Serengeti Facts

1. Amazing Wildlife

First designated as a conservation area in 1940, Serengeti National Park is regarded as year round safari destination as it offers more or less ideal climate with an abundance of wildlife for excellent game viewing throughout the calendar year. Serengeti is home to the big five as well as the Big Nine African animals (lion, leopard, elephant, cape buffalo, and rhinoceros) along with more than 400 bird species identified in the park, many of which are migranting species and with almost 60 species being raptors. Click here to read more about Serengeti Animals and Wildlife

2. Great Wildebeest Migration

Great Wildebeest migration has been selected as one of the seven natural wonders of the World and takes place every year between late July to end of September, though this timing can vary somewhat due to prevailing rainfall patterns. During these months the yellow savannah is dotted black by more than 1.5 million wildebeest, zebra and antelopes that migrate from the Serengeti northwards into the Masai Mara in search of food and water, and as part of their mating and birth cycles.
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3. Lions

Though there are many fascinating animals to be found in Serengeti, sighting the Lions is often the highlight of a safari game drive and most tourists if not all have Lions on top of their wildlife spotting check list when visiting the park. There are currently estimated to be between 3000 Lions ( including Lionesses) in the greater serengeti - Masai Mara ecosytem, to include the conservancies surrounding the core reserves. Click here to read more about Serengeti Lions.

4. The Maasai People

Arguably the single most iconic tribe in Africa, the Maasai are nomadic pastrolists who traditionally make a living out of herding cattle. Originally a Nilotic ethnic group which is said to have migrated centuries ago from the semi arid Nile valley north of Lake Turkana, the Maasai inhabit the region around Serengeti and Masai Mara as well as large portions of Great Rift Valley. The Maasai have their unique nomadic culture and way of life not to mention their traditonal dress of red or brightly colored ''shukas'' or body drapes. Click here to read more about Maasai Tribe Facts

Traditional Clothing of Maasai; Maasai Shuka's

5. Area & Location

MThe Serengeti stretches 14,763 (5,700 sq miles) stretching North to Kenya and bordering Lake Victoria to the West. The park is part of a much larger eco system which includes the bordering Masai Mara National Reserve, ( located south east Kenya). Serengeti covers a larger area of approximately 25,000 sq km, equivalent to 9,700 sq miles. The two major rainfall seasons typical to Tanzania also loosely apply to Serengeti, with the months from April to May and September to November seeing brief rainly spells nonetheless accompanied by hours of sunshine. The terrain in the park is typically open grassland and rolling hills, punctuated by a non-seasonal Mara River ( scene of the migration crossings) and seasonal riverlets.

6. Scenery & Landscapes

‘Serengeti’ comes from the Masai word ‘siringet’, which means ‘a place where the land goes on forever’. But it’s also a place where time goes on forever. The ecosystem has barely changed at all since early man first walked here two million years ago. The landscape is a combination of nutritious grasslands and sparse woodlands: grassy areas dotted with Acacia trees, the iconic image of the Serengeti. The entire ecosystem spans 30,000 km² from north Tanzania extending to south-western Kenya.