Safari tours through the Serengeti
Safari in other national parks
Lake Manyara
national park Lake Manyara is located in the rainforest at the foot of the Great Rift Valley. The park attracted not only predators, but became home to colonies of pink flamingos, the number of which amazes even seasoned travelers. A dense pink spot along the coast, reflected from the water surface, multiplies an already huge population on an incredible scale.
Tarangire
The name was borrowed from the Tarangire River that cuts through the park, which supplies the surrounding flora and fauna with fresh water necessary for life. In Tarangire Park itself, one of the largest colonies of long-lived baobabs grows. During the dry season, many herbivores migrate to the river in the hope of finding an escape from the drought. Herds of wildebeests, zebras and buffalo trample around the dried-up lagoon, warming up the hunting instincts of watching lions and leopards to reach the underground streams of the river. Everyone wants to grab their piece of life-giving moisture.
Ngorongoro
The ancient Ngorongoro Crater is a UNESCO heritage site and one of the most interesting parks in Tanzania, it is here that the largest number of different animal species per square kilometer lives. The park harmoniously blends into the natural landscape of the Great Rift Valley, framed tropical forest he brought his natural beauty to the present day. Exciting rides along the edge of the crater, lunch on the lake with hippos and picturesque lakes with pink flamingos are waiting for you.
Arusha
Most parks strictly forbid getting out of the car in open areas, but a feature of the Arusha National Park is just the same small walking tours accompanied by a ranger. A walk along the explored path, which starts among small thickets of bushes, passes through a cozy valley and ends with a waterfall cutting through the mountain range with the funny name Ulyulyusya. It is worth noting that it is absolutely safe - there has not been a single attack on people in the park, all animals behave very peacefully.
Lake Natron
We know that there are many places on Earth with extreme environment habitats that sometimes look completely harmless and friendly, but one can hardly say something similar about Lake Natron. It is worth trying to describe it in colors, as soon as only such epithets as alien, bloody and lifeless come to mind, which is partly true. But, as they say, it all depends on the angle - for some, this place, on the contrary, gives a chance for survival.
Lake Eyasi
The picturesque creation of the rift valley is the soda lake Eyasi. On its coast live, absolutely different from each other, the tribes of the Hadza and Datog peoples. The first led a nomadic lifestyle in the past: they were engaged in hunting and gathering, and gradually settled in this region. Their wilderness survival skills are extremely high, and of course their archery skills are beyond any expectation. In turn, the people of the Datog people, on the contrary, have always been engaged in cattle breeding and cultivating the land. They were driven back to Lake Eyasi by other tribes, which had better weapons and superior numbers. Far from the developing world, the Hadza and Datog tribes remained untouched and were able to maintain their way of life. Thanks to this, now we can plunge into the atmosphere of primitive African life and even go hunting with them.
The Serengeti National Park is located on the African Great Rift. It is included in the list of the most famous national parks in the world. The park is located in Tanzania and Kenya. Savannah extends from the north of Tanzania, east of Lake Victoria, to the south of Kenya and covers an area of about 30,000 km. square. The name comes from the Masai word "siringet", meaning "elongated platform".
Unique climatic conditions determine the way of life of representatives of the local fauna. Landscape patterns change from grasslands in the south and savannahs in the center to forested hills in the north. Real forests are located in the western part of the park. Endless plains, savannas, rivers and lakes are inhabited by more than 35 species of animals, including more than a million large mammals: lions (about 3000 individuals), wildebeest, elephants, rhinos, leopards, buffaloes, crocodiles, hyenas, giraffes, jackals , baboons, big-eared foxes and many others. More than 350 species of reptiles, an infinite number of insects also represent the nature of the Serengeti. Ornithologists count about 500 species of birds in the park. Reserve the most the best place on Earth to observe the life of lions, cheetahs and giraffes.
Tanzania is famous for its national parks. Perhaps the most famous of them is the Serengeti National Park. "Serenegeti" in the Maasai language means "endless plains". For the first time, Europeans learned about these places only in 1913. Unfortunately, like all the territories of the British colonies in East Africa, the Serengeti plains quickly became a place of mass pilgrimage for hunters from Europe. In 1929, part of the Serengeti plains was declared a game reserve. In 1940, the plains became a protected area. However, due to financial difficulties, the Serengeti plains remained a protected area only on paper. In 1951, the territory was given the status of a national park. However, the park received international status only in 1981. At the same time, it was recognized as a monument of the world natural and cultural heritage UNESCO.
The Serengeti National Park is undoubtedly the world's most famous treasure trove. wildlife, which knows no equal in beauty and scientific value. Serengeti - Tanzania's oldest and most famous park - is known for its annual migrations: about 6 million hooves trample the plain when 200,000 zebras and 300,000 Thomson's gazelles search for fresh food along with the wildebeest. But even outside the Serengeti migration period, Africa's brightest safari: huge herds of buffalo, smaller groups of elephants and giraffes, thousands and thousands of eland, topi, kongoni, impala and Grant's gazelles.
Large herds of various antelopes: Patterson's elanda, klipspringer, dik-dik, impala, zebra, gazelles, water and marsh goat, bushbuck, topi, kongoni, oribi, tanzanian duiker, black horse antelope, buffalo. Lions, leopards, cheetahs, hyenas, hyena dogs, jackals. Small mammals: strider, porcupine, warthog, baboon, hyrax, green monkey, colobus, hussar monkey, mongoose. Large mammals: giraffe, rhinoceros, elephant and hippopotamus. Nearly 500 species of birds, including: vultures, storks, flamingos, martial eagle, screaming eagle, ostrich era. Reptiles: Crocodiles, several types of snakes and lizards.
The most interesting spectacle in the largest park in Tanzania is the hunting of predators. Prides of golden-maned lions feast on the open spaces of flat pastures. Lonely leopards prowl between the acacias along the Seronera River, and many cheetahs roam the southeastern plains in search of prey. An almost unique case: all three species of African jackals are found here, along with spotted hyenas and a host of less visible small predators, from earthwolf insects to red servals.
As endless as the pleasure of watching animals, the feeling of space on the Serengeti plains, stretching across the sun-scorched savannah to the shimmering golden horizon, seems endless. But after the rainy season, this golden grassy expanse turns into a seemingly endless green carpet, on which wild flowers are scattered. There are also tree-covered hills, high termite mounds, and along the banks of the rivers stretch fig trees and acacia plantations, orange with dust. And despite the immense popularity of the Serengeti, the park is so vast that you may be the only spectator when the pride of lions begins to chase the prey, relentlessly chasing their food.
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The Serengeti National Park is one of the most famous wildlife sanctuaries in the world. Here is the highest concentration of wild animals in Africa: more than two million wildebeest, half a million Thompson's gazelles, a quarter of a million zebras. Thanks to these artiodactyls, every year a unique performance is played out in the open spaces of the park every summer - a great migration.
The name "Serenghetti" in the Masai language means "extended land". The Greater Serengeti includes the Reserve Ngorongoro, Maswa Reservation, Masai Maara (in Kenya), Loliondo, Grumeti, Ikorongo reserves and the Serengeti reserve of the same name in Tanzania. The territory of the "big" Serenghetti occupies 12,950 sq. km, and is located between Lake Victoria in the west, Lake Eyazi in the south and the Big Reef Valley in the east. Serengeti National Park is located at an altitude of 910 m to 1890 m above sea level. The climate in the park is tropical. Day temperature - 25 - 30°C.
For centuries, the local plains remained uninhabited until the arrival of the tribe Maasai. The first European to set foot on this territory was the German explorer Dr. Oskar Abuman, followed by many hunters who heard about how many valuable animals walk the African plains. Hunting became a fashion, a huge number of wild animals were destroyed, an entire ecosystem was in danger. In order to solve this problem, the Serengeti Park was created in 1951. The Serengeti is considered the most interesting and largest park in East Africa.
Serengeti National Park: Fauna.
In fact, all African animals can be found here. The Serengeti surpasses other national parks in Africa in terms of the number of species (about 35 species of lowland animals) and total number animals that inhabit it. There are about 3000 lions here alone.
There is also the Big Five - elephant, rhinoceros, lion, leopard and buffalo. Leopards can be observed along the rivers and streams, on the plains - jackals, hyenas, as well as elephants, rhinos, buffaloes, giraffes, baboons, hippos, crocodiles and numerous herbivores, represented by eland and impala antelopes, waterbucks, redunks, harbingers, Thompson's gazelles and Grant.
More than 500 species of birds live in the park: ostriches, bustards, secretary birds and many small birds.
The most amazing sight is the migration of ungulates, which spend most of the year (8-9 months) in this park against the backdrop of amazingly beautiful nature in the changeable illumination of the great African sun. Herds of wildebeest and zebras (they are the main migrants), followed by predators, and then scavengers - the natural cycle.
Migration is a unique and dramatic natural phenomenon of the few remaining on Earth. Migration can be observed from February to June, when the animals ascend north along the eastern edge, or from September to December, when they again descend south, through the western part of the park.
During the rainy season, which lasts from November to May, herds of wildebeest, zebras and other herbivores migrate in search of fresh pastures to the Masai Mara reserve - a kind of extension of the Serengeti, which is located in southwestern Kenya. During the dry season, the northern low-grass plains turn almost into semi-desert, and this causes a mass migration of herbivores to the regions of the tall-grass steppes, where lush grass remains. In search of food, animals overcome about 1000 kilometers, exposing their lives to considerable danger. And after the rains start again, the herds go back.
No one knows exactly what causes the non-stop movement of 1.5 million wildebeest, 600 thousand zebras and about 300 thousand gazelles, huddling in huge herds and overcoming many kilometers, crossing water barriers, where predators lie in wait for them. This movement follows a single schedule and route every year with minor time shifts, but the spectacle and grandeur of a unique natural phenomenon is difficult to describe in words..
Forests in the Serengeti mainly consist of acacias and ficuses, and ebony is also found. Another feature of the park is the granite mountains-remnants of the “mine” (kopje), similar to stone islands, towering among the endless sea of grass. Small stone mounds, whose "age" is up to 3 million years, often surround the places where the park's hotels, lodges or camps are located.
Serengeti National Park - located in Tanzania and has an area of 14763 square meters. km. To the north, the Serengeti is bordered by the Masai Mara in Kenya, which is an extension of the park. The Serengeti is located at an altitude of 920 to 1850 m above sea level and the terrain varies from long or short grass in the south to hills covered with forests in the north. The Serengeti is characterized by accumulations (over 1.5 million heads) of wild ungulates (antelopes, zebras, buffaloes, rhinos, giraffes, hippos), elephant, lion, cheetah, leopard, hyenas, etc. are common.
The year-round incessant migration of large herds of ungulates looking for a water hole is considered one of the most striking phenomena in the wild.
The name of the area and later the park comes from the Masai word "siringet", meaning "elongated platform". For centuries, the vast wastelands of the Serengeti plains were largely uninhabited, but about 100 years ago, the nomadic Maasai tribes came from the north with their cattle.
The first European who came here, in 1891, was the German explorer and naturalist Dr. Oscar Baumann. And the first European professional hunters came to the Serengeti in 1913 and the Serengeti plains quickly became a place of mass "pilgrimage" of hunters from Europe.
In connection with the danger of extermination of large animals by hunters, a partial reserve with an area of 3.2 square meters was founded in 1921. km, and in 1929 - full, which became the basis for the creation of the National Park. With the growing awareness of the need to protect wildlife, the reserve was expanded in 1951, and transformed into a national park. Currently, the Serengeti Park is the object world heritage UNESCO (Object No. 156).
