Serengeti National Park

The Serengeti is the largest and most celebrated park in East Africa, and its scale is genuinely difficult to convey — nearly 15,000 square kilometres of short-grass plain, acacia woodland, granite kopjes and river courses. It is the engine of the Great Migration: roughly two million wildebeest, zebra and gazelle move through it in a continuous annual circuit driven by rainfall, calving on the southern plains in February and pushing north through the year towards the Mara River. But the Serengeti is not only about the herds. It holds one of the densest lion populations anywhere, cheetah hunt the open central plains, and the kopjes — ancient granite outcrops rising from the grass — are classic leopard and lion territory. Different regions suit different months, which is why a well-planned Serengeti itinerary asks when you are travelling before deciding where you will sleep.

Why visit Serengeti

• The Great Migration, the largest terrestrial mammal movement on earth, is resident here for most of the year.
• Exceptional lion density, with prides using the granite kopjes as vantage points and shade.
• Open short-grass plains that give cheetah the ground they need, and make them easier to see than almost anywhere else.
• Scale and emptiness — it is possible to drive for long stretches without seeing another vehicle.

Wildlife

Lion in very large numbers, leopard on the kopjes and along the Seronera river courses, and cheetah on the open plains. Elephant, buffalo, giraffe, topi, eland and hartebeest are widespread. Black rhino survive in small, protected numbers and are rarely seen. Crocodile and hippo hold the Grumeti and Mara rivers, and spotted hyena are abundant.

• Wildebeest and zebra in their hundreds of thousands, seasonally
• Lion prides on the granite kopjes
• Cheetah hunting on the open central plains
• Leopard in the Seronera valley acacias
• Nile crocodile at the northern river crossings

Best time to visit

Where you stay matters more than when. February brings calving to the southern plains around Ndutu. June and July see the herds through the Western Corridor and Grumeti. From roughly July to October they are in the north, where the Mara River crossings take place. Central Seronera holds excellent resident game all year and is the safest choice if your dates are fixed.

July–October for northern river crossings; late January–March for calving on the southern plains.

Things to do

Game drives

Full-day and half-day drives, with the region chosen to match the herds' seasonal position.

Balloon safari

A dawn flight over the plains, booked and paid for separately from the safari itself.

Kopje and Seronera circuits

Focused drives around the granite outcrops and river courses for leopard and lion.

Picnic lunches in the field

Full-day drives usually run with a packed lunch so you stay out through the middle of the day.

How long to stay

Two nights is the minimum and only works in the central region. Three nights allows a full day of driving without the arrival and departure legs eating into it. Four or more is needed if you are following the migration in the north or the Ndutu calving grounds.

What it combines with

Almost always combined with the Ngorongoro Crater, and usually with Tarangire and Lake Manyara on a full northern circuit. Cross-border routes link the Serengeti directly to the Maasai Mara, which is the same ecosystem.