SERENGETI NATIONAL PARK

The name comes from the Maasai 'siringet' which means ' endless plains', and the Serengeti is just that.

Within its 14,763 square kilometers (5,000 square mile) dwell an estimated 3 million large animals - this is one of the world's last great wildlife sanctuaries.

It is from here that the famous army of grazers begins its legendary trek in search of new grazing lands.

Following ancient migratory routes, the comical wildebeeste leads the way.

More than a million wildebeest, accompanied by hundreds of thousands of other herbivores, descend upon the short-grass plains of the south-eastern Serengeti at the start of the short rains around December. After calving in January and February, they scatter over the southern and central plains.

By the end of May the long rain have finished , the grass has been reduced to stubble, and the animals begin their long march to the dry-season grazing grounds near the permanent waters of the Serengeti's northern woodlands and Kenya's Masai Mara.

Reaching these destinations by July or so, they remain until October, when they head back to the south-eastern Serengeti. The columns of herbivores stretch up to forty kilometers long (25 miles ) as they make their way up north toward Kenya's Maasai Mara from where they eventually return some four and a half months later.

Cheetah, lion, leopard and hyenas can be frequently spotted at a kill but more so in the Seronera Valley which is characterised by an amazing abundance of mainly lion and leopard.

Often rock hyrax can be spotted on granite mounds on the plains they burrow close to these small outcroppings keeping a watchful eye out for serval cat and jackal.

Back | Top | Home

The Serengeti plains are usually visited at the same time as taking a safari to the NgoroNgoro Crater.

Situated just south of the Equator, Tanzania is the largest East African nation - it is half the size of western Europe and is bordered by shimmering lakes and the Indian Ocean.

Off its white sandy beaches lie the sleepy islands of Pemba, Mafia and exotic Zanzibar.

Lake Tanganyika, Africa's longest and deepest freshwater lake and the second deepest in the world, runs along its western border. In the northwest, in a massive shallow depression, is the source of the Nile, Lake Victoria.

The entire country is dotted with a host of other permanent and seasonal lakes and rivers, including the Rufiji and Great Ruaha which together give Tanzania more surface water than any other African country.

A mosaic of Savannah grasslands, tropical forests, riverine basins, mountain ranges, swamps, mangroves and coral reefs, Tanzania contains some of the largest and most beautiful wilderness areas in the world. Roughly encircling the interior is a somewhat broken curve of ancient hills - these mountains preserve remnants of a once widespread equatorial forest and is the last remaining refuge to animals and plants found nowhere else in the world.

Tanzania is also home to the famous vast roaming herds of the Serengeti plains game and the snow-capped wonder of legendary Kilimanjaro.

Nearly all safaris to NgoroNgoro and to the Serengeti start at Arusha.

ARUSHA

Lying in the shadow of Mount Meru is an attractive town that serves as an agricultural centre and safari base. Situated in a fertile temperate region, this former trading post has over the years developed into an administrative centre for the important agricultural area all around. Divided roughly in half by the Naura River, here you will find craft shops selling unique Makonde carvings as well as the famous meerschaum pipes. When the Jacarandas are in bloom, the park and streets are aglow with a pastel purple beauty. Arusha's lively and colourful market reflects its rural background.

As you wander through the narrow alleys you will find everything from fish and meat to 'fruit and pungent spices. Lake Duliti, a water filled extinct volcano presents the 'dreamers' with a picturesque picnic spot just outside Arusha.

Arusha National Park
Only 40 km from Arusha town, Arusha National Park is Northern Tanzania inminiature,with it's own crater and lakes and the fabulous ash-cone and highland montane forest of Mount Meru,Tanzania's second highest mountain.Here you will find Colobus monkey, bushbuck, buffalo, hippo, reedbuck, warthog, and a wealth of birdlife. The Ngurdoto Crater is 20km across and 100 meters deep. The Momella Lakes were formed 250 thousand years ago, perhaps when Mt. Meru exploded and spewed volcanic debris and liquid mud over the surrounding area.

Back | Top | Home