Serengeti National Park

Serengeti National Park Overview

The Serengeti National Park is widely regarded as the greatest wildlife destination and national parks on earth. Home to one of the world’s greatest concentrations of wildlife and vast open grasslands, the Serengeti National Park is Tanzania’s flagship conservation area and a must-do for first-time and returning safari goers alike. Meaning “endless plains” in the Maasai language, the Serengeti National Park is one of the most celebrated wilderness areas in the world.

Stretching along a vast plateau between the eastern arm of the rugged Rift Valley and the huge expanse of Lake Victoria, the Serengeti National Park covers an immense 14 800 km² (5 700 square miles) on Tanzania’s northern border with Kenya. Making up 50% of the wider Serengeti–Mara ecosystem, the Serengeti is the most famous protected wilderness area in all of Africa.

Declared as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Serengeti is Tanzania’s oldest game reserve. It boasts one of the eldest and most distinct ecosystems on earth, featuring a vibrant and thriving vegetation that has remained largely untouched for millions of years.

While the Serengeti is notorious for its vastly diverse and abundant wildlife, it is best known as the site of the world-renowned Annual Serengeti National Park Great Migration. The Serengeti Great Migration sees millions of wildebeest, zebra and gazelle traversing the open plains of the park in search of fresh grass from seasonal rains. One of the greatest spectacles in the natural world, the migration follows the seasonal rains, spending the wet season on the south eastern plains of Tanzania and the dry season in the woodlands of north western Kenya.

There is no doubt that a visit to the Serengeti National Park should be on every wildlife and nature lover’s bucket-list.

Best time to go

January – February (Wildebeest calving) | June – September (General wildlife viewing & a chance of see the wildebeest crossing of the Grumeti River (June-July) or the Mara River (September)

High Season

Most of the year | July – March (The Serengeti will be crowded around the Seronera area)

Low Season

April and May (Lower rates may apply)

Size

14,763km² / 5,700mi²

Altitude

1,140-2,099m / 3,740-6,886ft

Location

Tanzania

Best Weather

June to October (Little to no rainfall)

Dry Season

June – October

Wet Season

November – May

Worst Weather

March and April (Peak of Wet season)

Serengeti National Park Wildlife

Boasting some of the best year-round game viewing in Africa, witnessing the Serengeti National Park’s vast diversity of wildlife is undoubtedly one of the top reasons why wildlife lovers travel from all corners of the globe to visit this African wilderness gem.

While the Serengeti is famed for its annual wildebeest Great Migration, when millions of wildebeest, zebra, gazelle, and eland cross the open plains and rivers, joining the trek for fresh grazing, the Serengeti National Park is home to one of the world’s greatest concentrations of wildlife

The Serengeti is home to the iconic African Big 5 (lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo, and rhino), and is renowned for its array of predators. Huge herds of elephant and buffalo, families of giraffe, prides of lions, coalitions of cheetahs, solitary and leap leopards, black rhinos, hundreds of small mammals and primates (including vervet monkeys, olive baboons, caracals wildcats, and genets), as well as an abundance of antelope (such as eland, topi, kongoni and impala) can all be frequently spotted in the Serengeti.

The riverine forests of the Serengeti National Park are a favorite spot for hippos and crocodiles, while cheetahs are very common on the south-eastern plains and leopards can typically be found lazing in one of the big trees along the Seronera River.

Spotted hyenas and golden and black-backed jackals are also regularly spotted in the Serengeti while the endangered African wild dog is a rare, but remarkable find.

Serengeti National Park Great Migration

Considered the most thrilling spectacle in the animal kingdom, the annual mass migration of wildebeest and other herbivores, with their ever-attendant entourage of predators is a truly breathtaking experience.

Deemed “The greatest show on earth” and most magnificent wildlife spectacle in the natural world, the annual Great Migration is an ever-moving circular migration of over a million animals across the Serengeti-Mara ecosystem. In this year-round cycle across the Serengeti-Mara ecosystem, over 2 million wildebeest, 400,000 zebra, 300,000 Grant’s and Thomson’s gazelle and 12,000 eland throng the landscape and traverse the open plains, following the rain, in search of fresh grass and pastures – The Great Migration is deemed the largest mammal migration on earth.

The roughly 800 kilometer trek that constitutes the Great Wildebeest Migration follows the seasonal rains and coincides with the timing of the greening of nutritious grass on the short-grass plains during the wet season. These areas are safer because predators can be easily spotted making it an ideal place for calving. However, as the plains dry, the wildebeest are forced to move on in search of fresh grass and greener pastures.

The Great Migration journey starts in the Southern region of the Serengeti National Park. The ‘start’ of the Great Migration is also the prime wildebeest calving season, as thousands of wildebeest calves are born within a couple weeks of each other – Witnessing this spectacular wildlife phenomenon truly is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for any avid wildlife enthusiast! Due to the rapid rise in the number of newborn wildebeest, there’s an equally rapid increase in the number of predators, such as lions, leopards, and hyenas in the area who are constantly on the hunt for newborn wildlife.

When the drought starts to set in during the month of May and the dry season approaches, the huge herds of wildebeest, zebra, gazelle, and eland migrate north towards the Masai Mara in Kenya. This part of the Great Migration, similar to the others, is not without its risks as it involves the extreme and dangerous river crossing from the Serengeti National Park to the Masai Mara in Kenya. Despite the sheer volume of wildlife, crossing rivers means facing approximately 3,000 crocodiles, patiently waiting for a kill, as well as the famous Serengeti lion population – by far the largest in Africa – right and ready to pounce whenever opportunity strikes. These dramatic scenes of huge herds on the move, crossing rivers and vast plains, pursued by predators looking for their next kill, truly are the stuff nature documentaries are made of.

With the beginning of the short rains in late October, the great migration makes its way back into the Serengeti National Park. By December, the herds trek past Seronera / Central Serengeti to return to their calving grounds once again, completing the year-round cycle / ever-moving circular migration.

General Guideline: When to see the Great Wildebeest Migration in the Serengeti National Park

(These guidelines are subject to change as per seasonal rainfall)

	Approximate time	Region
Calving	January to March	Southern Serengeti
Intense Big Cat Action	January to March	Southern Serengeti
Rutting	January to March	Southern Serengeti
Grumeti River Crossings	May to July	Western Serengeti
Mara River Crossings	July to September	Northern Serengeti
On the Move	October to December	Northern Serengeti and Masai Mara

**Important Note: The above guidelines are approximate dates and places. The Wildebeest Migration is a year-round, circular journey and the river crossings cannot be predicted, although they generally occur between May and September.

Serengeti National Park Birdlife

Beyond being a globally acclaimed wildlife and safari destination, the Serengeti National Park is a renowned bird lover’s paradise. Boasting more than 500 recorded bird species, the Serengeti attracts avid local and international birding enthusiasts alike. From November to April several remarkable migratory birds can be spotted in the Serengeti, making it a real treat for birders.

The Serengeti-Mara ecosystem is deemed one of Africa’s Endemic Bird Areas. This means that the Serengeti-Mara ecosystem is regarded as important land for habitat-based bird conservation containing restricted-range bird species, hosting five bird species found nowhere else in the world.

These endemic bird species are easy to locate within their restricted range. The grey-breasted spurfowl is common in the Seronera area. In woodland areas, parties of Fischer’s lovebird draw attention to themselves, and the rufous-tailed weaver is a fascinating bird placed in its own genus. The other two endemics are the Usambiro barbet and the grey-crested helmet-shrike.

Some of Serengeti’s other birding highlights include watching marabou storks searching for juicy morsels in freshly burnt grass, male ostriches displaying for females, and pairs of crowned cranes calling to each other. Birds such as the blue-cheeked Cordon Bleu, raptors flying the thermals and pink flamingoes at Lake Manyara are other common, yet equally spectacular Serengeti bird sightings.

Notable birds in the Serengeti National Park include:

Fischer’s lovebird (locally common |Endemic to Tanzania)
Grey-breasted spurfowl (Locally common | Endemic to Tanzania)
Kori bustard (Common)
Rufous-tailed weaver (Locally common | Endemic to Tanzania)
Secretary bird (Common)

Birding specials & real treats for avid birders in Serengeti National Park:

Black-headed gonolek
Fischer’s lovebird (Endemic to Tanzania)
Green-backed woodpecker
Grey-backed fiscal
Grey-breasted spurfowl (Endemic to Tanzania)
Grey-crested helmet-shrike (Near endemic – Tanzania & neighboring countries)
Hildebrandt’s starling (Near endemic – Tanzania & neighboring countries)
Red-capped robin-chat
Rufous-tailed weaver (Endemic to Tanzania)
Rüppell’s vulture
Southern ground hornbill
Schalow’s turaco
Silverbird
Usambiro barbet (Near endemic – Tanzania & neighboring countries)
Verreaux’s eagle
Yellow-throated sandgrouse

Best time for bird watching in the Serengeti National Park

While bird watching in the Serengeti is great year-round, the absolute best time for bird watching in the Serengeti National park is during November through to April (wet season). Not only is this when European and north African migratory birds are present, but it is the prime nesting season for resident birds, making it much easier to spot various bird species in their breeding plumage.

Serengeti National Park Scenery & Vegetation

Stretching along a vast plateau between the eastern arm of the rugged Rift Valley and the huge expanse of Lake Victoria, the Serengeti National Park is the largest and most iconic national park in Tanzania, covering an extensive 14 800 km² (5 700 square miles) on Tanzania’s northern border with Kenya. As Tanzania’s oldest national park, the Serengeti boasts one of the oldest and most distinct ecosystems on earth, featuring a varied, vibrant, and thriving vegetation that has remained largely untouched for millions of years.

The park’s array of habitats, vegetation, and landscapes are equally as vast and diverse as the Serengeti itself. Meaning “endless plains” in the Maasai language, the Serengeti National Park is renowned for its infinite grassland plains and open savannahs. However, in reality, the Serengeti ecosystem is so much more varied than that.

The Serengeti National Park consists of the Southern Serengeti, Western Serengeti, Central Serengeti, and the Northern Serengeti, each of which is characterised by its own unique landscape and vegetation.

The Southern Serengeti is known for its vast, nutrient-rich, open plains and grasslands and granite kopjes spread out across the landscape. In addition to its endless grassland plains and open savannahs, a small seasonal lake called Lake Ndutu, also known as Lake Lagarja, can be found in this region. Surrounded by beautiful acacia trees, Lake Ndutu is considered one of the most scenic and game rich places in the Southern Serengeti, supporting an amazing diversity of wildlife and birdlife. Visitors will also have the opportunity to see incredible flocks of pink flamingos around the lake.

The Southern Serengeti’s vegetation makes it a prime game viewing destination with exceptional wildlife sightings guaranteed year-round.

The Western Serengeti, commonly known as the Western Corridor, is made up of Grumeti and Ikoma. This region of the Serengeti is known to be the ‘starting point’ of the annual Wildebeest Migration river crossing. The Western Corridor landscape is hilly and wooded, with large forests of acacia trees, infinite terrain, and several valleys, rivers.

Central Serengeti, often called Seronera, is the heart of the Serengeti National Park. Featuring several diverse ecosystems, including open grasslands, acacia forests and riverine areas, Central Serengeti is home to a large variety of wildlife and birdlife. It also boasts the highest concentration of wildlife in the Serengeti, resulting in the best year-round game viewing and wildlife encounters.

The popular Kogatende and Lobo areas form part of the Northern Serengeti. This region of the Serengeti National Park is the nearest to the Kenyan border as well as the iconic Mara River. This makes the Northern Serengeti one of the most sought-after destinations for local and global wildlife and nature enthusiasts alike, especially during the annual Serengeti Great Migration.

The northern region of the Serengeti is renowned for its stunning scenic landscapes, made up of hills, riverine forests, vast open plains, and rocky outcrops. The immense Mara River also cuts through this region of the Serengeti National Park, providing the iconic setting for the greatest river crossing and wildlife spectacle in the world – The Annual Serengeti National Park Great Migration – also regarded by many as “The World Cup of Wildlife”.

Several areas in the Serengeti National Park are also dotted with ‘koppies’, granite outcrops rising up from the plains.

Best Time To Go To Serengeti National Park