WHY SHOULD YOU VISIT SERENGETI? ............." THE ENDLESS PLAIN " ~ TANZANIA UNIQUE SAFARIS & TRAVELS

The Serengeti is Tanzania's oldest and most popular national park, also a world heritage site and recently proclaimed a 7th world wide wonder. The Serengeti is famed for its annual migration, when some six million hooves pound the open plains, as more than 200,000 zebra and 300,000 Thomson's gazelle join the wildebeest’s trek for fresh grazing. Yet even when the migration is quiet, the Serengeti offers arguably the most scintillating game-viewing in Africa: great herds of buffalo, smaller groups of elephant and giraffe, and thousands upon thousands of eland, topi, kongoni, impala and Grant’s gazelle.

The spectacle of predator versus prey dominates Tanzania’s greatest park. Golden-maned lion prides feast on the abundance of plain grazers. Solitary leopards haunt the acacia trees lining the Seronera River, while a high density of cheetahs prowls the southeastern plains. Almost uniquely, all three African jackal species occur here, alongside the spotted hyena and a host of more elusive small predators, ranging from the insectivorous aardwolf to the beautiful serval cat.

But there is more to Serengeti than large mammals. Gaudy agama lizards and rock hyraxes scuffle around the surfaces of the park’s isolated granite koppies. A full 100 varieties of dung beetle have been recorded, as have 500-plus bird species, ranging from the outsized ostrich and bizarre secretary bird of the open grassland, to the black eagles that soar effortlessly above the Lobo Hills. As enduring as the game-viewing is the liberating sense of space that characterises the Serengeti Plains, stretching across sunburnt savannah to a shimmering golden horizon at the end of the earth. Yet, after the rains, this golden expanse of grass is transformed into an endless green carpet flecked with wildflowers. And there are also wooded hills and towering termite mounds, rivers lined with fig trees and acacia woodland stained orange by dust.

When should I go?

The Serengeti is one of the very few places in Africa of which you can say the game viewing is outstanding at any time of year. April and May sees the heaviest rains but even then, the lodges are ridiculously good value and the park is quiet. We believe the very best time of year to be in the park is either from January to March which includes the spectacle of the Great Migration calving, or alternatively from the middle of July all the way to the middle of November when the herds are crossing the Mara river to or from Kenya.

What will I see?

There are so many different species in the Serengeti that this list could go on forever. The Serengeti's main attraction is the Great Migration, consisting of up to 2 million wildebeest, 200,000 zebras and 350,000 thompson, impala and grant's gazelles. The predator viewing here is exceptional with approximately 3-4,000 lion and huge numbers of cheetah, leopard and hyena. Other game found in the park include topi, eland, hartebeest, buffalo, elephant, caracal, serval, bat-eared fox, hyraz, genet, hares, porcupine, aardvark, giraffe, jackal, mongoose, crocodile, monitor lizard, aardwolf, many kinds of primates including baboons, vervet and colobus monkeys, and over 500 species of bird.

What can I do?

The main activity in the Serengeti is daytime game driving. No night safari is permitted inside the park but there are a number of lodges found in the reserves adjacent to the Serengeti which allow this activity. Most notable are Singita's Grumeti Reserves ( Sasakwa, Faru Faru and Grumeti Reserves Sabora) as well as Kleins Camp and the camps in the adjacent Loliondo reserve are where guests can night drive. Walking is also possible outside the park, and a couple of camps in the far North of the park allow for walks within the park boundaries. Speak to us for the most up to date information on walking inside the Serengeti as the rules change all the time! There are no boating safaris in the area.