Serengeti National Park covers 14,750 square kilometres, and the wider ecosystem including the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and Kenya Masai Mara is about 30,000. The name comes from the Maasai siringet, the place where the land runs on forever, which is an accurate description of the southern short-grass plains.
The migration
Around 1.3 to 1.5 million wildebeest, joined by 250,000 zebra and several hundred thousand gazelle, follow the rains in a clockwise circuit that never stops. It is not an event with a date; it is a permanent movement whose position changes month by month.
Where they are, when
January to March: the southern plains around Ndutu, where roughly 400,000 calves are born in a three-week window in February. Predator action is at its peak. April and May: the herds move north-west through the western corridor. June and July: the Grumeti river crossings and the largest crocodiles in Africa. August to October: the Mara river in the north, where the famous crossings happen, often several times a day as the herds move back and forth. November and December: the return south through the eastern plains.
Beyond the migration
The resident wildlife does not leave. Seronera in the central Serengeti has one of the highest lion densities anywhere, with prides of twenty or more, and the granite kopjes are reliable for leopard and cheetah. The Serengeti lion population is around 3000, the largest in Africa.
Balloons
Hot air balloon flights lift off before dawn from Seronera, the western corridor and the north, drift for an hour and land for a bush breakfast. They cost around 600 US dollars and are the one activity that regularly justifies the price.
Getting there
Most visitors drive from Arusha through Ngorongoro, five to seven hours to the central Serengeti, or fly into one of the airstrips in about an hour. Park fees are around 70 US dollars per person per day for non-residents in high season, plus vehicle and concession fees, which is why a Tanzanian safari costs more than most people expect.
Where to stay
Public campsites and lodges are concentrated at Seronera; mobile tented camps follow the migration and are the better option if the herds are the priority. Book the northern camps for August to October a year ahead. Note that the Serengeti has no fences and camps are unfenced too, which is part of the experience and the reason for the escort at night.