Serengeti National Park

About Serengeti National Park

Legend has it that the word Serengeti emanates from the people who have occupied this pristine land for aeons, the Maasai. Roughly translated, it means the endless plains, or “the place where the land runs on forever”. Proclaimed in 1952, and covering 14,763 km2 (5,700 sq mi), an area larger than Connecticut or Montenegro, in the eastern Mara Region of northern Tanzania, the Serengeti National Park is revered by nature-lovers worldwide as one of the most populous wildlife destinations. Stretching north to Kenya and bordering Lake Victoria to the West, the diverse habitats within make it the perfect home for creatures great and small. It is also cherished as a World Heritage Site, both for the wildlife it is home to and the abundant relics of prehistoric mankind. As its name suggests, the overwhelming impression given by the Serengeti is of vast, open spaces dotted with granite kopjes (rock outcrops), flat-topped acacia trees, and undulating grasslands. Only two permanent rivers pass through the park, although numerous gullies rise in spate when good rains fall. Closing your eyes, the serenade of Nature soothes the atavistic brain, while her various scents arouse the senses even further. The near-pristine wilderness aside, Serengeti National Park is most famous for the prolific wildlife that roams the ancient plains. Huge herds of plains game, estimated at some 2 million ungulates, roam the various habitats; grazing, browsing and fertilizing the land they traverse. The massive herbivorous biomass in turn provides ample hunting opportunities for Africa’s legendary large predators perpetuating the unceasing circle of life and death on the African plains. Here too, visitors are blessed with myriad species of birds and plants, each adding to the awe of nature’s complexity and diversity. By road, the Serengeti National Park is 335 km (208 mi) from Tanzania’s safari hub, Arusha. By air, seven airstrips service different regions of the park. the annual migratory circuit of over a million wildebeest and other ungulates, draws predators and tourists alike. Ungulates run the gauntlet of predators waiting at the rivers they must cross during the migration. the abundance of prey means Serengeti boasts the greatest concentration of large predators, including lion, cheetah, leopard, and spotted hyena, on earth. Careful management of the environment ensures a diversity of habitats; home to innumerable species of fauna and flora.