About Serengeti National Park

The Serengeti is one of the most famous parks in Africa and is synonymous with wildlife and classic African scenery. It is Tanzania’s oldest park and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is home to the spectacular wildebeest migration and offers top-class wildlife viewing throughout the year. Serengeti National Park covers 14,750 square kilometers (5,700 sq mi) of grassland plains, savanna, riverine forest, and woodlands. The park lies in northwestern Tanzania, bordered to the north by the Kenyan border, where it is continuous with the Maasai Mara National Reserve. Seeking new pasture, the herds move north from their breeding grounds in the grassy southern plains. Many cross the marshy western corridor’s crocodile-infested Grumeti River. Others veer northeast to the Lobo Hills, home to black eagles. Black rhinos inhabit the granite outcrops of the Moru Kopjes. Surrounded by remarkable tribes such as the Masai and Hadzabe, this wider area is also fascinating from a cultural perspective.

The whole park is a world heritage site, and the varied ecosystem coupled with the huge volume of wildlife means you can spend ample time in different locations and never feel like you’ve seen it all. To the southeast of the park is the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, to the southwest lies Maswa Game Reserve, to the west are the Ikorongo and Grumeti Game Reserves, and to the northeast and east lies the Loliondo Game Control Area. Together, these areas form the larger Serengeti National Park ecosystem. The park can be divided into three sections. The popular southern/central part (Seronera Valley), is what the Maasai called the “serengit,” the land of endless plains. Its classic savannah, dotted with acacias and filled with wildlife. The western corridor is marked by the Grumeti River and has more forests and dense bush. The north, Lobo area, meets up with Kenya’s Maasai Mara Reserve and is the least visited section. The essential features of climate, vegetation, and fauna have barely changed in the past million years. Early man himself made an appearance in Olduvai Gorge about two million years ago. Some patterns of life, death, adaptation, and migration are as old as the hills themselves. There are also other smaller surrounding parks, Lake Manyara and Tarangire, but these are more “add-on” destinations – Serengeti National Park, in our view, is the real star of the show.

Serengeti National Park, the famous and most visited African national park, is the pride of Africa Safari. Think of a wildlife safari, think of Serengeti National Park, where you get lost in the sound and sight of total wilderness. Your mind will be blown by the large number of animals you will see on your safari. It is undoubtedly the best-known wildlife sanctuary in the world, unequaled for its natural beauty and scientific value, with the greatest concentration of plains game in Africa. The park is featured on many National Geographic shows. The park is rich with wildlife, endless plains, and sunrises and sunsets that make the heart go wild; an endless array of grassy plains, woodlands, and hills dotted with glorious animals of every type and size.

History of Serengeti National Park

Undisturbed for millions of years, the Serengeti ecosystem came to the attention of the world when the first European explorer, German Oscar Baumann, visited the area west of the Ngorongoro Crater in 1892.

In 1913, explorer and hunter Stewart Edward White explored the area. Attracted by the volume of lions, which were considered ‘vermin’ and trophy prizes, more hunters followed and shot at will. During the 1920s, the lion population was drastically reduced. It wasn’t uncommon for up to 50 lions to be killed during a safari.

The Government, at the time under the command of the British colonial administration, stepped in to stop the hunting. Between 1921 and 1930, a series of laws were passed to protect the animals of the Serengeti. In 1935, the killing of lions was prohibited in the Banagi and Seronera regions of the Serengeti. Finally, in 1951, the area was given National Park status and declared a game reserve and protected conservation area.