Serengeti is Tanzania’s most famous national park. The park is a region of grasslands and woodlands in Africa that includes parts of northern Tanzania and southern Kenya. The whole region is spread over around thirty thousand square kilometers, with eighty percent of the region lying in Tanzania. Its far-reaching plains of grass, tinged with the shadows of acacia trees, have made it the image of a wild and untarnished Africa. It has more than 1.6 million herbivores and thousands of predators. Blue Wildebeests, gazelles, zebras and buffalos are the animals most found in the region. Commonly found in the park, apart from the wildebeest and zebra, are various types of antelope, many herds of thomsons and grants gazelle. Small herds of cape buffalo, topi and waterbuck, as well as giraffe are normally seen. Families of warthog, hyena jackal and lion are a common sight. Leopards, because of their generally nocturnal hunting habits, are not often spotted but when you see them you can usually find them asleep in the branches of a tree. Cheetah can often be spotted out on the open plains particularly in the morning or late afternoon. Groups of hippo are relaxing in the bigger pools and rivers and the crocodiles are sometimes seen sunning themselves on the riverbanks. For people who love birds there are plenty. Serengeti is home to over 500 different species of birds, secretary birds, marabou, ostriches, kori bustards, guinea fowl, lilac breasted rollers, bateleur eagles, Egyptian geese, herons can be seen.
Every year around October nearly 1.5 million herbivores travel towards the southern plains, crossing the Mara River, from the northern hills for the rains. And then back to the north through the west, once again crossing the Mara River, after the rains in around April. This phenomenon is sometimes also called the Circular Migration. Over 250,000 wildebeest alone will die along the journey from Tanzania to upper Kenya, a total of 500 miles.
The conservation area also protects Olduvai Gorge, situated in the plains area. The Olduvai Gorge or Oldupai Gorge is a steep- sided ravine in the Great Rift Valley, which stretches along eastern Africa. Olduvai is in the eastern Serengeti Plains in northern Tanzania and is about 30 miles long. The gorge is named after the Maasai word for the wild sisal plant Sansevieria ehrenbergii, commonly called Oldupaai. It is considered the seat of humanity after the discovery of the earliest known specimens of modern man, Homo habilis as well as early man Australopithecus boisei. It is one of the most important prehistoric sites in the world and has been instrumental in furthering understanding of early human development. Excavation work there was pioneered by Louis Leakey in the 1950s and is continued today by his family.