Serengeti National Park

Serengeti National Park is a large protected savanna ecosystem in northern Tanzania, established in 1951 and inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981. It is internationally renowned for its populations of large mammals and the annual wildebeest-led Great Migration.

The park’s habitats range from open grassland to riverine woodland, supporting dense populations of ungulates and predators including lions, leopards, cheetahs, elephants and hyenas. Wildlife concentrations vary seasonally with the migration, which moves across the ecosystem in search of grazing and water.

Management of the park has emphasised large-scale conservation and tourism, with infrastructure and lodges concentrated in key areas such as Seronera in the central Serengeti. Research and anti-poaching efforts are ongoing components of park operations.

Serengeti lies in northern Tanzania, extending into the Mara Region and forming a contiguous ecosystem with Kenya’s Maasai Mara to the north; Arusha is the main gateway city for tourism access.

• Size: Covers roughly 14,763 square kilometres and forms part of a larger Serengeti-Mara ecosystem that supports large-scale seasonal migrations.
• Great Migration: Hosts the Great Migration, involving more than a million wildebeest and hundreds of thousands of zebras and gazelles moving annually between grazing areas.

What to See#

• Seronera: Seronera area in the central Serengeti, a year-round wildlife stronghold with lodges and the park’s main visitor services.
• Western Corridor (Grumeti): Western Corridor, also called the Grumeti region, a seasonally important migration route with riverine habitats and large concentrations of game during parts of the year.
• Northern Serengeti (Mara): Northern Serengeti (Mara), the area where major river crossings on the Mara River occur during the migration, typically in the mid to late dry season.
• Southern Serengeti (Ndutu): Southern Serengeti (Ndutu), the calving and birthing areas used largely in the wet season and early dry season, important for observing newborn ungulates and predators.

Serengeti National Park is accessed either by small charter/scheduled flights from Arusha or Mwanza to several airstrips inside the park (for example Seronera in the central Serengeti or Kogatende in the north) or by overland safari transfers. Light flights from Arusha typically take around an hour to central airstrips; lodge transfers are normally arranged from the airstrip to camps and lodges.

Overland access from Arusha is a long safari drive of several hours (multi‑hour drives on dirt roads); many visitors book flights or lodge transfers rather than attempting the entire overland route independently.

• Book early-morning game drives when predator activity is highest and light is best for photography; rangers and lodges prioritize dawn departures for wildlife sightings.
• If your itinerary covers different parts of the park, consider small-plane transfers or staying inside the park at airstrip-access camps to reduce long driving times between ecosystems.
• Plan your visit around the dry season (roughly June-October) if your priority is large, concentrated wildlife gatherings; wet-season drives can yield different scenery and birdlife but are more dispersed.