The Serengeti National Park in Tanzania is a World Heritage Site and is one of the largest wildlife sanctuaries in the world. The origin of its name comes from the word “Siringet” in Maasai language which means “never-ending plain” and the area stretches over close to 15,000 square kilometers in size.
Serengeti is located in the highlands which extend from the east to the west of the high plains of Ngorongoro to Lake Victoria and continue to the north with the Masai Mara in Kenya. The most impressive attraction of this gigantic ecosystem is the enormous concentration of herbivores such as wildebeest, zebras, and antelope on the plains during their annual migration. The wildebeest dominate in Serengeti and their herds are made up of hundreds and thousands of these majestic animals. The Masai Mara is an extension of the Serengeti National Park and they both serve the same ecosystems. The world-famous Great Migration can be viewed every year when the Masai Mara welcomes 1,5 million wildebeests onto its sprawling savannahs each July through October. The Masai Mara National Reserve and conservancies are brimming with life and offer safari travelers a wide variety of activities to choose from.
The access to Serengeti from Ngorongoro passes through a vast succession of plains in the Seronera valley. Situated in the center of the park, the savannah is dotted with acacias and permanent sources of water. It is the ideal habitat for lions and leopards and it is relatively easy to view cheetahs in the area, as there are large amounts of prey such as gazelles which feed on the plains.
