The World's Greatest Wildlife Spectacle
The Serengeti is the oldest and largest national park in Tanzania, and one of the most famous wildlife destinations on earth. Stretching across 14,763 square kilometres of open savannah, grassland plains, kopjes (rocky outcrops), riverine forest and rolling hills, it forms part of the greater Serengeti-Mara ecosystem — a continuous wilderness extending into Kenya's Maasai Mara. Together, this is the largest intact tropical savannah on earth.
The Serengeti is home to the Great Migration — the annual movement of over 1.5 million wildebeest, accompanied by 250,000 zebra and 500,000 Thomson's gazelle, following the rains around the ecosystem in an endless cycle of life and death. This is not a single event but a continuous, year-round movement — calving on the southern plains in January, northward migration through the dry season, dramatic Mara River crossings in July–October, then back south again. There is no 'wrong' time to witness it.
Beyond the migration, the Serengeti supports extraordinary permanent resident wildlife. The central Seronera Valley has one of the highest concentrations of leopard in Africa. The western Serengeti harbours huge herds of buffalo and elephant. The north (Lamai Wedge) offers exceptional lion, cheetah and wild dog sightings.
Why Dawn Safaris Loves It
- The Great Migration — 1.5 million animals on the move year-round
- The Seronera Valley — Kenya's most reliable leopard sighting area in Africa
- Extraordinary diverse landscape — plains, kopjes, rivers, woodlands and hills
- Hot air balloon safaris at dawn over the endless plains
- Wild dog sightings possible in the northern Serengeti (Lamai Wedge)
