This national park was basically a graze land for the Masai people that lived here. The first American that visited this area (Stewart Edward) came here in 1913 with a group of friends with intentions of hunting lions. They later returned in 1920.
In the early 1950s, the British noticed the reduction in the number of animals and more so lions and decided to gazette this area as a national park and resettled the Masai people who were living here to the current Ngoro Ngoro National Park in 1959 and they live here up to date. This made Serengeti the oldest National Park in Tanzania.
This is the most visited park in Tanzania. It’s the park that experiences the wildebeest’s migration to the Masai Mara game park in Kenya. The park covers an area of about 14,763 Sq Kilometers. This makes it the largest national park in Tanzania.
A safari without the Serengeti National park on the itinerary is not worth booking. Serengeti actually means “Plains” in the Masai culture which is the area where the park is located. The park is mostly covered by savanna grasslands which boobs a lot of while life including the endangered Black Rhinos.
Species in Serengeti
The Park boasts of a lot of wild life with over 3 million mammals that call these plains home. The Migration of the animals usually occurs between May and early June. You will see a lot of Zebras and Wildebeests as they move in search for water.
Other animals you will see here are many species of Antelopes, Buffalos, Cheetahs, Hippos, Leopards, Primates, Giraffes, and many reptiles like the crocodiles, a lot of bird species (About 500) and Leopards.
Elevation of the Serengeti
The Serengeti is at an elevation of between 1,600 and 1,800 meter above sea level. It’s a catchment area for several rivers in the area. The Mara River flows from Northern Masai Mara in Kenya all the way through the Serengeti National park. The waters of this river support the dense forested banks of this river. Other rivers in the area are Mbalaget Rivers, Duma, Simiyu and Semu rivers.
Hills & mountains
There are strings of hills that rise well from the flat surface of the Serengeti National Park.
Soils & volcanic history
There are underlying rocks west of the Mugumu-Seronera line that have been in existence for over 2.5 million years ago. The rocks are believed to be volcanic rocks and they are mineralized. The volcano in this area Ol Doinyo Lengai, is still active and last erupted in 2013. Eastern plains soils contain different salts, such as sodium, potassium and calcium.
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