Serengeti National Park

The Serengeti covers roughly 14,750 km² of grassland, riverine forest and granite kopjes in northern Tanzania. Its name comes from the Maasai *siringet* — the place where the land runs on forever. It holds the largest lion population in Africa and hosts the Great Migration, the year-round movement of nearly two million wildebeest and zebra.

Following the migration

The herds move in a broad clockwise loop. Calving happens on the southern short-grass plains around Ndutu in January and February; the columns move west and north through the Grumeti in May and June; the Mara River crossings in the north run from roughly July to October. Where you should stay depends entirely on the month you travel.

Beyond the herds

The Seronera valley in the central Serengeti holds resident lion, leopard and cheetah year-round, so the park rewards a visit in any season, migration or not.

Balloons at dawn

A hot-air balloon over the plains at first light, landing to a bush breakfast, is the one add-on almost nobody regrets.