Serengeti National Park

Overview:

The great­est and most spec­tac­u­lar eco-sys­tem on the plan­et – the vast 12,000 square miles of the Serengeti Nation­al park is home to mil­lions of incred­i­ble wildlife and Fau­na, with the stun­ning­ly beau­ti­ful plains, wood­lands, rivers and forests of the Serengeti being host to the great­est nat­ur­al spec­ta­cle on earth the great migra­tion –- and being the best place in the world to spot the Big 5 (ele­phants, buf­faloes, rhi­nos, leop­ards and lions) on safari, which helps make the incred­i­ble Tan­za­nia African plains of the Serengeti Nation­al Park a tru­ly incred­i­ble nat­ur­al won­der of the world.

While the great migra­tion, which sees which mil­lions of wilder­beest, half a mil­lion Zebra and 350,000 Gazelles amongst oth­ers tra­verse the great plains of the Serengeti bat­tling the odds against prey, over­crowd­ing and the ele­ments to sur­vive and breed helps fuel the immense wildlife spot­ting oppor­tu­ni­ties at the Serengeti, the Nation­al park is also home to rare fau­na and canyons and mil­lions of rare birds which help make up the more than 800 species that call the Serengeti home. With the Serengeti Nation­al Park being con­sid­ered part of the larg­er Serengeti Eco Sys­tem that also includes the incred­i­ble and unique won­ders of the Ngoron­goro Con­ser­va­tion Area and the Masai Mara Nation­al Park that lies over the North bor­der of Tan­za­nia in Kenya.

With the nation­al park being eas­i­ly explorable through incred­i­ble explo­ration dri­ves – which let you take in a mag­nif­i­cent African sun­rise and sun­sets, as well as on foot through guid­ed walks and from the bal­cony of some of the worlds great­est nature lodges, the incred­i­ble plains and nat­ur­al par­adise of the Serengeti along with it’s mil­lions of ani­mal res­i­dents help make the Serengeti Nation­al park a natures par­adise and a tru­ly incred­i­ble won­der of the world.

Where:

The Serengeti Nation­al Park is found in the North of Tan­za­nia – with the Serengeti Eco sys­tem stretch­ing from the North of Tan­za­nia all the way into South­ern Kenya and is part of which includes the Ngoron­goro Area, the Maswa Game Reserve and the Masai Mara Nation­al Reserve.

Getting there:

The eas­i­est way to get to the Serengeti Nation­al is to head to one of Tanzania’s main inter­na­tion­al air­ports – either Kil­i­man­jaro Inter­na­tion­al Air­port or the Julius Nyerere Inter­na­tion­al Air­port – from where you can get picked up for a mul­ti-day tour that will take you to the main high­lights of the park with tours also leav­ing direct­ly from the town of Arusha near the Kil­i­man­jaro Inter­na­tion­al Air­port for those we are trav­el­ling round Tan­za­nia at the same time as explor­ing the won­der of the world that is the Serengeti.

Alter­na­tive­ly for those who want to get straight into the Serengeti you have the option to fly by pri­vate plane into Seronera Airstrip or even self-dri­ve to the Serengeti with the main high­way from the town of Arusha lead­ing you to the gates of the park and into the vast eco-sys­tem of the Serengeti – just be warned that any­one self-dri­ving will be liable for any ani­mal relat­ed inci­dents.

 

Best time to Visit:

The Serengeti is one of the few won­ders where there’s no best time to vis­it – as the beau­ty of the ani­mals, plains and parks stay fresh and can be seen all year round.

What we’d rec­om­mend though is tim­ing your vis­it to the Serengeti with the great migra­tion which is espe­cial­ly good dur­ing July – Octo­ber and Decem­ber – March as the wilde­beest cross the Serengeti plains – for those who want the off peak tourist sea­son you might to try your luck in April – May when there are occa­sion­al rain storms, but which make for great view­ing of ani­mals at the var­i­ous riv­er and water­ing holes in the Serengeti, includ­ing our favourites of the Seronera Riv­er, the Grumeti Riv­er, the Mara Riv­er and the always spec­tac­u­lar Reti­na Hip­po Pool.

But a vis­it to the Serengeti is always spe­cial and should be done based on your own per­son­al pref­er­ence, with the full Great Migra­tion sched­ule list­ed below:

Jan­u­ary – March: The migra­tion will begin from the south­ern edges of the Serengeti – expect to see the herds graze, birth and raise their young in these three months, with a flock of preda­tors fol­low­ing them and seek­ing to sep­a­rate the young from the adults for easy prey.

April – June: Fol­low­ing the rais­ing of the young and the con­sump­tion of the graze, the herd will move into the cen­tre of the Serengeti, fol­lowed by flocks of Zebra’s and small­er mam­mals, you can expect the ear­ly parts of courtship (read fights between males) to begin amongst wilde­beests dur­ing this peri­od.

June – August – this is the dan­ger zone for the herd and ani­mals, you can expect dra­mat­ic scenes as they try to nav­i­gate the croc­o­dile infest­ed waters of the Serengeti – includ­ing the famous Mara Riv­er where packs of lions wait on the banks to ambush any ani­mal sep­a­rat­ed from the pack, for those want­i­ng to watch nature at its rawest and most extreme, this is the time to head to the Serengeti.

Sep­tem­ber – Decem­ber –the heard enjoys a month of qui­et as they cross the bor­der into Kenya and take time to fur­ther graze, before fol­low­ing the rains they cross back over the Mara sur­round­ed by wait­ing chee­tahs – and begin the cycle again.

Explore:

Along­side the incred­i­ble and vast plains, the true beau­ty and won­der of the Serengeti is in the Mil­lions of wildlife, birds and fau­na that call the area home, with more than 1 mil­lion wilde­beest, half a mil­lion Zebra and 350,000 Gazelles as well ele­phants, Giraffes, Lions, Buf­fa­lo, hip­pos, croc­o­diles, mon­keys and an assort­ment of exot­ic birds mak­ing up the more than 800 ani­mal species that call the 12,000 square miles of vast plains, for­est and water holes in the Serengeti home.

While the Serengeti is home to the great­est nat­ur­al spec­ta­cle on Earth in the Great Migra­tion – where more than 2 mil­lion species tra­verse the plains to feed, birth and sur­vive, it’s also an incred­i­ble nat­ur­al and beau­ti­ful par­adise that can be explored in an assort­ment of ways includ­ing nature walks, game dri­ves, hot air bal­loons, riv­er cruise and even overnight comp­ing.

Although the Serengeti is offi­cial­ly split into the fol­low­ing four areas:

The North – which fea­tures the areas of Koga­tende, Lobo, Lolion­do which is the home to the Mara riv­er and is con­sid­ered the more lux­u­ri­ous and high end area of the Serengeti for tourists.

The East and cen­tral area – which is the most pop­u­lar and crowd­ed area and which offers stun­ning views and incred­i­ble wildlife options.

The South – which is a great place to see birthing activ­i­ties of the ani­mals in Jan­u­ary and March and sits right on the road from Arusha.

The West – which fea­tures the fabled west­ern cor­ri­dor – with great spots to view wildlife, rivers and is a great option year-round.

The vast plains means that as long as you fol­low the cycle of the Great migra­tion, you’ll be guar­an­teed an incred­i­ble expe­ri­ence, with plen­ty of wildlife view­ings and mem­o­rable expe­ri­ences. Along­side this the below are our best rec­om­men­da­tions of things to do, see and explore when vis­it­ing the incred­i­ble won­der of the Serengeti:

Sunrise game drive:

An incred­i­ble oppor­tu­ni­ty to wit­ness the great sun­rise over the beau­ty of the Serengeti and spot the African big 5 (buf­fa­lo, ele­phant leop­ard lion, rhi­no) and the rest of the res­i­dents of the Serengeti who have their morn­ing caf­feine – you’ll find your­self in an open top 4‑wheel dri­ve cruis­ing along the great plains of Africa for about 4 hours, until the mid­day sun begins to rise, with an ear­ly morn­ing sun­rise game dri­ve offer­ing you the best chance to spot lions on the hunt and leop­ards and Buf­fa­los by water­ing holes for an absolute­ly incred­i­ble expe­ri­ence.

Sun­set Game Dri­ve – as with the sun­rise dri­ves, you should also get your­self on a sun­set rise, as like humans the res­i­dents of the Serengeti tend to avoid the mid­day sun over the plains and will return to activ­i­ty – giv­ing you the best chance to view them as the sun­set sets. As well as offer­ing stun­ning pho­tos of the incred­i­ble African Sun­set over the beau­ty of the Serengeti plains – you’ll also get the chance to grab a torch and spot noc­tur­nal ani­mals and wit­ness the beau­ty of the won­der of the Serengeti illu­mi­nat­ed by the night stars.

Just one tip to note for the sun­set and night-time dri­ves, in that only a select few lodges have per­mis­sion to dri­ve along the plains at night for the safe­ty and pro­tec­tion of ani­mals – so it’s advised to book well in advance and be sure to make sure the tour you’re with is legit­i­mate.

Guided walks:

While the pres­ence of the Big 5 on the hunt can be enough to put some peo­ple off walks along the Serengeti – a series of guid­ed tours across the won­der give peo­ple the chance to get up close and per­son­al and dis­cov­er rare res­i­dent sof the Serengeti. Just be sure to go with a guide, who will like­ly car­ry a gun for pro­tec­tion and take you off the beat­en track deep into the heart and undis­cov­ered ter­rain of the Serengeti.

Hot Air Balloon Safari:

A tru­ly memo­r­i­al (if expen­sive) expe­ri­ence – tak­ing a hot air bal­loon over the Serengeti is unques­tion­ably one of the best to wit­ness the true scale and majesties of the Great Migra­tion and get a real feel­ing and under­stand­ing of the scope and scale of the Serengeti – as you soar about thou­sands of migrat­ing and hunt­ing ani­mals beneath you.

Incred­i­bly pop­u­lar with the migra­tion cycle Ait bal­loons ascend in the morn­ing and typ­i­cal­ly car­ry 10 peo­ple – although you can hire one for your­self if mon­ey allows – and start with the excep­tion­al African sun­rise as you get a sky high view of the beau­ty of the nature below – and are then typ­i­cal­ly topped off with a morn­ing cham­pagne class to allow you to cel­e­brate and reflect on the incred­i­ble won­ders of the Serengeti you’ve just wit­nessed.

Lodging in the Serengeti:

An under­rat­ed ele­ment of explor­ing the Serengeti, but it’s pos­si­ble to stay in the heart of the Serengeti – either in a small tent in the wilder­ness or in a high end exclu­sive lodge and watch the beau­ty of the Serengeti and it’s res­i­dents stroll pass you – or even be wak­en by the sound of ele­phants, lions hunt­ing or Zebras on the march.

While camps and tents are offered all offer the main four parts of the park, we’d rec­om­mend head­ing away from the cen­tre and set­ting your­self up in a Lodge in the south or the Ser­e­na area, where panoram­ic views of wildlife can be seen as you eat, swim and relax, with the lodges also being the best place to jump on a night safari cruise or evening walk.

Along­side the best way to explore the Serengeti, there are also mul­ti­ple nature high­lights of the great won­der that real­ly shouldn’t be missed. While there are numer­ous across the 12,000 square miles of the won­der, the below are our top 7 nat­ur­al sights not to be missed:

Serengeti National Park & Plains (Proper):

While used as a broad term to describe the whole of the Serengeti Park – which is a part of the Serengeti Eco Sys­tem, the Nation­al Park and plains are the home of the mil­lions of ani­mals and home to the great migra­tion – so it’s where you want to make sure you end up when head­ing to the won­der.

It is in this area that you’ll find your­self based when you first begin explor­ing the won­der, and from there where you’ll be able to wit­ness the big 5 and mil­lions of mam­mals that roam the grass­land,

forests, hills and lakes of the won­der and from where you begin the process of explor­ing the won­der through the meth­ods above.

Wildebeest Migration:

The great­est nat­ur­al show on the plan­et – the Wilde­beest Migra­tion takes home in the Serengeti and is a a year round event in which mil­lions of wilde­beest and hun­dreds of thou­sands of game migrate in a cir­cu­lar motion in an end­less jour­ney seek out fresh graz­ing grounds, water, part­ners and mat­ing and birthing con­di­tion – and is what makes the Serengeti so spe­cial as the res­i­dents and migra­tion offer guar­an­teed sight­ings of some of the most majes­tic ani­mals on the plan­et all under one roof.

Begin­ning at the start of the year in the Tanzania’s south­ern Serengeti, the herds which includes zebra’s, gazelle’s and elands trav­el 500 miles clock­wise through the Serengeti and up into Kenya’s Masai Mara reserve, hav­ing to nav­i­gate along the way preda­tors, which include lions, hye­nas and gators hunt­ing in packs and the tough con­di­tions of the plains which cause thirst, hunger and exhaus­tion caus­ing the loss of a quar­ter of a mil­lion of the herd – mak­ing the migra­tion not just one of the tough­est jour­neys on earth, but also a nat­ur­al spec­ta­cle like no oth­er.

For those wit­ness­ing the Wilde­beest migra­tion in the Serengeti, be pre­pared for epic clash­es between prey and preda­tor, espe­cial­ly over the Mara riv­er which offers stun­ning nat­ur­al sights, but which can also be an upset­ting sight for some as tens of thou­sands of ani­mals are known to drown, stam­pede or fall vic­tim to their prey in attempt of mak­ing it across the riv­er.

Mara River:

Unques­tion­ably the best spot for nat­ur­al nature view­ing in the Serengeti dur­ing the Wilde­beest Migra­tion, the Mara Riv­er cross­es both Kenya and Tan­za­nia, and flows into the Maa­sai Mara area in Kenya – with the Mara riv­er being one of the best places to wit­ness the action in the Serengeti Nation­al Park as croc­o­diles attempt to feast on the wilde­beest cross­ing the riv­er and sec­tions of the riv­er being too deep for the Wilde­beest to cross.

Known for its life and death parade and for its count­less fea­tures by Atten­bor­ough, if you arrive ear­ly enough at the riv­er you’ll actu­al­ly see the Wilde­beest queu­ing to cross the riv­er – with tours known to spend days perched safe­ly away watch­ing the splen­dour and raw nature that is one dis­play here dur­ing the great migra­tion.

The Retina Hippo Pool:

For a more gen­tle expe­ri­ence to wit­ness nature in the Serengeti waters, we’d rec­om­mend check­ing out the Reti­na Hip­po Pool – which should come as no sur­prise to you hous­es hoards of Hip­pos and is neat­ly locat­ed in the south of the park – with the Hip­po pool being a great chance to observe hip­pos in their nat­ur­al habi­tat and snap some incred­i­ble pho­tos.

Seronera River:

Found in the heart of the Serengeti the Seronera riv­er sits in one of the best and most acces­si­ble areas to see wildlife as the beau­ty of the area and it’s nat­ur­al riv­er attracts ani­mals seek­ing food and water, which in turn attracts prey who seek out their own food – with the riv­er cross­ing con­sid­ered one of the big three rivers that migrat­ing ani­mals must cross on their jour­ney across the Serengeti – mean­ing that the Seronera riv­er is tru­ly spe­cial place to wit­ness both the nat­ur­al and nature won­ders of the Sereg­n­ti.

Grumeti River:

Anoth­er key riv­er to be crossed by ani­mals migrat­ing, the Grumeti riv­er is found in cen­tral Tan­za­nia again near Seronera and is con­sid­ered the place to wit­ness Dar­win­ism in action, action guar­an­teed – as the migrat­ing herd cross the heav­i­ly croc­o­dile infest­ed riv­er to try and con­tin­ue on their jour­ney – with the Grumeti riv­er also so spe­cial and arguably bet­ter than the Mara riv­er for wildlife and nature lovers as the great grumeti riv­er is also a hot spot for Giraffes with the tall trees and beau­ti­ful flo­ra entic­ing them to the riv­er – and offer­ing a place for tru­ly stun­ning pho­tos.

Visit the Masai Tribe:

While the focus in the Serengeti is right­ly on the incred­i­ble wildlife and nat­ur­al beau­ty, it’s often over­looked that there are still tribes that call the great plain of the Serengeti home – the Masai Tribe.

The Maa­sai tribe are known to have lived and hunt­ed in the Serengeti for more than 400 years and are often dressed in bright red colours being known to live in both Kenya and Tan­za­nia. You’ll find that most tours across the Serengeti end with a stop to vis­it the tribe and their vil­lages – both as a way to increase funds to the tribes and as a way to edu­cate tourists about the his­to­ry of the Serengeti, with a vis­it to the tribes often see­ing a well-rehearsed musi­cal per­for­mance and giv­ing vis­i­tors a chance to explore and learn more about the cul­ture, beliefs and lifestyle of the indige­nous Serengeti Masai Tribe.

Along­side the Serengti Nation­al Park – we’d strong­ly rec­om­mend comb­ing your trip there to see the won­ders of the Ngoron­goro Con­ser­va­tion Area and the Maa­sai Mara Nation­al Reserve – which are fre­quent­ed by the migrat­ing herd and are them­selves unique won­ders that make up part of the Serengeti Eco Sys­tem.

How long to stay:

While you get 2 days 1 night pack­ages – hav­ing jour­neyed to the Serengeti we’d advise stay­ing at least a week and prefer­ably 10 days to make sure you have a chance to tru­ly explore the incred­i­ble nature at the park and give your­self a chance to see all of the Big 5 and wit­ness the great­est nat­ur­al spec­ta­cle on earth in the great migra­tion.

Top Tip:

Along­side the obvi­ous tip of being care­ful around wild ani­mals and not antag­o­nis­ing the ani­mals, espe­cial­ly the Big 5 – we’d advise to read up on exact­ly which part and where you want to see the migra­tion and Serengeti and bring plen­ty of water and sun­screen – with our per­son­al rec­om­men­da­tion being to head to the Serengeti in August to wit­ness the incred­i­ble cross­ing over the Mara and Grumeti rivers – and going all out with dai­ly sun­rise and sun­set tours, a hot air bal­loon and a pricey lodge – as expe­ri­enc­ing the great migra­tion at it’s peak is like­ly to be a once in a life­time expe­ri­ence.

Cost:

A trip to the won­der of the Serengeti is pricey, while entrance to the parks clock in at $60 USD a per­son – you’ll have to book tours as part of a pack­age which nor­mal­ly come in at $3000 USD for a decent mul­ti day tour that includes sun­rise and sun­set dri­ves and guid­ed hikes to the best areas, with a hot air bal­loon safari com­ing in at at least $500 usd and a decent lodge – which is real­ly rec­om­mend­ed com­ing in at $600 usd a night – for those on a bit of a bud­get you can camp for $50 Usd a night – but be warned there is no pro­tec­tion from the ani­mals.

All told we’d advise bud­get­ing $6000 Usd for a top class expe­ri­ence at the Serengeti – which is a big invest­ment but sure­ly worth it giv­en the qual­i­ty of the won­der.

Best photo spot:

Any pho­to of one of the big 5 in the wild is some­thing that will stay with you for­ev­er – and along­side the no doubt hun­dreds of pho­tos you’ll take in your time at the Serengeti Park a shot of the giant plains from above in a bal­loon tour, or at either sun­rise and sun­set are great options for a unique yet spec­tac­u­lar pho­to of this incred­i­ble won­der of the world.