Serengeti National Park

Trully unforgettable experience

In February 2017 I took part in 4 days long safari starting in Tarangire National Park with driver Frederick Julius. This was like a delicious starter before the proper feast started. Famous Serengeti about which I have read so much and longed to go for a very long time lived up to all my expectations. The abundance of wildlife was overwhelming and the scenery stunning, especially at dawn with the sunrise above the baobabs. During two days in Serengeti we have managed to see all BIG FIVE and probably every animal, which lives there. Mating lions, cheetahs tearing the antelope or leopard climbing down the tree. I can’t even remember how many times we had to stop to let the herd of elephants to pass the road. Zebras running in front of the car, hippos bathing in ponds or giraffes nibbling on the high trees leaves.
We were very lucky with the weather, as it was sunny for the whole length of the safari. The accommodation was basic, but comfortable enough and personally in national park I would rather stay in tent than in the lodge, food was always freshly cooked for our dinners and once for our lunch as well.
It was mostly thanks to our guide Frederick ( + 255 753 433 313) that our safari turned out to be such a success. He was knowledgeable, highly professional and extremely patient, he always made sure that all of us had enough time to take photos or just admire and enjoy the scenery, so we never felt rushed.
Pleasant person to be with (it’s crucial as you spend most of the day in the car with your guide) with sense of humor and good English, he should also be praised for his considerate and careful driving.
There were so many memorable moments during our safari, probably the one most engraved in my memory was a wildbeest giving a birth. The dramatic events followed: hyenas trying to attack the newborn, the wildbeests heroic defence and glorious victory.

Magical Wildlife Experience! Iconic Africa!

The Wildlife is plentiful and the senerery is superb! As far as African safari's go, it does not get better than this, an untamed and vast wilderness, with breathtaking scenery and abundant wildlife! My only disappointment was not seeing the endangered African wild dog, which can be found in only the most remote parts of the park, I wasn't lucky enough to see one, but I will no doubt visit this park again for another try. It is a toss up between the Serengeti and the Maasai Mara for my favorite park in Africa, both have unbelievable wildlife viewing, but for pure grandeur and flawless natural beauty, this park has no equal when it comes to viewing wildlife in a more iconic and beautiful African setting!

Dirty, bumping and breathtakingly beautiful.

I went to the Serengeti as part of a national park trip around Tanzania with my university in conjunction with Mweka. As we are all wildlife biologists in various forms, the knowledge I took from the trip was exponential. The abundance of wildlife we encountered was amazing. Within minutes of our arrival into the park, we were greeted with 3 lionesses' and around 13 cubs, around 2 meters from the roadside. An amazing first impression of the park, and one that it did live up to the entire time we were there (which was 3 days). The landscape and scenery were to die for, for sure. I have never seen a sunset so picture perfect and breathtaking elsewhere and doubt another moment will live up to this one. It was a view I will never forget.

Our accommodation consisted of camping out of a campsite, which was catered by our college staff from Mweka. Although we did not spend too long at camp on the mornings or nights due to our safaris running day long, they were of good standard and tidy. At night you can often hear the sounds of Hyena in the distance, which is somewhat scary but completely surreal and amazing if you think about it. You're completely in the wild, and its the way to do it for sure.

Our transportation supplied also by the college were large open top trucks, which provided us with a huge vantage point to be able to see easily across the savanna plains. They made the dirt roads easily manoeuvrable, but alas did not completely rid the journey of its bumps and of course, the dirt picked up from the road. However, if you're in a standard safari truck you should have no such issue.

Overall the Serengeti national park was a great end to my trip to Tanzania, and brought me memories I will never forget. As a biologist being able to see these animals in their natural environment is one of the greatest gifts I could have hoped for. The money tourism brings into the national parks helps to keep them protecting these amazing, beautiful animals, and I am glad I could participate in that.

Beyond Words.

Serengeti National Park is truly a sight to behold. All of my previous years of watching National Geographic specials, Planet Earth, Wild Kingdom, etc. really did not prepare me for what was to unfold. I booked my safari through Augustine's Adventure Africa (AA Africa) whom I cannot recommend highly enough. Such a great experience with this outfit. Super nice and knowledgeable guides. They planned and executed everything on our itinerary to the letter for my 11-day safari. My itinerary included full lodging, meals and transportation. AA Africa took care of everything from the moment we arrived at Kilamanjaro International Airport to the minute we were dropped off on our return flights. We planned my safari to coincide with the great migration of wildebeest during the start of the dry season in the south Serengeti towards the Masai Marra in the north, with excursion to some of the other nearby parks. The weather was extremely nice; averaging in the mid 60's F to the 70's F. Luckily, the cooler weather kept the mosquitoes and tsetse flies away. The Serengeti's scenic vistas are just mind-boggling immense. There is no IMAX screen large enough to truly render how magnificent the scenery is. The varying terrain just added to the awe. We entered from the west and came through the Rift Valley to enter Serengeti National Park, drove through the vast short grasslands and into the forested habitat as we approached our lodging in the central Serengeti at Kubu Kubu Lodge. The lodge is really nice, clean and well maintained. Staff is super nice, attentive and helpful. The views from the lodge is breathtaking complete with an outdoor shower. I stayed 3 days in the Serengeti before visiting the other parks, but could easily have spent the whole trip here. The abundance of wildlife is astounding. As an avid photographer, I was flabbergasted by the shear amount of subjects to photograph. When we caught up with the migrating herd, it was just a mass of roaming fauna. The migration herds numbered in the tens of thousands. Standing up from our Landcruisers with the top open to see the panoramic vistas of the landscape amid a massive herd of wildebeest was pure insanity. I heard the theme song to "Dances with Wolves" playing in my head while Sir David Attenborough was narrating everything to me. The videos just pale in comparison to the real thing. Interspersed were herds of zebras, ostriches, warthogs, elephants, giraffes, etc. just mere inches away! My camera had it's work cut out for it to say the least. All-in-all, a truly astounding experience. One which I will gladly wish to repeat in the near future. I highly recommend putting Serengeti National Park on your Bucket List if want to create some remarkable memories.

Spectacular.

Too beautiful

Far beyond what I'd been imagining.

There's no question that many before me have ridden the rough roads of the Serengeti, and there were many times when I found our safari car surrounded by a dozen others and this or that favorite hippo pool. And it was not a thundering herd of buffaloes or elephants but instead a caravan of cars raising that plume of dust off in the distance. Never you mind; this was my safari, my discovery, my Serengeti, just the same as it was for the half-dozen other explorers in our beefed-up, raised-roof Toyota Land Cruiser.

One visits the Serengeti on the plain's own terms. It's an elemental place, and despite the myriad rules for safari-goers (stay in the car, don't use noises to try and turn animals' heads, be very quiet when the car is stopped, windows go up in the presence of baboons, don't toss food to them or leave any behind, wear full body armor, or is you can't then at least wear a hat and slather yourself with sunscreen, drink a lot of water, but never from a tap), the Serengeti is a dangerous place. Big cats and angry elephants are the obvious dangers, but what about the snakes that slither everywhere unseen? Or the stinging insects or the relentless burning sun? Or the cute little vervet monkey that might jump in your car and rip your face off.

It is a dangerous place, and that's precisely why the Serengeti is such an exciting, personal place. Humans, who could so easily tame the landscape, have voluntarily agreed to leave the animals to be animals, very wild and unpredictable animals. And if one follows all the rules set up to minimize human impact, then one can suddenly be very close to animals quite indifferent to human presence as they stalk prey right there less than a stone's throw from a vehicle.

The Serengeti is a place where something exciting is promised to any safari rider who is willing to sit and wait for just a few more minutes. Like the time my car waited a good 45 minutes as a nearby cheetah seemed to be stalking a far-off flock of Thompson's gazelles. Then she suddenly changed her mind and direction and bolted 50 yards in the blink of an eye to nab a healthy -- and stunned -- African hare. So quickly did it happen that as I checked my camera I saw that I had a great shot of the cheetah leaping from a low crouch into a takeoff, followed by the cheetah standing in a cloud of dust and clutching a struggling hare in its jaws. No exposures in between. It all happened too fast. Things can take a while to unwind; nature follows its own timetable.

When one goes to the Serengeti, and leaves the wristwatch and the iPod at the lodge, the adventure is for him or her alone. There is a lot of land out there. And on the land are myriad animals always hunting or being hunted. One can see the struggle all day long. One can hear the struggle continue into the night. It is not for the squeamish. And it is very personal.

Beautiful and wonderful animals a plenty, the roads are a mess.

See the big five all in one amazing national park.

The Serengeti National Park is amazing, even though we were only in a very small part of it there is definitely plenty to see. Make sure you get yourself a good guide as they are worth their weight in gold, making sure that they offer you the chance to see all you can within the time spent in the National Park is their top priority.
The scenery is gorgeous and it's absolutely amazing to see animals in their own natural habitat.
In July the temperatures were always around 25 degrees which was very pleasant. We stayed in tented camps which were excellent, nice big tents with proper beds and a working hot shower in your tent, in the Serengeti, amazing, and proper plumbed in toilets in the tent, hardly call it camping-more like glamping.
Lying awake in your tent at 3am in the morning listening to the roar of lions, and wondering how far away they were, is quite an experience.
A good set of binoculars are a must, although it's very easy to get very close to the wildlife in your off road vehicle, so don't worry about not seeing the animals up very close as an awful lot of the wildlife will be right in front of you walking right past your vehicle.
Seeing the big five in the Serengeti is extremely likely, although be prepared for a hunt around for the leopards and the cheetahs as they can sometimes be quite elusive.
It's also a very worthwhile experience taking a hot air balloon ride over the Serengeti to view the wildlife from above, but be prepared for roughly £400 per person. If you decide to spend the money you will not be disappointed as the balloon ride is amazing and the champagne breakfast at the end is a perfect way to finish off the morning.
Don't hesitate to visit the Serengeti National Park, it's an experience you won't forget.

Excellent park just too expensive.