Availing a golden opportunity to tourists to watch millions of migrating wildebeest on the flat-topped grasslands is the major reason that explains why Serengeti National Park in Tanzania has been rated the best park in Africa.
Speaking to BBC yesterday, Director General of Tanzania National Parks (TANAPA), Mr. Allan Kijazi clarified that Serengeti National Park topped the list of every visitor’s itinerary, giving it more points than others.
He said Serengeti Park is such a great safari destination and one of the best natural areas with over two million wildebeest and 200,000 zebra and an assortment of other small herbivores trekking over 3,000 kilometers from Masai Mara in Kenya to Serengeti in Tanzania and vice versa.
The Director said that every visitor to this East Africa’s icon will enjoy the excitement and more from this event that happens every year from either of the two countries, whereby the park is also characterized to be home to the spectacular great migration, comprised of millions of wildebeest and zebra.
‘’Known here as the-Greatest Show on earth, between one and two million herbivores follow the rains across the Serengeti and into Kenya’s Masai Mara in search of fresh green pastures each year, where visitors can just sit in safari vehicles and listen to the constant sounds of the wildebeest and coordination that leaves them (tourists), excited.’
Mr. Kijazi told the BBC yesterday that all of the big five animals are present at the famous Serengeti Park, including buffalo, elephant, leopard, lion and rhino, besides the endless grass plains where the park is so stunningly beautiful, it is also declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site with excellent birding.
‘’Serengeti is one of the best places in the world to see big cats and other predators, and visitors are accorded a chance of seeing thousands of wildebeest cross crocodile infested rivers and regularly Wildebeest calving in southern part of the game reserve from late January to February, and at times high density of predators makes it relatively easy to witness kills,’’ he said.
‘’Its wealth of birds and its nature-filled stillness, most shorter safaris concentrate on the wellvisited central part with more time depending on the season while tourists spend at least part of their Serengeti itinerary in the western corridor around the Grumeti River or in the far north’’ he added.
Concerning transportation in and around the park for visitors, the Director revealed that direct flights to Kilimanjaro Airport make the park easily accessible from abroad, making the game reserve Tanzania’s most visited park.
Mr. Kijazi noted that the Serengeti’s location is another reason for this year’s victory, in that from the Serengeti, you can continue to the famous Ngorongoro Crater, Tarangire and Lake Manyara National Parks, and hence alternatively cross over to Kenya and visit the Masai Mara, bordering the park.