Mobile, or migration camps, that follow the wildebeest as they migrate from the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania to the Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya, are growing in popularity.

Recently, Tourism Update asked readers if they had seen an increase in requests for mobile camps in Southern and East Africa, with 65% replying that they had seen an upturn.

Migration camps exist in varying degrees of luxury and mobility. Most are designed so that they can be easily set up and packed away, often within a few hours.

Sally Grierson of Great Migration Camps in Tanzania, explains that a luxury mobile camp requires no input from the guest: “It is like a normal camp, just a little more basic and more mobile.” Staff attend to setting up the camp as well as providing guests with all the amenities they require for a luxury bush experience. Often, these luxury camps provide guests with hot showers, three-course meals and high-quality bedding.

Budget migration camps will make use of traditional camp sites, with guests helping out around the camp. While this option is easy on the pocket, Grierson points out that the times spent setting up or packing away the campsite – often early in the morning or at dusk – are also the best times to view game, so guests can miss out on good sightings.

She says there are also semi-permanent mobile camps that will move once or twice a year. These camps will offer guests different amenities, given their more permanent nature. “These camps are traditionally located where the wildebeest are expected to move past, based on the traditional cycle of the wildebeest,” she explains.

Additionally, roving camping companies are developing innovative ways to help guests view the migration. For example, Roving Bushtops designed its own travel containers that house camping equipment, making set-up more efficient. Great Migration Company prides itself on being eco-friendly – it does not use plastic at all and leaves no trace of the camp after it is packed up. Environmentally conscious mobile camps are often run off solar power.

Grierson believes that there are around 50 luxury mobile camps throughout the Serengeti. Bernard Itebete, Corporate Sales Manager at Sarova Hotels in Kenya, represented in South Africa and Europe by Southern Spoor Marketing, says this kind of trip is for a distinct type of tourist who is open-minded about experiences. Grierson agrees, adding that a mobile camp can guarantee time with the migration so is more appealing after an immersive safari experience. “Generally, our guests are nature enthusiasts who prefer time with nature over a luxury bed for the night,” she explains.

Despite the expansion of mobile camps, Katrina Russell, Marketing Co-ordinator at Sanctuary Retreats, has not seen a significant effect on business at fixed-location camps and lodges. Itebete agrees, and says this newer type of experience is drawing a different type of holidaymaker to those frequenting lodges and hotels, and thus increasing visitor numbers overall.

This year, the migration has been delayed by heavy rains occurring earlier than usual. As a result, pastures in Tanzania have been able to sustain the herds for longer than usual and, the animals began moving north later than in previous years.