Central or northern Serengeti: which should you choose?

Choose by month. The central Serengeti is good in every month of the year. The north is where you need to be from mid July to October if you want to see the herds cross the Mara river. The south, around Ndutu, is where the calves are born from late January to March. If your dates are fixed, the area chooses itself.

The centre: Seronera

The Seronera valley has water all year, so the animals that do not migrate never leave: lions, leopards in the sausage trees along the river, cheetah on the plains to the east. It is the easiest area to reach by road and has the widest choice of camps at every budget. The price of that is company. In high season you will share a good sighting with other vehicles.

The north: Kogatende and the Mara river

Rolling hills, far fewer vehicles, and from mid July the wildebeest massing on the river banks. A crossing cannot be booked. The herds may wait for days and then go in ten minutes, which is why we plan at least two full days here, three if it is the heart of your trip. It is a long way from Arusha, so most people fly at least one way.

The south: Ndutu

Short grass plains that fill with wildebeest and zebra from December. In a few weeks around February about half a million calves are born, and the cats are never far away. Outside those months the plains are quiet and the camps move on.

When to do two areas

With four or five nights in the park, split them: the centre for the resident cats plus whichever end the herds are in. Our month tool on the When to go page shows where they usually are for your month, and the trips that go there.