Treasures of Serengeti National Park.
February 19, 2008 by Jerry
The name, Serengeti, actually ‘siringit’ in Maasai means ‘extended place.’ Indeed the Serengeti just seems to roll on and on and on. All 14,763 sq kms of this natural wonderland is awe-inspiring. The park is situated on a plateau flanked by the Ngorongoro highlands and the Kenya/Tanzania border. The Serengeti is endowed with riverine forests, plains, thorn scrubs and not to mention wildlife. Trees and shrubs that conceal the creatures that roam this never-ending expanse intermittently puncture the Serengeti’s effortless rolling grasslands. The Serengeti is also embellished with granite inselbergs known as ‘Kopje’ that spread out across the landscape. 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 leeward side of the Ngorongoro Highlands to about 1,200mm on the shores of Lake Victoria. Those fortunate to tour this bush area go home with memories of enormous herds of antelope browsing on the grasslands. Columns of wildebeest pound the earth with hooves and prides of lions patrolling the plains. Its landscape was initially shaped by volcanic action. But trust Mother Nature. She proceeded to sculpt a masterpiece using wind, rain and sun out of the volcanic deposits. Serengeti now boasts of vast grass plains in the south, savannah with scattered acacia trees in the centre, hilly, wooded grassland in the north, to extensive woodland and black clay plains to the west. Small rivers, lakes and swamps are scattered throughout. In the South-East rise the great volcanic massifs and craters of the Ngorongoro Highlands. Each area has its own particular atmosphere and wildlife.
Serengeti National Park is roughly divided into three separate regions, namely the Western Corridor, the Seronera Valley and Seronera River and the Northern Lobo region that extends northwards beyond the Lamai Wedge to the Maasai Mara. Serengeti is still one of the most enthralling locations in the world to view wildlife. Rivers flow through the park, providing habitats for a variety of birds, mammals and reptiles. Serengeti is rightly renowned for its vast concentrations of animals, particularly the big cats, in addition to playing host to part of the Great Migration. At some times of the year, Serengeti boasts of a colossal gathering of almost a million wildebeest, 200,000 zebras and 350,000 gazelles racing towards the Maasai Mara in an annual race to find sufficient waters and fresh grass for their survival. Seronera Valley is a pulsating flora and fauna region of the Serengeti. It is a gently undulating plain interrupted by all-season rivers and rock Kopjes. In this valley, the migrating stocks usually halt to calve in March every year but wildlife can be found here all year round.
On reaching the Serengeti one says farewell to civilization and crosses the threshold into the terrain where no traffic exists, not even footpaths, but only shallow gullies generated by generations and generations of migrating wildebeest. In Serengeti, the Lion is king. Everyone else is a pretender. In a splendid example of coexistence, the Maasai with their crimson coloured clothing and shiny spears shepherd their livestock and share this wilderness with Leopards and Elephants. Through the great migration around end of June, the Serengeti plains are swarmed with masses of Wildebeest rallying insistently towards Maasai Mara for the lush shrubbery. In November, the Wildebeest, Zebra and Thompson Gazelle replicate the same pilgrimage on their way back to the Serengeti once the juicy vegetation of the Maasai Mara has been worn out. Between May and October the oceans of grass in the Serengeti are packed with animals. Leopard, Elephant, Wild dog, Monkeys, Coke’s hartebeest, Impala, Hippo, Jackal, Warthogs, Caracal Giraffes, Gazelles, Hyena, Lion, Eland, Cheetah and Ostrich can all be viewed in the Serengeti. As for birdwatchers birds like Raptors, Eagles, Ruppell’s Griffon Vultures, Hawks and Harrier among other birds dash about the Serengeti. If you’re adventurous, take a game drive to the secluded Salei plains that are known as cheetah country. There are many resorts that assure comfort as you savour the African wilderness.
The thing i like about Africa is the contrast it provides one minute you are in the wilderness the next you could be having lunch in a 5 star lodge all in the heart of Africa.