Serengeti National Park
Home of the Great Migration and Tanzania's Most Iconic Wildlife

Why Serengeti Is Tanzania's Greatest Safari Destination

Serengeti National Park is the jewel of Tanzania's safari circuit and one of the most famous wildlife destinations in the world. Its name comes from the Maasai word meaning endless plains, and the landscape lives up to this description with vast open grasslands stretching to the horizon in every direction.

The Great Migration

The park's defining event is the annual Great Migration, in which over 1.5 million wildebeest and hundreds of thousands of zebras and gazelles move in a continuous loop across the Serengeti ecosystem and into Kenya's Masai Mara. The most dramatic phase is the Mara River crossing in the northern Serengeti, where thousands of animals leap into crocodile-filled water in one of nature's most intense spectacles.

Wildlife Beyond the Migration

Even outside migration season, the Serengeti supports extraordinary resident wildlife. The Seronera Valley in the central park is known as Africa's big cat capital, with large lion prides, resident cheetahs, and elusive leopards resting in the acacia trees. Elephants, buffalo, giraffes, hippos in the rivers, and over 500 bird species complete the picture.

Best Time to Visit Serengeti

The park is open and rewarding year-round. The dry season from June to October delivers the best game viewing conditions with sparse vegetation and animals concentrated around water. The calving season from January to March in the southern Ndutu area attracts large numbers of predators and provides dramatic wildlife interactions.