Serengeti National Park

Four Serengetis, and choosing by month

The southern short grass plains around Ndutu are where the calving happens in a narrow window in February, and where the predator concentration is at its highest. Note that Ndutu itself sits inside the Ngorongoro Conservation Area rather than the national park, which changes which fees you pay.

The western corridor follows the Grumeti river towards Lake Victoria and holds the herds through June and into July, with river crossings that are smaller than the Mara ones and much less crowded. Central Seronera is the year-round resident-game area and has the migration for only a narrow window as it passes through. The north, around Kogatende and the Lamai wedge, is where the Mara river crossings happen from July to October and is the most attractive part of the park in any month.

Fees, and the 24-hour rule

National park entry is set by the Tanzania National Parks Authority and runs at roughly 70 to 80 US dollars per adult non-resident per 24 hours, with value added tax normally applied on top. Camps built on concession land charge a separate concession fee per person per night, commonly in the region of 60 to 70 US dollars, and camping fees inside the park are charged again on their own scale. All of these figures are indicative and the authority revises them on its own schedule, usually with effect from the start of the financial year.

The 24-hour rule matters. The clock starts when you pass the gate, not when you go to bed, so an exit after that hour on your last day triggers another full day of park fees for everyone in the vehicle. Good guides plan the last morning around it. Ask yours what time you need to be out.

Seronera, and the crowding problem

Central Serengeti in high season has the highest vehicle density in the park, and a leopard in a sausage tree near the Seronera river will collect a queue. The park is enormous and the crowding is concentrated in a small part of it, so the fix is straightforward: sleep in the north or in a mobile camp that follows the herds, be at the vehicle before first light rather than after breakfast, and ask your guide to work away from the radio rather than towards it. A good guide will happily do this. A tired one will drive you to whatever has just been called in.

Flying versus driving

Arusha to Seronera is about an hour in a light aircraft and Kogatende about an hour and a half, with scheduled services daily. By road, Arusha to Seronera is seven to nine hours through Ngorongoro and past Oldupai Gorge, which is a genuinely long day but is also how you see the rift escarpment and the crater on the way. Seronera to Kogatende by road is six to eight hours across the park, which is why the northern camps are almost always reached by air. The usual compromise is to drive in through the crater and fly out from the north.

Balloons, walking and the night question

The dawn balloon flight launches from Seronera, Ndutu and Kogatende depending on the season, runs about an hour in the air and finishes with breakfast on the plain. It is charged separately per person, generally somewhere in the region of 550 to 650 US dollars, and the price is set by the balloon operators. Walking safaris with an armed ranger are permitted in designated wilderness zones and need arranging in advance. Night drives are not allowed inside the national park at all, which regularly surprises travellers who have done them in Kenyan conservancies, and the only way to get one on this circuit is to add a private concession outside the park boundary.