History of Serengeti and the Great Migration,  Serengeti appeals to everyone looking to witness the magic. From celebrities to business tycoons, Serengeti is a home for everyone looking forward to a back-to-nature safari experience. Chances are, you remember a scene of wildebeest crossing a river or the animals you see in the book, so you wish to see them in person. Congratulations and welcome to Serengeti National Park. In this article, we feature three fascinating facts about the Serengeti. We’ll cover them in detail. Let’s get right into it.

History of Serengeti

Serengeti has an incredible history worth knowing. It’s the country’s oldest national park. You trace its history from the Maasai to the British Colonial Administration. And there are many, but most events were hardly recorded, but here, we reveal the recorded events.

The Maasai also have had a long history with this park. They inhabited it for almost two centuries before the British, the then colonial masters, relocated them into the now Ngorongoro Conservation Area.

In the 1920s, lion hunting was a tradition. Hunters went on the current central Serengeti to kill lions just for fun, in the so-called ‘trophy hunting.’ The British Administration declared the central part a game reserve in 1929 (according to the TANAPA Guide, 2019) in an attempt to protect lions.

The administration also expanded the reserve towards the east and declared it a national park in 1951. By then, Serengeti National Park included the Ngorongoro Crater. In 1959, the British made some changes in Serengeti; separated it from the Ngorongoro Crater and moved the Maasai out of the park into their current home, the Ngorongoro Conservation Area.

In 1981, UNESCO designated Serengeti National Park as a World Heritage Site as it harbors diverse wildlife and exceptional ecological processes. In 2013, the Great Wildebeest Migration was named one of the Seven Wonders of Africa.

Climate and Geography of Serengeti

Climate

Serengeti has a subtropical climate with moderate temperatures year-round. Daily temperatures will range between 15 ˚C at high elevation to 25-30 ˚C in the lower plains, especially near Lake Victoria.

Short rains start in November to December, while long rains last from March to May. The dry season (June to October) has warm days (approx. 26 ˚C), cool nights (14 ˚C), and clear skies, usually the best for safaris.

Geography

Serengeti, as its name suggests, it’s a land of wide, open plains that seem to go on forever. This park also includes rolling hills, kopjes (granite rock outcrops), hilly woodlands, and riverine forests. Elevation ranges from 920 m to 1,850 m. Here’s how the park is divided:

• The central part (Seronera) is made of savannah plains stretching to the south. This part also comprises rock outcrops, ideal for big cats, riverine forests, and sparse acacia woodlands.
• The southern part (Ndutu and Kusini) consists of short-grass plains, with a few trees dotting them and granite kopjes. It also has seasonal lakes like Lake Ndutu and swamps (in the wet season)
• The northern part is of green rolling plains stretching from Lobo to Lamai Wedge. This part is quite different from the rest as it has thick forests and acacia woodlands, with only plains being at Wogakuria.
• The western part (western corridor) has open plains and riverine forests following the Grumeti and Mbalageti Rivers running in parallel to Lake Victoria.

The Great Migration

The fossil record says the Serengeti ecosystem has been there for millions of years. It shows the ancient remains of wildebeest dating back a million years, depicting the movement pattern they do to date – migrating from the south to the north.

Often dubbed as the Great Wildebeest Migration or simply the Great Migration, this spectacular event features millions of wildebeest and countless zebra and gazelles driven by instinct to migrate from the southern Serengeti to Kenya’s Masai Mara.

While the famous Mara River crossings are on everyone’s adventurer’s wish list, there’s much to see in this event. This event relies much on wildebeest’s ability to sniff out rainfall miles away, but there’s something that never changes: their closest cousins, zebras and gazelles, never leave them behind.

And here comes wonder. How have these ungulates managed to move across the large Serengeti-Mara ecosystem with no compass? They have also never changed their course: same route, same circular motion, regardless of climate change.

It’s hard to catch all the events happening during the wildebeest migration. But the timing of them is possible, and here are some of the spectacular events and their estimated timeline.

1.    Calving season

From January to March, the plains of Ndutu and southern Serengeti serve as a maternity ward. And this ward, of course, gets so busy, as newborns may reach up to 8000 in a day. In just two months, the southern region welcomes about 500,000 calves.

As this wonderful calving happens, predators come to the fringe for easy meals. Newborns are vulnerable here, but nature taught them a hard lesson of staying against predators. Because they can stand within just three minutes of being born.

2.    Grumeti River crossings

From May, the journey begins. They move northwards through the Moru Kopje, reaching the Seronera. They continue their continue west and by June, they start crossing the Grumeti River.

Fascinating as they are, these river crossings are not famous to many. If you want to watch at least one river crossing, here’s a spot.

3.    Mara River crossings

Their instincts and green pasture in the north drive them to advance the journey. Between July and August, they start crossing the Mara River. It’s not straightforward, though: they do it when they think it’s the right time.

Beneath the Mara River waters are hungry Nile crocs waiting for prey to feast on. With their strong jaws and devastating bite, they catch and drown wildebeest until death, then devour them.

Now that you know a little bit about Serengeti, get out of your comfort zone and visit it with all your senses. Serengeti never disappoints. So, whether you’re big cats or the big five are on your wish list, we are confident that you’re going to tick them off.