The Serengeti is a vast, wild wonderland. It is well known as one of Africa’s most captivating safari regions. The number of animals living here is exceptionally amazing. Based on estimates, there are wildebeasts in their millions; zebras and Thompson’s gazelles in their hundred thousands; and impalas, Grant’s gazelles, topis (tsessebe), hartebeests, elands and other antelopes in their ten thousands. All of these animals are hunted by an equally huge population of predators, including African wild dogs, caracal, mongoose, lions, cheetahs, and pythons.

Some of these prey animals dwell permanently in specific areas of the Serengeti, but animals such as wildebeests and zebras take part in a regular migration – an amazing spectacle that’s one of the greatest wildlife shows on earth.

The Serengeti National Park itself covers about 15,000km² of mostly flat or gently rolling grasslands, interspersed with the occasional rock outcrops, or kopjes. But this is just the centre of a whole ecosystem which covers more than double that area, and includes Grumeti Reserve, Ikorongo Game Reserve, Loliondo Controlled Area, Maswa Game Reserve, part of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and also Kenya’s relatively small Maasai Mara Game Reserve. This combined area is often referred to as the Greater Serengeti area, or the Serengeti-Mara ecosystem.

Most visitors enter the Park from the south-east, dropping down from the escarpment of the Ngorongoro Highlands onto the open short grass plains. The road passes by the Olduvai Gorge, where Dr. and Mrs. Leakey found the 1.75 million-year-old remains of Australopithecus boisei ('Zinjanthropus') and Homo habilis which suggest that our species first evolved in this area. To the west, the Gorge reaches Lake Ndutu where a safari lodge is attractively set amongst trees by the water's edge.

The Serengeti's climate is usually warm and dry. The main rainy season is from March to May, with short rains falling from October to November. The amount of rainfall increases from about 508mm on the plains in the lee of the Ngorongoro Highlands to about 1,200mm on the shores of Lake Victoria. All is lush and green after the rains, but a gradual drying up follows which restricts plant growth and encourages the animals to migrate in search of permanent waters. With altitudes ranging from 920 to 1,850 metres - higher than most of Europe - mean temperatures vary from 15 degrees to 25 degrees Celsius. It is coldest from June to October, particularly in the evenings.