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.
Annual wildebeest migration (late January to September)
Top wildlife viewing all year-round
Endless plains feel like authentic Africa
Superb for spotting predators
Excellent mid-range and luxury lodges
Hot air balloon safaris
The Seronera area gets crowded during peak season (June and July and October to April)
Every year, over 2 million wildebeest, zebra and gazelle migrate from the Serengeti to the Masai Mara Reserve in Kenya. If you’re there at the right time, you can spot herds of wildebeest and zebra stretching to the horizon.
The Serengeti offers some of the best wildlife viewing in Africa. All the major safari animals occur in great numbers. Cheetah and four of the Big 5 are easily seen, but rhino sightings are rare, and only black rhino are present. Aside from the big cats, many other predators can be spotted including spotted hyena (especially in the morning), jackal and bat-eared fox.
Serengeti’s scenery is renowned for its grassland plains in the southeast. The northern part is more hilly and rocky. To the west, valleys, rivers and forest can be found. Several areas in the Serengeti are dotted with ‘koppies’, granite outcrops rising up from the plains. It’s an immense landscape and quite stunning – big sky country that feels like untamed wilderness.
The Serengeti has more than 500 bird species recorded, and the Serengeti-Mara ecosystem is one of Africa’s Endemic Bird Areas (land important for habitat-based bird conservation containing restricted-range bird species), hosting five bird species found nowhere else.
These specials are easy to locate within their restricted range. The grey-breasted spurfowl is common in the Seronera area. In woodland areas, parties of Fischer’s lovebird draw attention to themselves and the rufous-tailed weaver is a fascinating bird placed in its own genus. The other two endemics are the Usambiro barbet and the grey-crested helmet-shrike. Migratory birds are present from November to April.
The best time to visit the Serengeti National Park is in the Dry season (from late June to October). This period offers the best wildlife viewing in general – with the wildebeest migration as its absolute highlight. Wildlife viewing is good throughout the year, but certain areas are better at specific times. The timing of the migration varies every year (the best chance of seeing it is during June and July) while the wildebeest calving is from late January to February.
- Serengeti National Park
- Katavi National Park
- Mahale National Park
- Gombe Stream National Park
- Rubondo National Park
- Kitulo National Park
- Saadani National Park
- Mkomanzi National Park
- Ruaha National Park
- Udzungwa National Park
- Mikumi National Park
- Kilimanjaro National Park
- Arusha National Park
- Jozani forest tour in Zanzibar
- Ngorongoro Crater