SERENGETI NATIONAL PARK

Area: 14, 763 km²
Location: Located 325 km north-west of Arusha.
Serengeti National Park is undoubtedly the best-known wildlife sanctuary in the world, unequalled for its natural beauty and scientific value. With more than two million wildebeest, half a million Thomson's gazelle, and a quarter of a million zebra, it has the greatest concentration of plains game in Africa. The wildebeest and zebra moreover form the star cast of a unique spectacular - the annual Serengeti migration.

The name 'Serengeti' comes from the Maasai language and appropriately means an 'extended place'. The National Park, with an area of 12,950 square kilometres, is as big as Northern Ireland, but its ecosystem, which includes the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, the Maswa Game Reserve and the Maasai Mara Game reserve (in Kenya), is roughly the size of Kuwait. It lies between the shores of Lake Victoria in the west, Lake Eyasi in the south, and the Great Rift Valley to the east. As such, it offers the most complex and least disturbed ecosystem on earth.

Wildlife rhythms: The timing of the famous migration of wildebeests, zebras and other ungulates varies from year to year, but as a rough guide the animals are in the north August to October (with most crossing into the Masai Mara during October), heading south in November and De¬cember, in the south-east of the park until May, then heading north again via the Western Corridor during June and July. The spectacular crossing by the herds of the Grumeti River (and the atten¬dant feasting by Nile croco¬diles) takes place around June. From December to February, zebras and wildebeests give birth, and provide a magnet for predators. Bird numbers and diversity peak October to April, when migratory species return.

Wildlife highlights: Some of the best wildlife viewing in Africa. Because of its open plains and sparseness of sheltering trees it offers outstanding views of -predators: in add¬ition to leopards and three species of jackal, the Serengeti ecosystem is esti¬mated to support some 2800 lions and 9000 spotted hyenas. It is the best place in Tanzania to see cheetahs, with about 250 in the park. However, hunting dogs and rhinos are now in such small numbers that you will almost certainly not encounter them. Serengeti also protects large populations of ungulates, in-cluding giraffes, topis and elands, and is famous for its migrations of wildebeests, zebras and gazelles. The park contains over 500 bird species, including Tanzanian endemics.

Watching tips: Sharing your lion and leopard viewing with 20-odd other vehicles may not be your idea of enjoying wildlife, but you can head to the less busy Lobo or Western Corri¬dor. Alternatively, most drivers confine their safari to the earlier and later part of the day: if you head out in the heat of the day, you'll still find the lions under the trees and perhaps even see a leopard hunting - although mostly nocturnal, they some¬times take advantage of the fact that most animals are resting (and are less alert) in the midday sun. Serengeti is the places to get close-up wildlife shots, so pack far more film than you think you are going to need.

What to do: Game drives, Informa¬tion centres (Naabi Hill and Seronera).