It’s simple: Nothing comes close to the spectacle of a million-plus wildebeests and hundreds of thousands of tagalong gazelles and zebras crossing the plains on the world’s greatest land migration. In September, herds mass in Kenya’s Masai Mara National Reserve before thundering south into the Serengeti in search of greener pastures. Huge prides of lions, some numbering over 40 strong, lurk by the wayside; 25-foot crocodiles ambush victims as the hoofed mob fords the Mara River; and leopards, cheetahs, and hyenas pick off unfortunate stragglers. The gruesome sight of predators pulling a struggling wildebeest apart is not for the faint of heart, but an open-air lesson in survival of the fittest is worth witnessing for oneself. CC Africa operates two excellent camps in the Mara, Kichwa Tembo and Bateleur, both prime vantage points directly along the migration route (Tembo, $375 per person per night, including meals; Bateleur, $855; ccafrica.com).

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