Top 20 things to consider when visiting serengeti national park in tanzania

Serengeti national park is the one of the best wild life park available in Africa in a very popular country called Tanzania, the origin of the word Serengeti come from Maasai tribe Siringeti which means “Endless of plains”. Hence Maasai people had been grazing their livestock in the open plains of eastern Maasai region which they named “Endless plains”. Serengeti national park is established in 1951 and is located in northern side in Tanzania hence is covering an area of about 5700 square miles (14,763 sq.km). It’s easy to get to the Serengeti national park through Kilimanjaro International Airport and this is the most convenient airport for accessing the Serengeti National Park. Once at the airport, there are a number of buses and shuttle services that will take you on a 50km (31ml) journey to the town of Arusha; gateway to the Serengeti. Many Safari tours start from Arusha and offer airport transfers services. Whilst less convenient, it also possible to get to Arusha from Nairobi airport, with both buses and tour service offering transfers daily.

HOW TO PAY FOR SERENGETI NATIONAL PARK IF YOU NEED TO VISIT

The Serengeti national park fee may be charged by credit card and not cash, hence you make prepayment at the bank from Arusha then you go with the serial number which you submit It to the park authorities.

The Serengeti national park payment for children under five years do not pay, children with the age 5 to 16 they pay USD 20 but for age of 16 and above years’ fee is USD 60. The payment is good and not expensive and is done for 24hours and for adult who need to stay for 48hours can cos USD 120. The following are the top 20 of the most important thing in the Serengeti national park and are worth considering for local and overseas tourist.

WHEN TO VISIT SERENGETI NATIONAL PARK 
Wildlife viewing in Serengeti national park is good throughout the year, but certain time are better at specific time. During dry season from late June to October after the best wild life viewing in general with the wildebeest migration as it absolute high. Also the raining season started march to May (the long rain) hence November to December (the short rains) visitors might experience cloudy skies and short rain during the day. The following are the 20 things to consider when visiting Serengeti national park in Tanzania

1. ANIMALS OF THE SERENGETI 
Serengeti national park is a blessed wildlife park with many wonderful animal and the animal are the main source of consideration to the park. The following are the species that may be found in the Serengeti national park

Elephant

Common

Giraffe

Common

Hippo

Common

Buffalo

Common

Zebra

Abundant

Wildebeest

Abundant

White Rhino

None

Black Rhino

Very rare

Lion

Common

Leopard

Occasional

Cheetah

Common

Hyena

Common

2. TYPE OF BIRDS FOUND IN SERENGETI NATIONAL PARK 
There are top five species of the beautiful birds in Serengeti national park the bird of Serengeti is very attractive and they sound interesting, below are the different species of bird which can be found at Serengeti national Park; -

 Grey- breasted spur fowl, this bird species is one of the popular bird in the central Serengeti is included in the phasianidae family you will see them early in the morning or late afternoon when they are out seeking for food.

 Rulous- Tailed weaver, are the songbird species found mainly around mwahi hill Gate in the Serengeti national park, the bird species are included the weaver family but sometimes include the old world sparrow family amazing birds.

 Fischer’s lover bird, are common in the Serengeti national park during the dry season the bird are small parrot species of the Agapains genes and they are brightly coloured yellow and green they are seen in central Serengeti around the water holes they feed on a wide range of foods including fruits and seed.

 Kurri Bustard, a member of bustard family found in the Serengeti ecosystem, Kurri bustard is the largest and weightiest flying bird in Africa they are found during the wet season from December to March.

 Secretary birds, the bird species is dermic to Africa but you will find them mostly in the open grasslands of the Serengeti. They are always in pairs male and female seen though the park hunting for food.

3. RULES IN THE SERENGETI NATIONAL PARK 
In each area there are rules and procedure and you must obey and respect them but the Rules in the Serengeti national park are not the rules of keeping you with difficult time and make your visit not to be enjoyable, the rules of Serengeti national Park aim at keeping your safe in the park. These rules are; -

 Don’t feed the Animal

Feeding on unfamiliar animal may lead to the consequences in the health of that animal and also may jeopardize the safety of the tourist. So due to this precaution kindly you’re not allowed to feed animal anything when you’re in the park.

 Keep your arm and Head inside the car

In Serengeti national park there are a lot of the animal and one of the kind that can be found are the meat-eating type of animal these animal may cause danger to your visit when you look the view of Serengeti national park by using the Safaris jeep so kindly your requested not to keep your arm and head outside the car and when you want to take picture or video you will take when you are in the car.

 Never walk Unaccompanied

If you’re in the park day or night make sure you do not cross the borders without getting permission or being directed by tour guide, and for those tourist with children it is important to stay with your child at all times when you’re in the park.

 Don’t Bellow.

It is not allowed to speak loudly or shout because this can cause animal to run away and you cannot see them and also it’s not good to make noise when you’re in the park so it good and beautiful to stay silence and if you’re talking jus you may use little voice in talking.

4. RELAX BY THE POOL 
After a long time with the dust of the Safaris there is a beautiful and spectacular pool of cool and slippery sunshine in the end of the day while not all properties on the Serengeti can boast a past those that do are great for family’s safaris with children.

5. ENJOY A BUSH DINNER 
No matter where you came from Serengeti cuisine is good and its quality to your satisfaction you will go well from BBQ food, to traditional food that are good and tasty. A bush food is greater food in Serengeti national parks because when you’re around in the park you will not be hungry hence you will eat on time.

6. SERENGETI LODGES 
For all people who need more comfort when they arrive in the Serengeti national park for more home season the place is nice and good and lodge have nice window with good ventilation, lodge are very important for those tourist who take time to travel with their children they not only offer kid friendly distraction such as television, club and park

7. FAMOUS TREE FOUND IN SERENGETI NATIONAL PARK. 
In any area tree are beautiful and very valuable as well as in the park tree are very important to the animal that lives in that area, hence the park has been blessed with number of the beautiful tree to inherent the finest and the most profitable tree and there are also tree that are very popular in the park these tree is; -

 Baobab

Baobab (bay-oh-bob) is a crowd favorite on safaris and for good reason baobab tree have named the tree of life because for millennia, tribes animal and birds all tend to congregate around these baobab, elders while using their branches as shade and fruits for dyes and vitamin rich supplement official name “Ad Ansonia digilata” size of the tree is 40-70 feet (12-20 meter) tall, trunk 3560 feet (10-18 meter) diameter trunk average of age barbed tree live for 1000-2000 years

 Acacia

Difficult name acacia tortillis (umbrella thorn) one the most widely distributed acacias on the planet acacias are actually a genus of 160 different species of tree and shrub in the pea family they are called “Wattles” Australian size, your typical acacia will grow to the 40 feet (12m) with some as large of 70 feet (21 m).

 Kigelia (the sausage tree)

Kigelia tree by the popular name known as the sausage tree, you will quickly learn while hanging from the Kigelia branches are fruits up to the low feet long weight 15 pound and oddly resemble bratwurst. The official name is Kigelia Africana, there is only one species, distributed throughout tropical African. The size of the tree can grow up to 20m (66 feet) can be evergreen in wet areas and deciduous in long day areas. Traditional uses of this tree, many of tribe they use this tree for fighting for infection and skin conditions and burns.

8. OCCURRENCE OF THE WILDEBEEST MIGRATION. 
One of the largest terrestrial animal migration on earth is the annual blue wildebeest migration, this is because millions of the blue wildebeest move from one area to another go together with thousands of Zebras and other wild life. The movement is determined by the climatic change and they keep an eye on the weather arrays of the year. Most of times when they move they start moving from South Ndutu in early February to march as the wildebeest go for calving season where thousands(1000s) of newly born wildebeest

calves are born daily, and this is the one of the live events that gives one wide range of wildlife experience viewing the new-born calf walking within ten minutes. The movement of the wildebeest extends to western Serengeti where the animal crosses the Grumeti river and the climax witnessed in July when the wildebeest cross the Mara river to the famous Masai Mara national reserve in Kenya.

When they want to cross in Mara river it’s difficult to predict the first day of the crossing as even wildebeest themselves fear who to start yet they move with no leader, its magical to see these animal throw themselves on water in the middle of the large crocodiles.

9. GAME INITIATIVES 
When you visit in Serengeti national park game initiatives or game pushes is one of the 20 best thing to enjoy, Game pushes are done on well air conditioned safaris jeeps with popup roof top where you can enjoy clear view of the wild life. Game pushes can be done in morning, full of day or in the evening, this will help to get close to nature view a wide range of animal at their natural habitats just a few meters away from your safaris jeep. The game pushes can reward you with vast experience of Serengeti clearing your long list of animal like big five of Africa those are Elephants, lion, Leopards, Rhino and Buffalo also not only big five but also there is other animal alike Hyenas, Kobs, Oribi, Wildebeest, Zebras, Topis, Jannet cats, dik dik and there are birds like Secretary bird, Buffalo weaver, Lovebirds, Ostriches, kori Bustards among others

10. HOT AIR BALLOON 
Have an above ground view of the open large endless plain of Serengeti national park with hot air balloon package. The Hot air balloon start very early with the pickup from your camp and transfer to the starting point of the hot air balloon. No-win situation with live action at the wilderness early in the morning when floating at the air, see as far as you can at the endless plain of Serengeti and conclude your balloon expedition with hot toss of wine at the shrub.

11. KNOW-HOW CULTURAL LIFESTYLE OF THE MAASAI PEOPLE. 
Serengeti national park is a home of Maasai locals who lived in the park for years before they were resettled at the borders of the park and to Ngorongoro conservation area. Most of the camps or lodge have an evening entertainment by the local after dinner at the fire camp area while also there is arrangement of visiting the Mayatas of the Maasai in their houses. These locals are more welcoming to all guest, they are very free to share their experience with the guests, showing their handcrafts made using traditional methods.

12. VISIT OLDUVAI GORGE. 
Olduvai gorge is the one of the famous archeological sites where the remain of the oldest man were discovered by the Dr Leakey dating back over two million years ago. And this is the one of the thing which you can enjoy when visiting in the Serengeti National Park because this site lies on enroot at the border of Ngorongoro Crater conservation area and the Serengeti nation park so you can visit the museum and the footprints at the site.

13. EXPLORATION AT THE MORU KOPJES 
The kopjes are major ancient African painting that reflect the local Maasai art like at Gong rock named after the Maasai musical instrument Gong. The open endless plains of Serengeti are dotted with good number of Moru kopjes which are a good habitat for the predator especially the lions. Exploring these more kopjes is one of the best thing to do in Serengeti national park if one wants to see more of the big cats. The most famous one being Simba kopjes named after the dominant lion that are commonly seen in the area. It’s one of the large pride in Serengeti national park.

14. EXPLORE THE HIPPO POOL 
In Serengeti national park there is small pool of water and rivers that act both as water area for wildlife and water animal. The visit to this pool may give you the greater opportunity to view these animals lying on water with their bodies not fully covered with water. The most famous hippo pool in Serengeti National park is the Retina hippo pool located in central seronera area which is a home of over 200 hippos, some crocodile with a lot of water birds at the shore line of the pool.

Even though hippos are found in several water catchment areas of Serengeti, Retina hippo pool is incomparable with others you can chance to view live fight among hippos’ great sounds from hippos and many more actions of hippos in their natural environment

15. GRUMETI RIVER 
The river is the starting point of river crossing for the wildebeest migration before they reach to the climax at Mara river in the northern part of the Serengeti, the river is located in the western part of Seronera area in which in the central of the Seronera there is Retina Hippo pool. In this area you can catch up the live action of the game viewing especially you time well around June every year, the place also is a good catchment area for leopards and they rest on the branches of the trees. Lion are more common especially during the migration time when the wildebeest and the other animal cross the Grumeti river.

16. HOLIDAY CAMP 
For those good adventure they stay close to nature with the Serengeti national park tents, most of the lodging at the park are built in line with environmental conservation. Tents are set up in the middle of the bush where you can have game viewing opportunity just in your tent balcony animals pass by in front of your tent while birds always even enter in your tent if not closed. At night the hyena and the lion are common visitors hearing them move around the tents, Elephant are also seen depending on the location of you tent.

17. DISCOVER SERONERA RIVER VALLEY 
One of the best thing to experience in Serengeti national park is the presence of the Seronera river valley this river valley can be found at the central part of the Serengeti which gives you opportunity to view a wide range of wildlife you can view the monkey and kopjes this will make you to enjoy a lot your trip at Serengeti national park.

18. TRADITIONAL FOOD IN SERENGETI NATIONAL PARK. 
There is restaurant but very few and far from Serengeti but there is inn where they cook the traditional food in very high quality and they are very tasty and the price of the food is very low. For example, in Serena safari lodge and Tanzania fare such are example of locally sourced coffee and tea, nyama choma, (grilled meet) and ugali (maize dish that has porridge like consistency. When you came to Serengeti national parks make sure you’re not only experience the sight and smells but most definitely the taste as well.

19. KITULO PLATEAU 
One of the 20 things to enjoy when you are in Serengeti national park is the presence of the Tanzania’s kitulo plateau this is an area of outstanding botanical importance. Known as the “Serengeti of flowers” or locally as “Bustani ya Mungu” (Swahili for Gods Garden). In this garden is the home of 350 plant species that found in the Serengeti national park also in that area you can find more than 40 species of the ground orchids and many are endemic. Its beautiful to see and peacefully to see that plateau presence of the rolling grassland, hills that stretch to the horizon, waterfalls, caves and the Livingstone forest area which is the home of very rare and shy kapunji monkeys.

20. GO ON A NATURE WALK 
When you are in Serengeti national park you can explore the beauty and nature of the park by walk around and this is depending on where you are staying, you may have the chance to take guide nature walk. While not technically walking safari, these nature walks give you a chance to learn about local flora and fauna and soak in the utter quite of the Serengeti plain. So if you want to enjoy you may ask expert to ensure you tented camp or lodge offers guided nature walk.

Welcome to Serengeti national park in Tanzania you will enjoy your visit and you will have a chance of exploring and experiencing different things in which the park can offer you. There are more things to learn in Serengeti national park despite of those 20 things that I explained it to you.