Central Serengeti

The Central Serengeti, centred on the Seronera River valley, is the most reliable place in the Serengeti for wildlife in any month of the year. Permanent water in the Seronera River and its tributaries keeps resident game here even in the driest months, and where the prey stays, so do the predators. This is classic Serengeti scenery: sweeping grassland dotted with umbrella acacias, winding rivers lined with sausage trees, and granite kopjes rising from the plains.

Big Cats and Resident Wildlife

Seronera is famous for its big cats. Lion prides patrol the plains and rest on the kopjes, leopards drape themselves along the branches of the riverside trees, and cheetahs hunt on the open grasslands. Elephants, giraffes, buffalo, topi, hartebeest, Thomson's and Grant's gazelles, spotted hyenas and hippos are all part of a typical day's game drive. The Moru Kopjes, south of Seronera, are also home to a small population of black rhino.

The Migration in the Central Serengeti

The Great Migration passes through the central plains twice a year: heading north and west from roughly April to June, and returning south in November and December. From around June, part of the herds moves into the Western Corridor, where they cross the Grumeti River. Outside these months, the Central Serengeti's resident wildlife still makes it one of Africa's finest safari areas.

Getting There and Where to Stay

Seronera airstrip has daily scheduled flights from Arusha, and the area is about an hour and a half's drive from the Naabi Hill gate on the road from Ngorongoro. Its central position makes it an ideal base, with lodges and camps ranging from classic tented camps to lodges with swimming pools.