Serengeti National Park

The Serengeti National Park in Tanzania is unquestionably the most famous of the protected natural areas of East Africa, was created in 1952 and has an area of ​​14,763 km² located in northern Tanzania between Lake Victoria and the border with Kenya.

It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1981, with an estimated 1.5 million wildebeest, 300,000 zebras, 150,000 gazelles, 3000 lions and 1360 elephants.

The Serengeti is famous above all for its exceptional faunal richness, which makes it one of the most representative regions of the ecosystem of the Sub-Saharan savannah and one of the major tourist attractions of East Africa. There are, among other things, all five so-called "big five": elephant, lion, leopard, rhinoceros (black) and buffalo.

The phenomenon perhaps best known and admired of the park, in addition to its wonderful landscape, is precisely the phenomenon of herbivore migration: about 1 million wildebeests and zebras that during the year move in search of new pastures based on seasonal rains; this mass movement of animals can be admired throughout the year within the various areas of the park; crossing the Mara river normally takes place in July and September.

The park is one of the main tourist attractions of the country and the most important of a system of four protected natural areas called "Northern Safari Circuit", which also includes the Lake Manyara National Park, the Tarangire National Park, the Arusha National Park and the Ngorongoro nature reserve.

The name of the park, in the language of the Masai population means "boundless plain", its northern border coincides with that between Tanzania and Kenya, and divides it from the Kenyan reserve of Masai Mara. Between the two parks there are no fences and the fauna moves freely from one to the other; particularly noteworthy are the massive seasonal migrations of wildebeest and zebras. The Serengeti plateau can be divided into three main zones: the Seronera valley center - south of the park, the west corridor delimited by the Grumeti river and, to the north, the area called Lobo which borders Kenya, altitude ranging from 920 to 1850 mt above sea level.

The tropical climate of the area is characterized by two periods of seasonal rainfall: the "big rains" in April and May and the "small rains" from the end of October to the beginning of December

The park can be visited throughout the year, even the rainy months are actually a good time for a safari and to see the animals given the abundance of food; moreover, for photography enthusiasts, the humidity of rainy months, the intense green of the prairies and the tranquility of the low season will give away for memorable shots.

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