Serengeti National Park

The stage for a unique spectacle in the world: the Great Migration

Established in 1940, Serengeti National Park is the most famous park in Tanzania and one of the most famous in the world. It’s also a UNESCO World Heritage Site, an Unesco Biosphere Reserve, and part of a system called the “Northern Safari Circuit” which also includes Ngorongoro, Tarangire and Manyara.

The name of Serengeti Park comes from a Masai word, _siringet_, meaning “endless plain”. In fact, its 14,763 km² are covered mostly by grasslands and this makes animal sightings particularly easy. If you’re planning a trip to Tanzania, a safari in the Serengeti is an experience you have to live.

The park hosts wildebeest, zebras, gazelles, eland, impala, waterbuck, lions, leopards, cheetahs, giraffes, ostriches, crocodiles, hippos, over 400 bird species and many other animals. But what makes the Serengeti truly famous is the Great Migration, an epic name for one of the world’s most extraordinary wildlife spectacles.

Every year more than 1 million wildebeest and hundreds of thousands of zebras and gazelles move in search of new grazing. With the arrival of the short rains in October and November, the animals migrate toward the southern plains, rich in nutrients. The months from December to March are the calving season, which provides abundant opportunities for predators. When the rains end and the grass is gone, the herds start moving west and then head up toward the northern hills after the long rains of April, May and June. Along the way, the animals have to cross rivers infested with crocodiles but nothing can stop their instinct to migrate.