Serengeti National Park Size : Found in the northern part of Tanzania, Serengeti National Park is the tremendous wildlife sanctuary in the world. You may have watched a fantastic movie, which was shot in the Serengeti. One of such movie is Disney’s The Lion King, which was shot in the southern Serengeti. Serengeti National Park is the most visited park in Tanzania said to receive about 90,000 tourists per year. This sounds crazy but this park never be overcrowded because of its large size.
Location and Accessibility
Serengeti National Park is situated between Arusha and Simiyu regions in Tanzania. It stretches from Lake Natron and Ngorongoro Conservation Area to the Lake Victoria in the west. This park is accessible by the following means.
By road. Drive-in and self-drive safaris. Drive-in safaris usually start from Arusha and drive one of the Serengeti gates. They take about eight hours to reach there. These safaris are superb, as you will enjoy other scenes on the way before entering the beautiful wildlife sanctuary in the world. You can also rent a vehicle and do a self-drive into Serengeti. However, you will be required to pay some fees to use to your car in the Serengeti.
By air. There are numerous ways to get into the Serengeti by air. Once you are from external countries, the recommended point of entry is Kilimanjaro International Airport (KIA). The airport is located at about 320 kilometers away from the park’s entrance gate. This airport receives many flights from many countries. Once you land at Kilimanjaro International Airport, you may book a chartered flight to Serengeti. Serengeti National Park have seven airstrips. The flights takes about one to 4 hours and local companies like Grumeti Air and Coastal Aviation operate them.
Private airstrips are also available for a faster travel. They are organized from Kilimanjaro International Airport and Arusha Airport.
Regions of Serengeti National Park
The whole Serengeti ecosystem is merely 30,000 square kilometers in size covering many areas including Serengeti National Park, Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Lake Natron, Maswa Game Reserve, and Grumeti Game Reserve and extends in the Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya. The total area covered by Serengeti National Park is 14,760 square kilometers. This stunning park is barely divided into five regions namely the Southern Serengeti, Eastern Serengeti, Western Serengeti, Central Serengeti and the Northern Serengeti.
The Southern Serengeti
The Southern Serengeti extends from Central Serengeti to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and Maswa Game Reserve covering an approximately area of 1900 square miles. This region merely consists of grassy plains and granite kopjes. Granite kopjes are volcanic granite rock formations.
The landscape of the Southern Serengeti is flat terrain on which nutrient-rich grasses grow on it. Trees do not grow much there because of the rocky outcrops, which prevent root penetration. However, distant trees grow there including acacia trees, sausage trees and acacia tortills.
Southern Serengeti is home to various animals species especially during the wet season (from December to April). These are wildebeest, zebra, elephant, giraffe, eland and predators like jackals, lions, leopards, cheetah and hyenas. This region offers spectacular views of animals during the wet season. It is the starting point of the Great Migration. About 500,000 calves are born at this region starting from January to February before the start of each migration cycle.
Things to do in this region include photographic safaris, hot air balloon safaris, camping and game viewing. Hot-air balloon safari is superb in the south because you will explore the dense wildlife while floating on sweet air. You will also witness excellent predator kills done by leopards and cheetahs, which hide in granite kopjes and do a sudden attack to their preys. Other attractions to visit in this region are hills, depressions and lakes where you can go on a walking safari.
The Eastern Serengeti
One of the remote, unspoiled regions in Serengeti National Park is Eastern Serengeti. It consists of attractive mountains, valleys, grassy plains and meandering rivers. It stretches from the Central to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Lake Natron and Ol Doinyo Lengai Mountain with a total area of 3200 square kilometers. This region is famously known for sights of cheetahs. Eastern Serengeti is home to the largest concentration of cheetahs in Africa.
The Eastern Serengeti consists of various regions such as Gol Kopjes, Lemuta hills, Naabi hills, Angata Kiti, Naser Rock and the Salei plains. The Gol Kopjes known as world’s largest Japanese rock garden attract a large concentration of cheetahs and other predators like lions, which like to hide in the granite rocks for easy predation. If you are a fan of watching the predators doing their stunning kills, consider visiting this region.
Soit Le Motonyi is a newly opened area in the Eastern Serengeti. It has been inaccessible for 20 years in order to conserve the cheetahs in there. This place will give you excellent pictures of fast-moving cheetahs going after their preys. The Eastern Serengeti hosts the herds of the Great Migration between April and November. In April, the herds crosses this region herd to the Western region and in November, the herd crosses this region to the Southern region.
Apart from the migrating animals, Eastern Serengeti is home to other animals like elands, wild dogs, cheetahs, giraffes, hartebeests, hyenas, jackals, ostriches. During the rainy season, this region turns into greener grasslands like the Sothern part. Therefore, Thomson’s gazelles becomes highly concentrated during this season. Cheetahs going after gazelles becomes highly concentrated in region too. However, since this region is remote, there are limited accommodation facilities. The best choice is mobile camps, which go after the Great Migration.
The Western Corridor of Serengeti
The Eastern Serengeti stretches from the Central Serengeti to the Grumeti River taking a total area of about 1300 square kilometers. This is the region where you will witness the first little known river crossing of the Grumeti River. In this region, we encounter two parallel rivers the Grumeti River and the Mbalageti River. They are about 20 kilometers from each other and their waters flow in the west direction.
The Western Corridor is made up of riverine forests, savannah, floodplains, minor mountain ranges, valleys and open woodlands. The Grumeti River is the first obstruction to the herd of the Great Migration. It causes the death of thousands of animals trying to cross past hungry Nile crocodiles.
Animals commonly found in this region include wildebeests, zebras, giraffes, hippos, crocodiles, colobus monkeys, lions, cheetahs and birds. Large herds of elephants and giraffes can be spotted in this region. The Western Corridor hosts the animals of the Great Migration during May to early August, Serengeti National Park Size.
Hot air ballooning is always done between June and October to enjoy the views of the migrating herd especially during the crossing of the Grumeti River. It is well known that, night game drives are forbidden in the Serengeti. Nevertheless, in the western region a masterpiece called Grumeti Game Reserve offers this incredible trip. With limited number of guests (20 to 60), Grumeti Game Reserve offers the sightings of lions, colobus monkeys, birds, elephants, zebras, wildebeests, cheetahs and giraffes.
The Central Serengeti.
The Eastern Serengeti extends from the west to the east and then from the south to the north covering an area of about 1800 square miles. Its landscape and vegetation is made up of riverine forests, lakes, savannahs, granite kopjes and long grass plains. This region is spectacular for hosting large concentration of the Big Cats. It is nicknamed as the Capital City of Big Cats. The central region consists of numerous kopjes like the fantastic Moru Kopjes, Maasai Kopjes and Simba Kopjes. It also consists of wooded savannah with about 16 species of acacia growing in there, rivers and water channels, which serve as lifeline during the dry season.
The Moru Kopjes are perfect for hosting the rarely seen black rhino, which hides there particularly in the south of the Seronera River. The Serengeti Rhino Project is based there. Your visit to this project will enable you to know what efforts are being done to preserve the historical mammal whose life is disappearing slowly.
Activities done in this region include hot air ballooning, walking safaris, birding and game riding. Animals that can be viewed there include cheetahs, lions, leopards, fox, reedbucks, hippos, rhinos, warthogs and giraffes. It receives the animals of the Great Migration between April and June when the herd heads northwards and between November and December when the herd heads southwards.
The Northern Serengeti
This region stretches at about 50 miles from the Central Serengeti to the Lobo hills near the Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya with an area of about 2200 square miles. This region is famous for hosting the spectacular Mara River Crossings, which have been featured in many films and television adventures.
This region consists of open woodlands, savannahs, riverine forests, hills and valleys. It is home to wildebeests, hippos, cheetahs, crocodiles, rhinos, elephants, oribi, giraffes, zebras, lions and leopards. This region hosts the migrating herds in the late August to mid-October.
The landscape, wildlife and vegetation of the Serengeti National has not changed much for millions of years. Therefore, this is a marvelous place to witness unspoiled Mother Nature of this wonderful park. If you are planning a visit to this awe-inspiring stunningly beautiful park, I assure you that this will be your unique and incredible trip in this world.