Wildlife Safari Tales of The Serengeti Wilderness
Serengeti national park is one stop wildlife destination located in northwestern Tanzania. Serengeti is famous for the wildebeest migration an exodus of animals including hartebeest, wildebeest and antelopes seeking for fresh pasture.
The name Serengeti was derived from a Maasai word “Seringit” meaning endless plains explaining the geographical nature of the park.
The Serengeti ecosystem covers an area of 30,000 square kilometers combining Serengeti national Park and other small game reserves. With this vast size, the Serengeti plains are homes to various wildlife species with natural wonders like the wildebeest migration.
The wildebeest migration is the second largest animal migration on Earth an excellent experience for nature enthusiasts and animal lovers.
Wildlife in Serengeti
The Serengeti area boosts various wildlife species with East Africa’s big five mammals like Lions, Elephants, buffaloes, Leopards and Cheetahs. Its one of the wildlife destinations with large lion populations and best place for seeing these fierce cats. The total Lion population here is estimated at 3000 and its supported by the many herbivores the lions prey on.
Other predators in Serengeti include African Leopards, Cheetahs, spotted hyenas, wild dogs though these are a bit scarce.
Serengeti has many East Africa’s grazers including many antelope species like the topi, elands, gazelles, water-bucks, zebras and the wildebeest. Major giants include elephants, giraffes, hippos often sighted in large groups of up to 100 of them in one place.
For birders, Serengeti is a birders haven with over 1000 bird species recorded including native and migratory bird species. Often seen birds include the Fischer’s lovebird, Silver-bird, Eagles like the Verreaux’s eagle, rufous-tailed weaver among others.
Serengeti has many wildlife habitat landscapes like rivers, swamps, grasslands, kopjes, all acting as homes to the diverse wildlife species. Rivers like Grumeti are homes to large crocodile populations and hippos in the shallow waters.
Tourist Activities in Serengeti
Game drives are the most common activities in Serengeti done seeking to meet the major wildlife species in the park. Early morning game drives offer nocturnal wildlife encounters especially the big cats lions lions, leopards and cheetahs.
You also get to see early risers and enjoy sounds of nature plus a morning sunrise over the Serengeti horizon. You can opt for mid morning and evening game drives that are equally rewarding.
There are air balloon safaris that give an aerial view of the park offering a wide coverage of sight seeing. This offers great views of the herds of animals even those on the wildebeest migration.
For more intimate experiences with wildlife then guided nature walks are best options in Serengeti. These are often led by local Masai warriors and trained park rangers with great knowledge about the wildlife in Serengeti.
Birding is widely done in Serengeti national park and various birds are often spotted freely flying over the Serengeti plains.
Best time to Visit
Serengeti national park can be best visited in the dry seasons with minimal disturbances of rainfall. Rainfall usually occur in the two dry seasons from March to May and from October to November.
For remarkable East African wildlife safaris visit Serengeti national park in Tanzania and have your Serengeti and African wildlife tale.
