Serengeti is Tanzania's oldest national park and the best-known wildlife
sanctuary in the world. It covers an area of 14,763 square kilometers, lying
between the shores of Lake Victoria in the west, Lake Eyasi and Ngorongoro
Conservation Area in the south, and the Great Rift Valley to the east. The
annual migration to permanent water holes of vast herds of herbivores
(wildebeest, gazelles and zebras), followed by their predators, is one of the
most impressive natural events in the world. Tourists from all over the world
travel to Tanzania to experience this phenomena.
The sheer magnitude and scale of Flora and Fauna that the plains support is staggering - lions, elephants, wildebeest, zebra, cheetahs, leopard, giraffe, about twenty different types of antelope, hippos, monkeys, hyena, jackal, hyrax, foxes and birds. 90% of the film series produced on African animals take place in this Savannah ecosystem. Serengeti is famed for its annual migration, With more than two million wildebeest, more than 200,000 zebra and 300,000 Thomson's gazelle join the wildebeest’s trek for fresh grazing, even when the migration is quiet, the Serengeti offers arguably the most scintillating game-viewing in Africa. You will also find great herds of buffalo, smaller groups of elephant and giraffe, and thousands upon thousands of eland, topi, kongoni, impala and Grant’s gazell. The Grumeti River in the Western Corridor is the location for the dramatic river crossing during the wildebeest migration.
The Serengeti is Tanzania's first national park and remains the flagship of the country’s tourism industry. Human habitation is forbidden in the National Park with the exception of staff, researchers and staff of Frankfurt Zoological Society, and staff of the various lodges and hotels. The main settlement is Seronera which houses the majority of research staff and the park’s main headquarters, including its primary airstrip. Seronera in the centre of the park is the most popular and most easily visited area.
Aside from traditional vehicle bound safaris, hot-air ballooning over the Serengeti plains has become a safari rite-of-passage for travel enthusiasts. The flights depart at dawn over the plains and take tourists close over the awakening herds of wildebeest and zebra, gazelle and giraffe.
When to go:
To follow the Serengeti National Park's wildebeest migration go between December-July (check with local authorities for exact seasonal timing).
To see predators, June-October
Accommodation:
Four lodges, four luxury tented camps and camp sites scattered through the park; one luxury camp, a lodge and two tented camps just outside.
Getting there:
Scheduled and charter flights from Arusha, Lake Manyara and Mwanza.
Train: Moshi Station.
Road: Arusha Bus Station (via bus) or Drive from Arusha (335km from Arusha), Lake Manyara, Tarangire or Ngorongoro Crater.
Contact Addresses:
Serengeti National Park, Tanzania National Parks Authority, PO Box 3134, Arusha, Tanzania
Website: www.tanzaniaparks.com
