The Serengeti is a 60,000 square kilometer savanna which lies over Tanzania and Kenya.[1] The biannual migration that occurs there is considered one of the seven tourist travel wonders of the world. The region contains several national parks and game reserves. Its name is derived from the Maasai language and means "Endless Plains".
The Serengeti has more than 2 million herbivores and thousands of predators. Blue Wildebeests, gazelles, zebras and buffalos are the animals most commonly found in the region.
The Serengeti hosts the largest and longest overland migration in the world,[2] a biannual occurrence. Around October, nearly 2 million herbivores travel from the northern hills toward the southern plains, crossing the Mara River, in pursuit of the rains. In April, they then return to the north through the west, once again crossing the Mara river. This phenomenon is sometimes called the Circular Migration. Over 250,000 wildebeest alone will die along the journey from Tanzania to Maasai Mara reserves in upper Kenya, a total of 500 miles. Death is often caused by injury, exhaustion, or predation.[2]
The migration is chronicled in the 1994 documentary film, Africa: The Serengeti.
The area is also home to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, which contains the Olduvai Gorge, where some of the oldest hominid fossils are found, as well as the Ngorongoro Crater, the world's largest unbroken volcanic caldera.
The area was used as location inspiration for the animated Disney film The Lion King and subsequent theatrical production.
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Serengeti is the only big enough savanna nature park in the world for migration of the large mammals. The sight of a million wildebeests, hundreds of thousands of zebras and occasional well-fed lions as you drive to the park is absolutely breath-taking. You can rent a hot air balloon for about 500€ for birds eye view. I stayed in a tent under "Do not leave campsite, animal may attack human being" -sign, and was woken up by hyenas fighting outside the tent - only to be silenced by a curious lion wondering by.
Should be interesting to see the migration crossing Grumeti river packed with crocodiles.
172 days, 11 hours ago
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Links for tag: serengeti
nationalgeographic.com:
The great migrating herds of wildebeests and zebras are probably the single most impressive sight, although the endless plains, fantastic clouds, and kaleidoscope of natural colors are pretty hard to best.
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wikipedia.org:
It is most famous for its annual migration of over one million white bearded (or brindled) wildebeest and 200,000 zebra.
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goworldtravel.com:
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travel-guides.com:
The glory of the Serengeti, however, is its wildlife, and the park is most famous for the annual migration of wildebeest, zebra and Thomson’s gazelle.
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wikitravel.org:
The park flows over into neighboring Kenya where it's known as the Masai Mara.
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http://wikitravel.org/en/Serengeti_National_Park
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