Serengeti National Park

photo by Ron Hoffman

Description: The Serengeti is the setting for so many wildlife documentaries with good reason.  Visitors are virtually guaranteed to see an impressive array of wildlife.

The Serengeti boasts a staggering 8,500 giraffe, 10,000 eland, 200,000 zebra, 1.3 million wildebeest, 1,500 lions, 1,000 elephants, 280,000 Thompson’s gazelles, 25,000 buffalo, 500 species of birds, 72,000 Topi, and 32,000 Grant’s gazelle.

The annual wildebeest migration is one of the most spectacular and breath-taking events in the world.  From the Serengeti to Kenya’s Masai Mara over 1.4 million wildebeest and 200,000 zebra and gazelle, relentlessly tracked by Africa’s great predators, migrate in a clockwise fashion over 1,800 miles each year in search of rain ripened grass.  This mass of moving animals is so large that even when it is in Kenya's Masai Mara, parts of it are still in the Serengeti.

Note that even during August to November, the approximate time when most of the wildebeest are expected to be in the Masai Mara, the wildlife is still plentiful in the Serengeti, as the ‘resident’ animals opt to stay where they are instead of follow the migration.

Location: Northern circuit, 7 hours outside Arusha, 2.5 hours from the Ngorongoro Crater

Things 2 Do: Game-drives, Hot Air Balloon, Bush Walks and Night Game Drives

Time: The average stay is 3-4 nights with 2 nights as a recommended minimum.

Animals: Virtually all safari animals except for the Rhino.

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