Serengeti National Park

Things To Do

Serengeti National Park houses the highest concentration of large mammals in the world, so you're bound to spot giraffes, elephants, hippos and, of course, lions. You'll also come across more than 500 species of birds, including ostriches and flamingos.

But while seeing one or two animals at a time may be exciting, nothing beats seeing them in a pack The Great Migration is the Serengeti's main draw: This voyage of more than one million wildebeest, zebras and other hoofed animals is one of the world's largest wildlife spectacles.

The park's vast landscapes are best explored on Scenic Drives where you can take in the breathtaking sights of sweeping savannahs, lush greenery, and the winding Mkata River. Another highlight is the Hippopotamus Pool, where you can observe these massive mammals cooling off and interacting in their watery haven.

When you tire of gazing at grazers, head to Moru Kopjes to mingle with rhinos or to the Retina Hippo Pool to watch these massive mammals splash about.

Great Migration

The primary reason to visit Serengeti National Park is to witness The Great Migration. Considered one of the world's largest animal migrations, The Great Migration involves more than one million wildebeest, zebras, gazelles and a variety of other animals traversing the Serengeti annually in search of food and breeding grounds.

After several months of grazing in greener pastures, the hoofed menagerie turns around and starts the process over again. To help you understand the Great Wildebeest Migration, let’s go through the following frequently asked questions about this unique and fascinating phenomenon.

When To Visit

The best times to visit Serengeti National Park are from January to February or from June through September, although you should plan your trip around the movement of The Great Migration. For example, winter is the best time to see the herd in Southern Serengeti, while the Western Corridor and Northern Serengeti are the best places to spend the summer and autumn months. Temperatures remain relatively constant with daytime highs resting in the 80s. You'll find cooler weather in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area due to its higher elevation.

April and May

This is the period when some of the wildebeests and their colleagues start to move from Southern Serengeti towards other parts of Serengeti. Nevertheless, South Serengeti along the Ndutu area is still the best place to be during this month where the herds can be witnessed in a bit dispersed way.

Since Ndutu has resident cats, in the April cats viewing becomes another excellent experience in the Southern Serengeti. Along with the previous months of March and February, this zone of Serengeti National Park offers an amazing live predatory action

From May, most of the herds will go on and continue their mission to reach North Serengeti, however, this is the best time to experience the migration at the central Serengeti.

As the other herds move all the way to the Western corridor around the Grumeti area, again in May, just like in the previous month usually experiences heavy rains around all parts of Serengeti, this forces herds to disperse so during this time you’re not likely to see herds in large concentration. Nevertheless, wildlife viewing is fantastic during these two months around the Seronera area, the central Serengeti.

June and July

As you can tell, the gestation period for the wildebeests is roughly 9 months. For them to give birth in February this is their time for mating and you can find this happening at a very large number. As the rainfalls start to cool, these two months are the best to experience the herds spreading across all the Central Serengeti and Serengeti Western corridor.

Cat life is also at its best here as the Seronera River usually attracts enough prey which is always a good thing to the cats. Again, during June and July, as some of the herds tend to head to the Western Serengeti, you may be rewarded by the small crossings of the Grumeti River as the herds leave the park to enter the Singita Game reserve. In July, there is no better place to be than the Kogatende area. While it’s fair to say that during this period herds can be seen anywhere around Central, West, and Eastern Serengeti.

August, September to October

While Migration can be experienced the whole year round, this is arguably the best time. With fewer rains, these months are when the herds cross the Mara River almost daily and in a very huge spectacular group. Kogatende area is again the best place to be during these months as it gives you the best opportunity to see the herds crossing in crocodiles infested Mara River while the big cats monitoring the situation closely in sidelines, waiting for a proper prey.

While there have been a lot of theories about the river crossings, but the truth is this is not something that can be explained logically. Wildebeests and co know naturally what to do and at what time. If they sense that the rainfall is about to start on the next side of the river, they are likely to cross. A few days later or even just a matter of hours after crossing the river, these herds may decide to cross back depending on how they read the weather.

Furthermore, it isn’t necessarily that the herds will head to the North after they have stayed in the central and western corridor of Serengeti. Some of the herds may well decide to go back to the South or head all the way to the north and cross the river. The main determinant here is the direction of the rainfall.

From November

As the rains begins in Southern Serengeti in the plains of Ndutu area where the herds were lastly seen at the start of the year, you can tell the way the fresh grasses are longing to be consumed by the newly born babies as early as February. With also the rains heading to the South, this is the time when the herds start to herd south as they are needed to be at the right place for the calving, come early February. During November, you may still be lucky to see some crossings, depending on the year.