Serengeti National Park

The name is usually traced to a Maa word for "endless plains," and on the Serengeti's southern grasslands the horizon really does seem to go on forever. Nearly 15,000 square kilometers (about 5,700 square miles) of savanna, woodland and granite kopjes make up the national park, which forms part of a far larger ecosystem stretching north into Kenya's Maasai Mara. It's a UNESCO World Heritage Site and, for many travelers, the definitive safari.

Following the migration

More than a million wildebeest, along with hundreds of thousands of zebra and gazelle, move through the ecosystem on a roughly circular route driven by rain and fresh grazing. From about January to March, the herds typically gather on the short-grass plains of the south around Ndutu, where calves are born in their thousands each day at the peak, and predators follow.

By May and June the herds are usually moving through the central and western Serengeti, including the Grumeti River area. From about July to October they reach the north, where crossings of the Mara River create the famous scenes of wildebeest plunging into crocodile-filled water.

Beyond the herds

The Serengeti is superb all year, not only when the migration passes. The central Seronera area, with its year-round rivers, is renowned for big cats: leopards draped in sausage trees along the riverbanks, lions on the kopjes and cheetahs hunting across the open plains. The remote northern and western corridors offer quieter game viewing, while dawn balloon flights reveal the sheer scale of the landscape.

Choosing where to stay

Because the migration moves, where you stay matters. Mobile tented camps relocate with the herds, while permanent lodges and camps offer more facilities and year-round resident wildlife. We'll pick the right area and style for your dates, and often combine the Serengeti with the Ngorongoro Crater and a beach finish on Zanzibar.