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Serengeti National Park
Serengeti National Park
Serengeti national park has an Area of 15,000sq. The area is wide and grassy with small granite hills and some acacia woodland. Serengeti borders Ngorongoro on the East and on North it borders Kenya's Masai Mara Game Reserve. Also about 18Km away from the Serengeti is Lake Victoria ( in a westerly direction). Serengeti is the largest National park in Tanzania. The name Serengeti comes from Masai word Serengit which mean endless plain
The first people who lived Serengeti area were Datoga pastoralists. But in 17th century they were replaced by the Maasai. In 1951 the park was gazetted. Later, under Professor Bernard Grzimek and his son Michael the park became world famous.
Serengeti is split in to several distinct areas.
Loliondo is the most remote area found in Serengeti National Park. The wildebeest migration which swings up to Maasai Mara passes through it in October or November.
Seronera is the central part of the Serengeti National Park, which comprises of a wooded valley and savannah near the Grameti river. The main headquarters of the park are located here. The area is also used for a small staff village. The site is the most popular tourist area where lion, leopard and cheetah can be seen, it cover one third of the park; and all good deal of park's accommodation are found here.
Lobo is the area which is located in northern of Serengeti. It contains green hills and large granite outcrops covered in trees. The area is visited mostly in September and October when the wildebeest migration passes through however it is good for predators all year round..
The western corridor is the part of Serengeti which is located west from Seronera towards Lake Victoria. It is about 40km wide the area is connected to Kenya's Maasai Mara game reserve . The vegetation consists of mainly of sun-bleached grey 'whistling thorn'. The main physical feature which dominates the area is the Grumeti River, which is crossed by the migration between May and July. This is the best time to visit the area (especially when the river is flooded). This river marks northern boundary, while to the south is an area of grassland flanked by low wooded hills.
Serengeti is the most famous bird area in Africa. It houses six bird species which can not be seen elsewhere. An example of an endemic bird is the grey throated spur fowl which is common in the Seronera area.
About two million animals migrate 800km in the park. Most are wildebeest that number about 1.7million. The migration in Serengeti follow a reasonably predictable annual cycle. In short rain the wildebeest disperse in the Seronera plain. The Wildebeest take the advantage of this temporary pause to give birth. This happen at the end of January to mid March. These rains fall in late of November or early of December. But the actual migration starts any time from the late of April in the early of June. The most serious obstacle faced by animals on this migration is the crossing of the Grumeti River, which typically occurs from June into early July.
From July to October the ungulate disperse again and about half of them cross the Mara river into Kenya's Maasai Mara Game Reserve. The remainder spread into Northern and Western Serengeti. During late October the animals have started to return back to the Serengeti plains, arriving there at late November when the whole cycle starts again.
Apart from Ngorongoro Crater, Serengeti is best site in Tanzania to see predators. The majority of predators found in the park are Lions, cheetahs, African hunting dogs, and spotted hyenas.
You must use a safari company to visit as you can't visit in any way by using a public transport ,though you can get daily buses between Arusha and Mwanza or Musoma but with entrance stump fee.
In 17km inside Serengeti there is Naabi gate which is at Eastern of Serengeti,45km southern of Seronera visitor and approximately to 300km from Arusha The western entrance,145km from centre of Serengeti is Ndabaka gate and the other two lesser used gates are the Ikoma gate which is at North of Seronera and Klein's gate which is north east of Seronera.
There is plenty accommodation which may be obtained, both inside and out the park. But the luxury tented camps and the lodges are often fully booked months ahead so it is best to book early.
For more information contact http://www.wildthingsafaris.com.
