Today is devoted to game viewing in the famous Serengeti National Park and adjacent concessions - one of the greatest wildlife conservation areas in the world.
At over 12,000 square miles (30,000 sq. km), this vast game park is the size of Belgium and 20 times larger than the neighbouring Masai Mara reserve in Kenya, which it adjoins to form an enormous wilderness area through which animals can freely migrate, unrestricted by any fences. Lying between Lake Victoria to the west, Lake Eyasi to the south, the Great Rift Valley to the east and the Masai Mara to the north, the landscape of the Serengeti varies enormously - from the endless open grassy plains of the south, to savanna with scattered acacia trees in the centre, hilly wooded grasslands to the north and dense woodlands and clay pans to the west. All of this is interspersed with many small rivers, lakes and wetlands.
With more than 70 large mammals and over 500 other animal species, including great herds of wildebeest and zebra and the largest number of lions in Africa, outstanding game viewing is guaranteed on a scale only seen in East Africa. All the Big Five can be found here - elephant, lion, buffalo, rhino and leopard - as well as cheetah, hyena, giraffe, Thomson's gazelle, Grant's gazelle, waterbuck, porcupine, jackal, serval, ostrich, eland, impala, dik-dik, Bohor reedbuck, hartebeest, hyrax, wild dog, hippo, crocodiles, dwarf mongoose and so much more. As predators are most active in the early morning and late afternoon, this is when game viewing is usually the most rewarding.
Bird watching is also outstanding, with over 600 different recorded species. You can hope to see the Kori bustard which is the largest flying bird in Africa, the majestic Secretary bird, Marabou stork, Southern ground hornbill, White-headed vulture, African hoopoe, Fischer's lovebird, Grey-breasted spurfowl, Rufous-tailed weaver, as well as many different bee-eaters, owls, swallows, chats, cuckoos, eagles, kestrels, falcons and other raptors.