Serengeti National Park
Tanzania's best-known national park, a vast grassland plain with lions, elephants and giraffes, and the huge yearly movement of wildebeest and zebra that crosses it.
Serengeti National Park
Northern safaris reach their high point here, on a vast savannah famous for big cats and the yearly wildebeest migration.
Attractive locations
Seronera
The central hub of the Serengeti, with rest camps, a visitor centre and an airstrip beside rivers and rocky outcrops that attract big cats and plenty of other wildlife.
Moru Kopjes
A cluster of large rock outcrops rising from the plains in the southern Serengeti. Lions often rest on the rocks, and there are old rock paintings in the area.
Hippo Pool, Serengeti
A river pool in the central Serengeti where hippos gather in numbers. Visitors stop to watch them wallow and grunt, with crocodiles and birds often close by.
Grumeti River
A river crossing the western Serengeti, lined with thick forest and home to crocodiles and hippos. Its banks draw wildebeest herds as they pass through on migration.
Lake Ndutu
A shallow soda lake on the southern edge of the Serengeti plains. Grazing herds gather around it, and the surrounding woodland and grass is a favourite area for watching wildebeest calving.
Airports
Seronera Airport SEU
It is about 26 km in a straight line from Serengeti National Park.
Musoma Airport MUZ
It is about 133 km in a straight line from Serengeti National Park.
Scams and safe taxis
Taxi and scam advice for this country is on the Tanzania page
Weather by month
Each month shows its average temperature in °C and its mm of rain per month.
- Jan22.0 °C112 mm
- Feb22.9 °C86 mm
- Mar22.7 °C139 mm
- Apr21.9 °C120 mm
- May21.6 °C51 mm
- Jun21.9 °C16 mm
- Jul22.5 °C10 mm
- Aug23.6 °C25 mm
- Sep24.5 °C33 mm
- Oct24.5 °C68 mm
- Nov22.8 °C143 mm
- Dec22.1 °C145 mm
Driest months: Jun, Jul, Aug. Wettest months: Mar, Nov, Dec.
Costs
Prices here are about 28% of US prices (World Bank, 2024). This compares a country's overall prices, not the cost of a trip.
Festivals and events
nature
Calving season (southern Serengeti)
Births of wildebeest calves run into the thousands, and many predators are about.
nature
Great Migration (Serengeti)
Crossings of rivers happen in the north of the Serengeti.
nature
Calving season (southern Serengeti)
Births of wildebeest calves run into the thousands, and many predators are about.
Who can help
Emergency
112. Your safari operator or hotel can give you local police and ambulance numbers.
ngo
Tanzania Red Cross Society
Helps with: Tanzania's national Red Cross society, with headquarters in Dar es Salaam. Its site lists a hotline, said to run 24 hours a day, and a separate counselling service line.
Who qualifies: People in Tanzania who need to reach the Red Cross, including its hotline or counselling line.
Phone: 0800 750 150
Email: info@trcs.or.tz
Address: Mwai Kibaki Road, Plot No. 53, Block C, Mikocheni B, P.O. Box 1133, Dar es Salaam
un agency
International Organization for Migration (IOM) Tanzania
Helps with: The UN migration agency's country office in Dar es Salaam. Contact it about migration matters in Tanzania.
Who qualifies: Migrants and organisations working on migration. It is not a help service for ordinary tourists.
Phone: +255 689 103 096
Email: iomdar@iom.int
Address: Plot 17 Ruhinde Rd, Kinondoni, P.O. Box 9270, Dar es Salaam
embassy
Foreign embassies and high commissions in Tanzania (official list)
Helps with: For a lost passport or serious trouble, contact your own country's embassy or high commission. The Tanzanian foreign ministry lists missions in Dar es Salaam with postal addresses, phones and emails.
Who qualifies: Citizens of each country, through their own embassy or high commission.
local government
Emergency number 112 (police, ambulance and fire)
Helps with: Reaches police, ambulance and fire services. UK government travel advice lists this number.
Who qualifies: Anyone in the country, including visitors.
Phone: 112