Seronera Valley and Central Serengeti
In the heart of the National park, just to the north of the short-grass plains, Seronera has all the best features of the Serengeti and also, sadly, its worst. Scenically, it’s a lovely area – with open plains, occasional kopjes, and lines of hills to add interest. Visiting the Seronera Valley and Central Serengeti is a great highlight of a typical wildlife safari in Tanzania.
The Central Serengeti
This area is the vibrant, beating heart of the Serengeti. The Central Serengeti sees high volumes of visitors due to the large amounts of resident wildlife. This gives travelers a high chance of seeing wildlife in the least amount of time. The central Serengeti is the quintessential image of a Serengeti safari; stretches of savanna grassland dotted with acacia and baobab trees.
The park headquarters are also based in Seronera (close to the airstrip), where there’s a visitor information center, a curio shop and a café.
The Central Serengeti, lying at the heart of this spectacular national park, is the most popular the region in the reserve for its abundant wildlife, large numbers of big cats and quintessential Serengeti landscapes of acacia-studded savanna. Resident wildlife makes this part of the Serengeti a fantastic year-round destination, but the months of April to June and October to December, when the herds of the Great Migration pass through the area, are when it’s at its peak.
The Seronera River Valley
The Seronera River Valley, located in the south-central region of the park, is one of the most popular areas in the entire reserve. Known as the Big Cat Capital of Africa, the Seronera is rich in lion, leopard, and cheetah – and people often spot all three in one day of game drives. Look for leopard around the Seronera River, which is home to one of Africa’s densest populations of the big cats, while lions can often be seen on the kopjes (rocky outcrops). The Serengeti Plains – the open savanna south of the Seronera River – are prime cheetah territory. Other animals to spot in the area’s varied habitats of rivers, swamps, kopjes and grasslands include elephant, hippos, and crocodiles in the rivers, buffaloes, impala, topi, jackals, and bat-eared foxes.
While the year-round supply of water from the Seronera River means that the area is excellent for wildlife spotting throughout the year, April to June is the peak season for game viewing in the Seronera, as this is when the plains are full of migrating wildebeest, zebra, and gazelle as they’re making their way up north. The central location of the Seronera means that it’s one of the best places to see the Great Migration in action, as the animals are moving through the area for months.
Wildlife of Seronera Area
Seronera is one of many world-famous attractions in the Central Serengeti. Seronera Valley supports a much greater diversity of resident wildlife than anywhere else in the Serengeti including elephant, giraffe, impala, waterbuck, hippo, topi, reedbuck, buffalo, and baboon. This resident prey in turn attracts the highest concentrations of large predators in Africa (lion, hyena, leopard, and cheetah) and a multitude of smaller predators (mongoose, jackal, serval and bat-eared fox).
The resident game here is phenomenal, with high densities of relaxed leopards, cheetah, and lion. These live off the resident herbivores, as well as the migrating game. The migration passes through here in April/May, but Seronera is within reach of both the Southern Plains and the Western Corridor – so from about November to June, it can be used as a base to see the migration.
If you’re after Big Cats, the Seronera area in the Central Serengeti is your best bet: this region is hailed as the best place to see predators – particularly lion, leopard and cheetah – on thrilling hunts.
Birds of Seronera Area
The Serengeti Ecosystem is a natural heaven for research and tourism. Such activities have often focused on large mammal species, with minimal regard for birds, even though the park is an Important Bird Area. This study explored bird abundance in the Seronera area of Serengeti National Park, one of the most visited sections of the park. Understanding the variety and abundance of birds in the Seronera area is useful for enhancing tourism. Bird point counts were undertaken in riverine, wooded bushland, and grassland habitats. A total of 99 bird species were observed within a three-day visit to the park, with most individuals (38.9%) being Gramnivores. The density of birds was dependent on the habitat type; with the riverine having the greatest density, most of the order Galliformes. These findings could be integrated into the tourism planning and marketing for the park so as to diversify tourism activities. Several sections of the Seronera area within the riverine and wooded bushland areas could be designated as birding areas, where guided walks could be undertaken and other activities such as game drives are limited.
Lodging at Seronera
Seronera’s big drawback is that it is always busy; places to stay include: Serengeti Serena Safari Lodge, Seronera Wildlife Lodge, Dunia Camp, Serengeti Sopa Lodge, Four Seasons Lodge Serengeti, and also the number of campsites do exist here.
Some of the lodges and camps offer short walks in the bush of two to four hours with Maasai guides, who’ll teach you about the smaller creatures and the plants that you miss on game drives. If walking is something you’d like to experience, do some research on lodges that offer this activity.
Many lodges and camps offer a visit to a Maasai village so that you can learn more about the famous semi-nomadic pastoralist tribe who have long lived in the area that is now the Serengeti and the Masai Mara national parks. At the Maasai village, you’ll be treated to members of the village singing and dancing, with the male warriors doing a traditional jumping dance. You’ll also be able to buy beautiful jewelry and handmade crafts, which make great souvenirs – and also support the local economy.
How to reach here
Seronera is accessible by road on a six-hour drive from both Arusha and Mwanza, but the easiest option to access this part of the park is to fly into the Seronera airstrip and stay at a lodge that caters for fly-in travelers: they’ll come and pick you up from the airstrip and provide game drives in their vehicles.
Visit the Seronera Valley and Central Serengeti with Enclose Africa Safaris.