"Serengeti Serendipity " a Serengeti National Park Travel Page by Ramonq

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Tanzanian Wonderland

When I was a kid, like most children elsewhere, I always dreamt of going to Africa and witness the animals that I saw in picture books and on the television screen. Kids are always fascinated with African mammals because they are colourful, and they come in different sizes and shapes and I was no exception. The local zoo normally provides a chance for most children to see these strange animals in closeup or even give them a pat on the back. So when I first visited the zoo as a child, I was in complete awe at the sight of the long-necked giraffe and the fat hippopotamus, that from then on, and it's been my burning childhood dream to go to Africa. Luckily, I had a chance to fulfill it; went straight to the jugular and embarked on a safari trip to the best place in the world to witness these wild animals roaming freely, the incomparable Serengeti National Park in Tanzania.

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The mighty Serengeti

Serengeti is derived from the local Maasai word "Siringitu" which means "the land that's forever expanding". Well this expanding land is now firmly confined and protected admirably by the Tanzanian government which declared the region as a National Park where all the plants and animals within the area, are properly maintained and protected. Serengeti National Park is vast parcel of land, with an area of about 15,000 square kilometres stretching from the Kenyan/Tanzanian border all the way to Lake Victoria. The Serengeti region actually covers the National Park, Ngorongoro, Loliondo, Ikorongo, Grometi Conservation Zone, Maswa Game reserve and even covers the Maasai Mara National Reserve which is across the Kenyan border.

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The ecosystem in the Serengeti region has barely changed since man first learn to walk on this planet. In fact in the Okavango Gorge, archaelogist concluded that humans first made their first appearance here with the discovery of fossilised bones. Serengeti region has one of the oldest ecosystem in the world where the climate which supports the plants and animals in the area has been the same for millions of years. The vegetation that you see around the area is the same one seen by early humans! Most of the people who presently live in the region belong to the Maasai tribe, and they have been living steadfastly in a semi-nomadic existence despite the onslaught of close to one hundred thousand tourists per year from around the world who come to fulfill their childhood dreams.

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Human population

The Maasai tribe have been raising cattle in this region for thousands of years and they coexist in close proximity to the animals that tourists have come to see. Tanzania's population is growing and non-Maasai farmers are now encroaching into the traditional Maasai land and creating fresh challenge for the park's administration. These rural farmers in the park's outskirts are also at loggerheads with the animals, particularly the elephants, because they destroy the farmer's crops. Elephants are quite destructive animals that trample on anything that's on their way. They chew fruit trees and other crops too that the farmers resort to killing them or even poach them for their ivories which have become lucrative for these impoverished families.

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Serengeti was virtually an untouched wilderness paradise before an American hunter, Stuart White first discovered the place in 1913. His wild tales of this veritable animal paradise transformed it into white man's hunting playground. The word "safari", a Swahili word for journey, became popularly known as a hunting expedition. Rich American and European men wearing safari hats and toting rifles were portered around by the natives in the 1920's. The popular myth of Tarzan spawned fantasies of children around the world about living with the animals in deep dark Africa. As a result, hunting depleted many of the animal stocks and thus alarmed conservationists on the effects of the depletion of fauna to the fragile ecosystem. Tanzania also saw the need to protect the region for the sake of the country's well-being since tourism has become a lucrative industry for the impoverished nation. Tanzania therefore designated this region as a protected National Park.

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Animals everywhere

Today Serengeti, at least at its core, is where animal can once again live and die freely. Here one will see thousands of herds of antelopes grazing on the savannah. I've never seen som many types of deers. One of them is the kudu. Then there are the wilderbeests whose annual migration for greener pastrures is a sight to behold. Like marching bands, they trundle across the plains. Seen from above looking at the Ngorongoro crater, the sight is mindblowing. Then of course, the local rangers/tourguides will lead you to the lions, the zebras, the cheetahs, the vultures, the hippos, the hyenas, the rhinos, the list goes on. It was like being in a zoo but this time the animals are not caged. It's the people who are caged inside their vans gawking at these magnificent creatures. If you're lucky, you may witness the birth of a cheetah or the violent death of an antelope killed by a pack of lions. The saga of life on earth is played right in front of your eyes. Now that's the Serengeti experience that will be etched in your memories.

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