LOCATION & CONTACT

At Serengeti Serena Safari Lodge, you will enjoy a unique experience near the Grumeti River and Ol Duvai Gorge in the heart of Serengeti National Park. Located adjacent to the famous Western Corridor, our hotel is located 335 kilometres from Arusha. There is an airstrip next to the lodge and “meet and greet” as well as transfer services are available.

The Serengeti National Park is 335 km from Arusha. The majority of visitors arrive by air, using the busy airstrip at the Seronera headquarters (30km from the Lodge). There are also daily flights to several other airstrips to include: Grumeti, Serengeti South and Lobo.

Road access from Arusha is via the Naabi Hill Gate at the south-eastern edge of the park. Naabi Gate is 75 kms from Seronera. Ndabaki Gate is about 140 km northeast of Mwanza along the Mwanza-Musoma road and gives direct access to the Western Corridor. The road from Ndabaka to Seronera is in good condition and should take around 2-3 hours. Petrol points en route from Arusha include Makuyuni, Mto wa Mbu and Karatu. Petrol is also usually available at Ngorongoro Crater Park Village.

The vast and rolling Serengeti National Park is one of the world's most magnificent natural arenas. Here the harmony of nature can be appreciated as nowhere else on earth. Known to the local people as ‘Siringet', which means ‘the place of the endless plains', it is also the venue for ‘the greatest wildlife show on earth' the annual migration of over one million wildebeest and their attendant cast of herbivores and predators.

The vast and sensational Serengeti, covering 14,763 sq km of endlessly rolling savannah plains, is Tanzania's first-established, largest and most famous park. Here, tens of thousands of hoofed animals roam in a constant and unremitting search for the fresh grasslands upon which their survival depends.

The million-plus wildebeest are the predominant herbivore and also the main prey of a huge cast of large carnivores, principally lion and hyena. Whilst the annual migration is the Serengeti's most famous attraction, the Park is also renowned for its lion, many of which have been fitted with radio-transmitter collars so that their movements may be tracked, and additionally for its wealth of cheetah, zebra, giraffe, Thomson's and Grant's gazelle, eland, impala, klipspringer, hippo and warthog.

Life in the Serengeti depends upon a complex and dynamic ecological system in which all the animals and plants interact; both with each other and with their environment. No organism is static or exists in isolation; and all are dependant on the rains. The park is made up of several different vegetation zones: in the dry south are the short and long grassland plains, where an average of only 50cm of rain falls per year. In the centre lies an area of acacia savannah whilst the Western Corridor marks a region of wooded highlands and ‘black cotton' soil curving in a great swathe to the edge of Lake Victoria. To the north is wooded grassland, which concentrates along the watercourses and tributaries of the Grumeti and Mara Rivers.

The annual migration of over one million wildebeest is the Serengeti's greatest attraction. Twice a year, propelled by the rains, 1.3 million wildebeest, 200,000 zebra and 300,000 Thomson's gazelle gather to undertake an 800 km trek to new grazing lands. The precise timing of the migration varies but generally the herbivores congregate and move out at the end of May, sometimes over a period of weeks, sometimes over a period of as little as three or four days. Heading west on a roughly triangular 800-km circuit they head to the Masai Mara National Reserve of Kenya. When the grazing here is exhausted the tide of herbivores turns and reverses its progress returning to the short grass plains of Tanzania.

Approximately one hundred years ago, the warlike Maasai first arrived in the Serengeti, bringing their cattle to graze on the rich grasslands. Prior to this the region was uninhabited and visited only by the hunter-gatherer Ndorobo and Ikoma tribes. The Maasai were followed, in 1913, by the Europeans, who were so quick to assess its game-hunting potential that, by 1921, the Serengeti's teeming herds had been almost entirely decimated. This necessitated the establishment, firstly of a Reserve and finally, in 1951, a National Park. As a result the Serengeti is an area where human habitation is prohibited.

Area: 14,760 sq kms.

Location: 200 kms west of Arusha: the park's northern boundary abuts with the Kenya border, its western boundary reaches Lake Victoria.

Altitude: 950-1,850 m.

Vegetation: Undulating open grassland plans with an extensive block of acacia woodland savannah in the centre.

Fauna: Unrivalled herds of plains game, which migrate between seasonal water supplies, include 1.3 million wildebeest, zebra, Thomson's gazelle, lion and spotted hyena. Non-migrants include hunting dog, cheetah, black rhino, elephant in the north, giraffe, buffalo, topi, eland, numerous rodetns and bats, golden and side-striped jackal, mongoose and otter.

Birds: Over 350 recorded species.

Climate: There are two distinct seasons: the dry season between June and October and the wet season, which starts in November and lasts irregularly until May.

The United Republic of Tanzania (Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania) is located in Eastern Africa, bordering the Indian Ocean, between Kenya and Mozambique.

Tanzania's climate is predominately tropical. Coastal areas are usually hot and humid, but on the beaches a sea breeze cools the air considerably. The average day temperature is 30°C. Tanzania has two rainy seasons - the long rains from late March to June and the short rains from November to January. The long rains fall in heavy downpours, often accompanied by violent storms, but the short rains tend to be much less severe. The hottest time of the year is from December to March, before the long rains begin. The coolest months are June, July and August, when the weather is often overcast. In high-altitude areas such as Kilimanjaro and the Ngorongoro Highlands, temperatures can fall below freezing.

Tanzania has over 120 ethnic groups. Mainland - African 99% (of which 95% are Bantu consisting of more than 130 tribes), other 1% (consisting of Asian, European, and Arab); Zanzibar - Arab, African, mixed Arab and African.

The landscape of Tanzania is made up of lains along the coast; central plateau; highlands in the north. Kilimanjaro (5, 895 m) is the highest point in the country and in Africa. Tanzania is bordered by three of the largest lakes on the continent: Lake Victoria (the world's second-largest freshwater lake) in the north, Lake Tanganyika (the world's second deepest) in the west, and Lake Nyasa in the southwest.

The game parks of Tanzania have been set aside by the government as wildlife and botanical sanctuaries that enjoy a high degree of protection and management. 25% of Tanzania is gazetted as national parks and reserves making conservation a major element in land use. Tanzania has more than 20 game reserves including the world's largest, the Selous. Five game reserves have been declared and there are about 50 game-controlled areas totalling more than 120,000 square kilometres. Forest reserves make up 15% of the country.

Tanzania's forests offer over 50 tree species and 200 species of shrubs. The East African plains support some of the last great herds of wildlife left in the world, offering a greater number and diversity of species than any other continent: Tanzania offers over 80 major species, including ‘The Big Five' (elephant, lion, buffalo, rhino and leopard), and 600 species of butterfly. From glacial mountain to savannah plain, semi desert to tropical rainforest, Tanzania's botanical versatility supports more than 1,000 bird species.

Tanzania is a safe country to travel in. Tanzanians are warm-hearted and generous people and are eager to help visitors get the most out of their stay. Tanzania is a politically stable, multi-democratic country. As in all countries, a little common sense goes a long way and reasonable precautions should still be taken, such as locking valuables in the hotel safe and not walking alone at night.