Serengeti

Serengeti National Park is undoubtedly the best-known wildlife sanctuary in the world. The name "Serengeti" comes from the Masai language and appropriately means an “endless plain”. The park covers 14,763 square km, which reach up to the Kenyan border and extends almost to Lake Victoria.It was accepted by the World Heritage Convention as a World Heritage Site and Biosphere in 1981.

The Serengeti ecosystem is one of the oldest on earth. The essential features of climate, vegetation and fauna have barely changed in the past million years. Because of its least disturbed ecosystem on earth this endless savannah is home to a huge array of wildlife. The Serengeti's climate is usually warm and dry. The main rainy season is from March to May, with short rainfalls from October to November.

With more than two million wildebeest, half a million gazelle, and a quarter of a million zebra, it has the greatest concentration of game in Africa's plains. The unique combination of diverse habitats enables it to support more than 30 species of large herbivores and nearly 500 species of birds.

One of the most popular and well known Serengeti National Park spectacles is the wildebeest migration - "Great Migration" that occurs here every year. Millions of wildebeest, accompanied by a large number of zebras move every year in a fairly predictable pattern. The migration depends entirely upon the rainfall. Draught forces the animals to move to search new pastures.

The Great Migration begins in the months of May or June in the Ngorongoro area. The animals then head north towards the Masai Mara river. If it is a particularly dry year, they may begin their journey earlier than usual because of the decreased vegetation. Between July and October the wildebeest graze on the lush green grasses around the Masai Mara river. In October to November, when short rains begin to fall in the south and east Serengeti, the herds start to cross the Masai Mara river again and head back to Ngorongoro area. By the time the animals arrive in Serengeti’s eastern plains again, it is February and the full cycle is complete.

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