Serengeti

The name Serengeti generates from the word “siringitu” used in the language of the Maasai tribes. It means “the place where the land moves on forever”. Serengeti might be the most wonderful of the big national parks in Tanzania. It is about as big as the Swedish region “Hälsingland” and is a high part of the country, between 920 and 1850 meters above the ocean. The climate is warm and dry. The average temperature varies between 15 and 25 degrees Centigrade. The temperature rarely drops below 20 degrees Centigrade in the afternoons. This is the case even during the coldest periods of the year, from June until September.

Serengeti consists of big grassy plains in the south, hills and forests in the north and areas of forests and plains lined by mountains in the west. In many places there are stone formations made of granite in the landscape resembling islands, so-called “kopjes”. The wild-life around the cliffs is rich and varied. It is sometimes possible to spot a lion watching the landscape from the top of a cliff.

The Seronera area in the middle of Serengeti harbors all year round most of the wild animals. The river Seronera is one of few rivers in the area that does not dry out at any time of year which gathers many of them. If you are lucky you might see a leopard resting in a tree.

Serengeti holds the biggest population of wild animals in the world, more than 2 million. The most exciting is probably to meet some of the 2500 lions that reside in the park.

More than a million gnus, half-a-million of Thomson’s gazelles and 200 000 zebras are moving across the plains in an annual cycle, hunting for pasture and water. It is the access to pasturage that guide the ways of the animals which makes it impossible to know where they will be at a certain time. No voyage into the Serengeti can be compared to another.