Central Serengeti

About Central Serengeti

The Central Serengeti is the Seronera area, in the middle of Serengeti National Park, and it is where we base most guests on a first Serengeti safari. Seronera is the park's main settlement and has an all-weather airstrip. The plains around it are classic savannah dotted with acacia, and the wildlife here does not depend on the migration, which is why the area gives good game drives in every month of the year. The Serengeti covers about 14,750 km², and Seronera lies near its centre. Granite outcrops called kopjes rise out of the grass, and lions use them as lookouts, so a game drive here often means checking one rocky hill after another. Seronera has been a research base since the Serengeti Research Institute was set up there in 1966, and the long-running Serengeti lion study still follows prides in this area. In a 2023 update, the Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute reported 205 individual lions and 21 prides sighted in its core study area. The wildebeest migration passes through rather than stays. After the long rains the herds leave the southern plains and move west and north, usually between April and June, and they come back south through the park around October and November ahead of the short rains. In those months the central plains can fill with herds. The rest of the year the resident game carries the drive on its own. The Serengeti is a year-round destination. June to October is drier and sunnier, but it is also the busiest and most expensive time, and some camps fill early. November to May is greener, the birding is excellent, and April and May are the quietest months, when you share sightings with very few other vehicles. There are two ways to reach Seronera. Most of our guests drive in from Arusha through the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, which turns the transfer into a full day of game viewing. Scheduled and charter flights also land at Seronera from Arusha, Kilimanjaro, Mwanza and Zanzibar, which saves a day if your time is short. Two nights is a sensible minimum, and three gives you room to explore further out on the plains. Most of our Serengeti itineraries spend at least one night in the Seronera area, from the 3 Days Serengeti Classic Safari to our longer migration safaris, and the Central Serengeti is an easy base to combine with the Ndutu plains in the calving season or the Ngorongoro Crater on the way back to Arusha. A typical day starts early, with a drive along the river and past the kopjes while the cats are still active. The middle of the day is hot and slow, so we head back to camp or stop for a picnic, then go out again for the last hours of light. For a lodge, Serengeti Serena Safari Lodge sits on a ridge in the Kyabatero Hills north-west of Seronera, with 66 rooms in stone and thatch rondavels. We also book tented camps in the area, chosen to suit your budget and the season.