Serengeti National Park is one of the best-known wildlife sanctuary in the world, and symbolises the classic African safari. With more than 2 million wildebeest, half a million Thomson’s gazelle, and a quarter of a million zebra, it has the greatest concentration of plains game in Africa. The Serengeti is also synonymous with the annual wildebeest and zebra migration.
Largest of Tanzania’s national parks, and arguably Africa’s premier game park, the Serengeti is the setting for the most awesome wildlife spectacle on earth. Each year, more than two million wildebeest and zebra begin their great circular migration across the open plains and acacia woodlands. Huge columns of advancing zebras and ungainly wildebeest stretch as far as the eye can see with the predators following alongside.
In their wake follow the predators: lion, cheetah and hunting dogs with vultures circling overhead. Serengeti means “endless plains” in the Masai language and within its boundaries are more than three million large mammals. The extensive grasslands are interspersed with “Kopjes”, islands of rocky outcrops which are home to their own wildlife communities which include leopard and hyrax to name a few. Other common species found here are hippo, giraffe, eland, impala and other antelope, baboons, monkeys and a profusion of almost 500 birds. The Serengeti will leave the visitor with images of vastness and breathtaking beauty.
Although outnumbered eight to one, the zebra join in the migration, maintaining their family units of about a dozen members, each with a dominant stallion. Lion, cheetah, hyena and hunting dog follow the wildebeest and zebra, making sure that only the fittest survive. In November, when the grazing is finished in the North, this army of animals surges back to the now green pastures of the south, where they calve and mate before starting the entire cycle again.Normally, the best time to see the animals here is during January and February. Heading north into the Park, the grass becomes noticeably longer, and it is usual to see Grant’s and Thomson’s gazelles, as well as the occasional small groups of topi and kongoni. Out of the vast sea of grass also rise great granite outcrops, known as ‘kopjes’, which have their own range of vegetation and wildlife. Towards Seronera, the Park headquarters, the landscape becomes more varied. Hills rise out of plains criss-crossed by small rivers. Umbrella acacia trees appear, elegant and serene, contrasting with the twisted commiphora trees.
Conditions in the Serengeti are rarely taxing in the daytime during the Dry season (June to October), when the temperature stays nice and warm. It’s a different story at night, when the mercury can take a deep dive. The heat creeps up a few degrees during the Wet season (November to May), though the odd cold front can introduce a chill.
East Africa Top Destinations, Where to go, What to do
Talk to our Tour Consultants on info@holidayadventure.co.ke | +254 727 366223