Serengeti national park covers about 15,000 square kilometers bordering Maasai Mara reserve in Kenya in the north. Serengeti is most famous for the migration of more than a million wildebeest accompanied by zebra, gazelles and assorted antelopes. It has one of the largest populations of wild life anywhere in the world. Endless grassy rolling planes are perfect terrain for safari. Binoculars and 200m plus camera lens helps.
We left Lake Manyara for Serengeti early in the morning, passing through Ngorongoro conservation area, getting to the Serengeti gate at about lunch time and then heading to the west part of the park reaching at sunset time. Migrating animals were meant to be in the west of the park at the time of our trip in late May.
The drive through Ngorongoro conservation area is stunningly beautiful. As you descend from the crater Serengeti planes open up and you pass small Maasai villages where you can stop for a somewhat touristy experience. We saw quite a few giraffes on the way moving between Serengeti and Ngorongoro.
As we drove through the planes towards Serengeti gate we encountered the tail of migrating herds of wildebeest and zebra. Rains were late this year and animals were still on their way to the west. It is incredible sight – as far as you can see all the way to the horizon there were animals.
We then came across a cheetah sitting 2 meters away from the road and watching intently a herd of impala. We waited hoping she would go hunting but she was not in the mood.
On we went and came across lions who just finished their lunch as evidenced by fat bellies of chilling out lions and meatless carcass next to them. Seeing endless herds of wildebeest and zebra, a cheetah and lions before even reaching the gate of Serengeti was very impressive.
After the gate there is a large resting area where most vehicles going in and out of the park stop, get permits sorted out and eat boxed lunch. The resting area is at the foot of a hill from which you get a nice 360 view of the planes. From here we continued on what now was a “proper” game drive since we were inside of the park, towards our lodge in the west. All along the way we saw herds of impala, wildebeest, zebra, gazelles, all sorts of birds, troop of baboons and even jackals. We made it to the lodge just in time for sunset. Sleeping in the tented camp to the purring of lions nearby was surreal.
The next day we went for game drives all around western section returning back to the lodge for dinner.
After the second night in the west we headed to the central section of the park. The bird life in the park is equally spectacular
After we crossed one of the rivers we suddenly had a hippo standing right in front of us in the middle of the road – a rare site. After staring at us for a minute it wondered off into the bush and back into the river
On the way to the central we came across a troop of baboons feeding on the white flowers looking hilarious.
In central part we saw a leopard in a tree with its half finished lunch of impala hanging on a branch. We came across a pride of lions chilling out on a rock outcrop. And saw plenty of elephants, buffalo, giraffes, wild hogs, zebras, gazelles, and all sorts of birds.
We spent a night in the central part with stunning views of the planes around. Next day we headed back to the gate and towards Ngorongoro crater coming across migration on the way back again. Serengeti lived up to high expectations.
