Africa's oldest park, created in 1951 and classified as a Unesco World Heritage Site in 1981, covers 14,763 km2- the equivalent of half the size of Belgium! The high plateaus are at an altitude of 1,500 m. The Serengeti (pronounced [Sérèneguèti] with a slight roll of the "r") is one of the world's most important wildlife sanctuaries. Its name means "endless plain" in the Maasai language. It is an absolutely mythical place, both for its landscapes of immense plains and hills, for the variety of its wildlife, and for the extraordinary phenomenon of the Great Migration. The park is at the heart of a larger ecosystem (twice the size) that includes "private reserves" where hunting is permitted: the Maswa reserve to the south, the Grumeti and Ikongo reserves to the east, Kenya's Maasai Mara to the north and the Loliondo area to the west, near Lake Natron.The kopjes (pronounced [kopiz]: Afrikaner name). This word comes from the Dutch word for "little head" and refers to the boulders, the eroded granite peaks of ancient mountains, whose slopes were then covered, 3 or 4 million years ago, by the highly liquid lava of the Great Rift chain of volcanoes, forming the great plains. They are the preferred habitat of lions, leopards and hyenas.Seronera. The central region of the park is Seronera, with its rich fauna. This is the area with the highest fauna density in the heart of the Serengeti's great plains, just beyond the NCA "gate". The ecosystem is home to some 3,000 lions (distemper, which affected them in 1994, seems to have claimed no more victims). Lions can be found almost everywhere, but are particularly fond of the plains covered by migration and the shade of acacias and kopjes. Leopards can also be found along the rivers (south of Seronera) and in the kopjes, cheetahs in the middle of the plains, hyenas, elephants not far from the rivers, buffalo (especially at the bottom of the Banagi hills), hippos in the pools, crocodiles in the rivers. But also all kinds of antelopes: impalas, cobes and réduncas, Thomson, Grant, hartebeests, damalisques, jackals in the plains, baboons in the kopjes, and over 500 species of birds, including ostriches, bustards and snakes.The Ndutu zone. At the southern tip of the Serengeti, not far from the Maswa Game Reserve, Ndutu is of exceptional interest during the great migration, around lakes Ndutu, Masek and Lagarja, and a good base for safaris in the southern part of the national park. The wildebeest spend most of the year here, giving birth from December to March. For the occasion, luxury mobile camps are set up in the area before moving on to the Grumeti and Mara rivers.The Moru Kopjes area. Some forty kilometers south of Seronera, this area, which concentrates kopjes, is generally an exceptional wildlife reservoir. Just beyond the small Lake Magadi live 2 or 3 extremely wild rhinos, the only survivors of the massacre. In one of the last two groups of kopjes to the south, on the left, are the Ngong Rocks, rocks that resonate with a metallic noise when struck, and which once enabled the Maasai to communicate several kilometers away. Further on, in a cave, you can see Maasai paintings dating from the 19th and early 20thcenturies . But beware! There's at least one leopard in the area.The Gol and Barafu Kopjes areas, to the south-west of the park (go back via Seronera, or cut off towards Naabi Hill if you have a good driver and car), can only be visited in the company of a park ranger, whom you will pay in addition to the driver-guide of your vehicle. Leopard and cheetah are common sightings.To the north, the Lobo region, inhabited by lions, is interesting at any time, but becomes exciting when it is crossed by migration.The Western Corridor. To the west lies the Western Corridor: the valley of the Grumeti River, which flows into the Gulf of Speke at Lake Victoria, only a few kilometers from the far west of the park. The area, covered in undergrowth and inhabited by numerous birds, rare species and crocodiles around the watercourses, is especially exciting during the migration season, particularly from May to June. But beware: in the rainy season, it's not always accessible.

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Girafe dans le Parc National du Serengeti Stephan SZEREMETA
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Parc National du Serengeti Stephan SZEREMETA
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