A million wildebeest...
each one driven by the same ancient
rhythm, fulfilling its instinctive
role in the inescapable cycle of life:
a frenzied three-week bout of territorial
conquests and mating; survival of
the fittest as 40km (25 mile) long
columns plunge through crocodile-infested
waters on the annual exodus north;
replenishing the species in a brief
population explosion that produces
more than 8,000 calves daily before
the 1,000 km (600 mile) pilgrimage
begins again.
Tanzania's oldest and most popular
national park, the Serengeti is famed
for its annual migration, when some
six million hooves pound the open
plains, as more than 200,000 zebra
and 300,000 Thomson's gazelle join
the wildebeest’s trek for fresh
grazing. Yet even when the migration
is quiet, the Serengeti offers arguably
the most dazzling game-viewing in
Africa: great herds of buffalo, smaller
groups of elephant and giraffe, and
thousands upon thousands of eland,
topi, kongoni, impala and Grant’s
gazelle.
The spectacle of predator versus
prey dominates Tanzania’s greatest
park. Golden-manned lion prides feast
on the abundance of plain grazers.
Solitary leopards haunt the acacia
trees lining the Seronera River, while
a high density of cheetahs prowls
the southeastern plains. Almost uniquely,
all three African jackal species occur
here, alongside the spotted hyena
and a host of more elusive small predators,
ranging from the insectivorous aardwolf
to the beautiful serval cat.
But there is more to Serengeti than
large mammals. Gaudy agama lizards
and rock hyraxes scuffle around the
surfaces of the park’s isolated
granite koppies. A full 100 varieties
of dung beetle have been recorded,
as have 500-plus bird species, ranging
from the outsized ostrich and bizarre
secretary bird of the open grassland,
to the black eagles that soar effortlessly
above the Lobo Hills.
As enduring as the game-viewing is
the liberating sense of space that
characterizes the Serengeti Plains,
stretching across sun burnt savannah
to a shimmering golden horizon at
the end of the earth. Yet, after the
rains, this golden expanse of grass
is transformed into an endless green
carpet flecked with wildflowers. And
there are also wooded hills and towering
termite mounds, rivers lined with
fig trees and acacia woodland stained
orange by dust.
Popular the Serengeti might be, but
it remains so vast that you may be
the only human audience when a pride
of lions masterminds a siege, focused
unswervingly on its next meal. |
