03Cities, Parks & Islands

Open plain

Serengeti, savannah at near-continental scale

Serengeti National Park stretches across about 14,763 km², became a national park in 1940, and receives around 350,000 visits a year. Grassland broken by acacia is the scene travellers mean by “Tanzanian safari”: wide horizon, low morning light, wildlife moving across distances, not in a cage. The park is among Tanzania’s UNESCO World Heritage properties. Access is organised in safari vehicles from Kilimanjaro airport or Arusha; inside the park roads are dirt and the day runs early exit, viewing stops, return with the heat. Do not confuse Serengeti with Ngorongoro Crater: one is an extended plain, the other a volcanic basin in an adjacent conservation area. Three to four days in or on the edge of the park give a sense of scale; one day is only a sample.

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Park area

1940

Established

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Visitors per year