Serengeti National Park

The Serengeti is probably Africa's most famous game reserve and is an absolutely outstanding place to see game. Its name comes from the Maasai word 'siringet' meaning 'endless plains' - and this is a perfect description; its vast expanse does indeed seem never-ending and is simply covered in game.

 

An extraordinary spectacle

The annual migration that takes place here is one of nature's most astonishing phenomena as two million animals (mostly wildebeest but also zebra, gazelle and eland) head across the plains towards Kenya. They risk life and limb to complete this yearly journey in search of fresh grazing and water since hundreds of salivating predators follow in their wake, ready to pick off the tired and the feeble. They must also cross the Grumeti River - a perilous task - as here they become fish in a barrel for the river's seething mass of huge, hungry crocodiles.

The migration normally starts towards the end of April, as the great herds begin to amass on the southern Serengeti plains in preparation for their 500 mile journey. The Grumeti River crossing typically occurs around June and early July. After this time, the herds begin to disperse into the Maasai Mara in Kenya and across northern and western Serengeti. By late October, they begin to make the move south again for the start of the new cycle. The migration is dictated by local rainfall patterns and, because it is a reasonably predictable occurrence, it is often possible to time a trip to the Serengeti to coincide with this fascinating event.

 

Thriving wildlife

The Serengeti's most prolific animal species is the wildebeest with an estimated 1.5 million spread across its plains. Also in great numbers are zebra, Thomson's gazelle, Grant's gazelle, impala, topi, kongoni, eland, giraffe, buffalo and warthog. There are dik-dik, klipspringer, roan, oribi, waterbuck and oryx too. The Serengeti is home to a few black rhino although they are in a restricted part of the park. Elephant tend to stick to the northern and western parts of the park as they do not favour the open plains. Predators here are prolific: hundreds of lion and a healthy population of cheetah and leopard. Spotted hyenas, golden jackals, bat-eared foxes and black-backed jackals, civet, serval, genet and African wild-cat are also regularly seen.

Panormic image by kind permission of Kusini