Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park was created in 1952. The great migration of wildebeest and zebra takes place there, making it the site of the world’s largest natural extravaganza. The lion, cheetah, elephant, giraffe, and bird populations that live there are equally impressive. There are many different types of lodging options, ranging from opulent resorts to portable camping. With no more than a few hundred cars traveling around, the park is larger than Connecticut at 5,700 square miles (14,763 square kilometers).

There are three distinct parts to the Park. The Maasai referred to the well-known southern and central region (Seronera Valley) as the “serengit,” or “country of unending plains.” It is a typical savannah, lined with acacia trees and teeming with animals. More trees and deep vegetation can be found in the western corridor, which is designated by the Grumeti River. The least visited area is in the north, where Lobo joins Kenya’s Masai Mara Reserve.

Within the 30,000 km2 area, two Biosphere Reserves and two World Heritage Sites have been established. Its distinctive environment has influenced writers like Ernest Hemingway and Peter Mattheissen, filmmakers like Hugo von Lawick and Alan Root, as well as a large number of scientists and photographers, many of whom have contributed to the creation of this website.

One of the oldest ecosystems on earth is that of the Serengeti. In the last million years, the fundamental characteristics of the climate, vegetation, and wildlife hardly changed. About two million years ago, early man himself made an appearance at Olduvai Gorge. Some migratory, adaptive, and life-cycle patterns are as old as the hills themselves.

It is the migration for which Serengeti is perhaps most famous. Over a million wildebeest and about 200,000 zebras flow south from the northern hills to the southern plains for the short rains every October and November, and then swirl west and north after the long rains in April, May and June. So strong is the ancient instinct to move that no drought, gorge or crocodile infested river can hold them back.

The Wildebeest travel through a variety of parks, reserves and protected areas and through a variety of habitat. Join us to explore the different forms of vegetation and landscapes of the Serengeti ecosystem and meet some of their most fascinating inhabitants.