The name Serengeti is derived from the Maasai word “siringit,” meaning “endless plains.”
Serengeti National Park was first protected in 1940, but the national park wasn’t formally established until 1951.
The Serengeti National Park is huge, covering more than 14,700 square kilometers, but the park actually protects less than half of the Serengeti ecosystem, which covers approximately 30,000 square kilometers.
In the 1890s, the area that was to become Serengeti National Park was hit by heavy droughts and a cattle disease epidemic.
Sadly, this illness also swept through the wild populations of prey animals.
Wildlife was decimated, and it wasn’t until around the mid-1970s that wildlife populations had fully recovered.
Apart from rhinoceros, which were decimated by poachers, and hunting dogs, which are slowly declining, you will readily observe every species of African savanna mammal within the Serengeti.
It is the best place in East Africa to see predators in action because of the open grass plains where grazing animals gather; predators are numerous and easily visible to the safari-goer.
The Serengeti National Park is divided into three main sectors or regions: The Serengeti plains, Western Corridor, and Northern Serengeti.
The Serengeti plains are the most famous sector of the park and consist of endless grasslands interrupted only by rocky hills (Kopjes) with vegetation.
It is where most of the hoofed animals like wildebeest breed and feed.
Predators like lions, pythons, and hyrax use the Kopjes to hide or observe grazing prey.
The western corridor, on the other hand, consists of rivers and forests.
It is where you can find martial eagles, crocodiles, hippos, and patas monkeys.
The Northern Serengeti is dominated by hills and open woodlands.
It is the best place to see giraffes, dik, and elephants.
It is very close to the Maasai Mara National Reserve and is where migrating wildebeest pass through when crossing to Kenya.
The Serengeti is also home to other grazers like the topi, hippos, warthogs, hartebeest, waterbucks, giraffes, impala, eland, bushbucks, klipspringer, lesser kudus, roan antelopes, dik dik, and Oryx.
Although the migrating grazers are a key attraction, it is the Big 5 (Lions, Leopards, Elephants, Rhinos, and Buffaloes) that bring tourists to the park throughout the year.
The Serengeti is home to the largest population of lions in Africa, with over 2,500 individuals.
The cats thrive in the park mainly because of an abundance of prey.
About 1,000 leopards call the park home, while 5,000 elephants can be sighted in the park.
Less than 50 black rhinos roam the Serengeti plains due to uncontrolled poaching that occurred during the 1970s and 80s.
While rhinos are few, the Serengeti has over 53,000 buffaloes roaming the park.
Apart from the already mentioned herbivores and the Big 5, the Serengeti is also home to cheetahs, hyenas, serval cats, jackals, wild dogs, otters, honey badgers, mongoose, and the African golden wolf.
There are also hyraxes, ground pangolin, crested porcupine, cape hare, bat-eared fox, aardwolf, and aardvark.
The primates in the park include baboons, vervet monkeys, black and white colobus monkeys.
The primates are mostly concentrated in the forests close to Grumeti River.
When it comes to birds and reptiles, the Serengeti is home to the serrated hinged terrapin, rainbow agama, puff adder, Nile monitor, Nile crocodile, leopard tortoise, chameleons, black-necked spitting cobra, black mamba, and African python.
Over 500 species of birds, both resident and migratory, call the Serengeti National Park home.
These include yellow-billed storks, vultures, southern ground hornbills, secretary birds, oxpeckers, Masai ostriches, martial eagles, marabou storks, lovebirds, lesser flamingos, kori bustards, helmeted Guinea fowls, Grey-breasted spurfowls, and crowned cranes, just to mention a few.
The key attractions in Serengeti National Park are day game drives, night game drives, balloon safaris over the vast plains, visiting the Seronera River Valley, walking safaris, following the great migration, birding, visiting the Serengeti Visitor Center, visiting the Bologonja Springs, visiting the Olduvai Gorge, exploring the Maasai Cultural Villages, and exploring the Kopjes (large rocks with vegetation where predators love to hide).
The day game drives are designed purposely to allow visitors to spot the Big 5 mammals.
This requires a 4X4 tour van because it involves driving for a long time and deep into the park.
Game drives are conducted in the morning, afternoon, and at night.
The night game drives are designed to allow visitors to spot nocturnal creatures (skinks, nightjars, scrub hares, civets, chameleons, bush babies, bat-eared foxes, and aardvarks, just to mention a few).
The game drives go all the way up to the famous hippo pool and to the Ngorongoro crater.
Night game drives are also excellent for watching the endless battles between predators and prey.
Similar to the game drives is watching the great migration.
Unlike normal game drives that go on throughout the year, witnessing the wildebeest migration depends on the particular month of the year.
It is also important to mention that one can view the Big 5 and the migration from the sky using hot air balloons.
An aerial view of the vast wilderness and Kopjes (giant rock formations with grass that look like islands) will give you a completely different perspective of the park.
If balloon safaris are not your thing, you can instead choose to view wildlife on foot while on a walking safari.
Apart from the wildlife, there is also the possibility of going for an amazing cultural experience in Tanzania with the Maasai Tribe in their villages.
On a typical visit, the Maasai will take you to their homestead (known as bomas) to learn about their nomadic way of life, traditional dress code, marriage ceremonies, education system, and their ancient tradition of keeping domestic animals.
Visiting the Maasai is incomplete without taking part in the traditional Maasai dance and buying a few of their handicrafts.
If you are looking to add an extraordinary adventure to your life, visit Serengeti National Park, and you will have an unforgettable safari experience full of beautiful memories.
