Welcome to the Great Serengeti Ecosystem.

Imagine the major wildlife reserve in the world, envision a crater with he densest population of mammalian predators in Africa, picture a sanctuary stretching around the gleaming waters of a flamingo-sprinkled lake.

Widely recognised as the major wildlife reserve in the world, the Serengeti National Park is, simply put, a vast natural paradise. The park itself covers an area of almost 15,000 square kilometres, equal in size to Northern Ireland, while the greater Serengeti ecosystem encompasses 30,000 square kilometres, the area of Belgium, and includes, besides the Serengeti National Park, the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, the Maswa Game Reserve, the Loliondo, Grumeti and Ikorongo Controlled Areas in Tanzania, and the Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya. Actually the second is a more appropriate figure to consider, as there are no fences along the different park borders, and animals can freely move from one to another.

One of the world’s last great wildlife refuges, it’s name derives from the Maasai word Siringet, that means “endless plains”. Over 90,000 tourists visit the Serengeti National Park each year to appreciate it’s fabulous wildlife, one of the finest in the world. Its extensive grassland plains spotted with acacia trees are home to the largest herds of migrating ungulates and (as an obvious consequence) the highest concentrations of large predators in the world.

The National Park is broadly divided into three different areas. The Seronera Valley and Seronera River, in the centre of the park, is probably the most popular area (and most easily visited, through the Park’s Southern entrance, the Naabi Hill Gate). This area is characterised by wide open grasslands and rock kopjes, with several perennial rivers (Seronera, Nyamanje, Wandamu, Ngare Nanyuki) running through it, ensuring year-round water supplies and enabling many resident animals to thrive year round. The Western Corridor, crossed lengthwise by the Grumeti River, is a regular setting for drama, as year after year the wildebeest cross the crocodile-infested river during the Great Migration, in their attempt to reach the northern plains. Finally, the Northern Lobo are, extending northwards to join the Maasai Mara, offers a change to see plentiful game during the dry season.

Protected area since 1940, the Serengeti gained national park status in 1951 with extensive boundary modifications in 1959. It was internationally recognised as part of Serengeti-Ngorongoro Biosphere Reserve (with the adjoining Maswa Game Reserve) under UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere Programme in 1981 and inscribed on the World Heritage List in the same year.

Serengeti Highlights

Klein’s Camp is the only lodge in the Serengeti region to offer night game drives.

The Ngorongoro crater is one of the best places in Africa to spot the endangered and amazing Black Rhino in the natural habitat.

The Great Migration: witness the dramatic migration of millions of ungulates -in their annual and circular quest for survival- as they travel from the Serengeti to the Masai Mara, and back again.

Established in the early 20s as a coffee farm, Gibb’s Farm offers charming accommodation in the Ngorongoro highlands.