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Kenya & Tanzania Safari
The Wilds of East Africa
Game Parks and Reserves
Serengeti National Park
Serengeti means “endless plains” in the Maasai language, and this sanctuary of 5,700 square miles evokes a sense of freedom. Millions of animals and birds thrive here, attracting researchers to the Serengeti Research Institute for landmark studies of wild dogs, cheetah and other animals. The annual wildebeest migration is accompanied by tens of thousands of zebra, gazelle and antelope that travel to Kenya in June, returning to Tanzania in November. Zebra foals are born in December and January, and baby wildebeest arrive in February.
Masai Mara Reserve
Kenya’s Masai Mara Reserve (695 square miles) features verdant savannah grasslands and lone acacia trees that evoke the classic image of this country. The romantic safari in “Out of Africa” was filmed here. Rains in April and May, brought about by trade winds, attract wildebeest and other grazing animals from the Serengeti. They typically stay in the Mara between July and October. There is much to see here, including zebra, wildebeest, gazelle, cheetahs, a variety of colorful birds, leopards and prides of lions.
Tarangire National Park
The third largest national park in Tanzania, Tarangire owes its charm to its isolated situation. It offers a strong sense of the timeless wilderness of Africa. While often considered a “dry season” park, during your Tanzania safari you’ll see that Tarangire’s 1,560 square miles of acacia woodland, savannah and swamp provides an excellent wildlife habitat year-round. This park is the objective of animal migrations from the Masai Steppe for immense populations of wildbeest, zebra and Grant’s gazelle. Its resident population includes elephants, black rhino, several antelope species, leopard, cheetah and lion.
Ngorongoro Crater
This is the largest caldera, or collapsed volcanic crater, in the world with unbroken walls. Twelve miles across, Ngorongoro covers 102 square miles, and the rim is at an altitude of 7,500 feet. There is only one road down and another up the rim. More than 30,000 animals live on the crater floor, including prides of lion, rhino, wildebeest and hippo that live in Magadi Lake. We stay at the Ngorongoro Serena Lodge, located on the crater’s rim.
Amboseli National Park
Dominated by the majestic snow-covered dome of Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest mountain, Amboseli is one of the largest of Kenya’s parks or reserves, covering an area of 1,259 square miles. Although Amboseli is dry, dusty, rocky thorn bush country, the presence of its two permanent swamps, the simek and longinye, guarantees remarkable game viewing for its many elephants and herds of impala.
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