Location of Serengeti National Park : Serengeti national park is a world famous African safari destination and a wildlife refuge best known for its huge herds of plan animals including the gnu – wildebeests, gazelles and zebras.
Serengeti national park is the only place in Africa where vast land–animal migrations still take place, the park was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1981.
Location of Serengeti National Park
Serengeti national park is situated in Mara – Serengeti Ecosystem “Mara Region” and is located west of Arusha Town about 7 to 8 hours’ drive from Arusha town which is a starting point for most tours in the Northern part of Tanzania.
Serengeti national park is located in Serengeti District which is one of the 7 districts making up the Northern Arusha region found in the Mara region of Tanzania, this district is administered in the administrative cells with its headquarters of the district found in Mugumu Town in the western part of the park where the western gate is found.
The Mara region is located in Northern Tanzania, the region is one of the most famous regions in Tanzania. During the colonial ear, the region was named as Lake Region and later changed to Mara region. The region borders Arusha Region to the Southeast, Kagera region in the North East, Mwanza Region in the South. The Mara region is popularly known for being the place were the first Tanzanian president Julius Nyerere was born.
History of Serengeti national park
Serengeti national park was established in 1951 covering 5,700 square miles (14,763 square kilometers) featuring the best grassland range in Africa as well as extensive acacia woodland savannah.
In the late 1800s and early 1900s, Explores and missionaries described the Serengeti plains and the massive numbers of animals found there, however only minor details were reported before explorations in the late 1920s and early 1930s supply the first photographs of the region.
In 1930, an area of 2,286 square kilometers was established in 1930 as a game reserve in what is now known as Southern and Northern Serengeti. Hunting activities were allowed into the area until 1937, from then on all the activities were stopped. In 1940, the area was granted a Protected Area Status and in 1951 it was established as a national park then its boundaries were extended to cover Southern Serengeti and Ngorongoro highlands. The headquarters of the park were put on the rim of Ngorongoro Crater.
The Original Serengeti national park, as it was gazetted in 1951 also included what is now known as the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, in 1959, the Ngorongoro Conservation Area was split off from the Serengeti national park and they extended the boundaries of the park to the Kenya border.
The major reason for splitting off the Ngorongoro Area was that local Masai residents realized that they were threatened with eviction and consequently not allowed to graze their cattle within the park’s boundaries.
Serengeti national park was among the first places to be proposed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO at 1972 Stockholm conference.
Serengeti national park is among the largest national parks in Tanzania with a beautiful scenery created by open savannah grasslands, acacia woodland, riverine forests, kopjes among others.
About Serengeti national park
Serengeti national park is the cradle of human life, the only place where you can witness millions of migrating wildebeest over the Acacia plains, the park is also the cradle of human life and probably the closest to untouched African wildlife on earth.
How to get to Serengeti national park
The most recommended point of entry to Serengeti national park is Kilimanjaro International airport located between the towns of Moshi and Arusha, the airport is approximately 200 miles from the Southern entrance of the park.
Serengeti national park is accessed by several gates including Naabi Hill Gate, Ndabaka Gate, Klein’s Gate and Bologonya Gate.
Serengeti national park can be visited by Air and by Road.
By Air
There are chartered / domestic flights from Arusha from Arusha Airport or Kilimanjaro International Airport to 7 airstrips serving Serengeti national park, these flights are operated by local airlines such as Grumeti Air or Coast Aviation.
By Road
By road, Serengeti national park is situated about 335 kilometers from Arusha – a tourist, tourists are recommended to use a 4X4 wheel vehicle.
