breakaway group moved back up the embankment, then down the embankment again, then up the embankment. Never did they cross, and now it was time to return to camp.

Sammy was determined that we should see a crossing, so we returned the next day to see a different herd at a different path. When we observed the same indecisive behavior we turned cynical, making jokes about the reluctant creatures. Sammy, however, kept warning us that one wildebeest would break and when that happened the herd would follow.

Sure enough, much to our surprise, when an intrepid hero broke from the crowd and headed down the bank, a line of wildebeest followed. The hero entered the water, invigorating the herd that now powered forward, crossing the Mara in a thin stretch of animal instinct. It took about five to 10 minutes for all the herd to reach the other side.

Sammy beamed. We had experienced the crossing.

WHEN YOU GO

I took Qatar Airways from New York to Nairobi, with a stopover in Doha, Qatar. On the way to Nairobi, we had enough time in Doha to leave the airport, explore, have dinner and get back in time for the next flight. Good fun: www.qatarairways.com. From Nairobi to the Maasai Mara required a relatively short small-plane ride on Kenya Airways: www.kenya-airways.com.

In the Maasai Mara I stayed at the incomparable Angama Mara: www.angama.com. In Nairobi, I chose the Hemingways Nairobi, a gorgeous boutique hotel at the foot of the Ngong Hills: www.hemingways-nairobi.sih.com.

Vehicles such as this one carry safari-goers through the Maasai Mara in Kenya. Photo courtesy of Steve Bergsman.

A herd of wildebeest crosses the Mara River en route to the Maasai Mara in Kenya. Photo courtesy of Steve Bergsman.

Steve Bergsman is a freelance writer. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.