MONDAY July 3, 2023
By Adam Ihucha
The Tranquility News Correspondent, Tanzania
Lovers of nature and outdoor enthusiasts across the globe have voted Tanzania’s flagship national park of Serengeti third best nature-based destination in the world.
“Serengeti has been chosen by travellers as the third top nature-based destination in the world for 2023,” announced Trip Advisor, the world’s largest travel platform serving 400 million tourists per month and organiser of the annual travellers’ choice award.
Trip Advisor wrote: “The Maasai call the plains of Serengeti National Park is the place where the land moves on forever—so prepare to be astonished by its vastness. And here, you can witness the famous Serengeti annual migration, the largest and longest overland migration on earth.”
From the sprawling Serengeti plains in Tanzania to the champagne coloured hills of Kenya’s Maasai Mara Game Reserve, over two million wildebeests and half a million zebras as well as gazelle, relentlessly tracked by Africa’s great predators, migrate in a clockwise manner over 1,800 miles each year in search for rain-ripened grass.
The Conservation Commissioner of Tanzania National Parks (TANAPA), Mr William Mwakilema, received the news with gratitude, saying it was a vote of confidence to Tanzania’s destination from the global consumers.
“This momentous feat would not have been possible without our incredible explorers from across the world and the dedicated conservators, who have been working diligently to preserve Serengeti’s breathtaking beauty. I profoundly thank both of you for your crucial role,” said Mr Mwakilema.
He said the consumers of the world’s accolade not only raise the Tanzania’s profile as a top African tourism destination, but also reinforces their collective responsibility for its continued protection and sustainable conservation drive.
“Let us remain committed to promoting responsible tourism, supporting local communities, and spreading awareness about the importance of conserving Serengeti’s biodiversity and other 21 national parks,” the TANAPA Chief emphasised.
Serengeti National Park is undoubtedly the best-known wildlife sanctuary in the world, unequalled for its natural beauty and scientific value, it has the greatest concentration of plains game in Africa.
Established in 1952, the Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park is home to the greatest wildlife spectacle on earth – the great migration of wildebeest and zebra.
The resident population of lion, cheetah, elephant, giraffe, and birds is also impressive.
There’s a wide variety of accommodation available, from luxury lodges to mobile camps. The park covers 5,700 square miles, (14,763 sq km), it is larger than Connecticut, with at most a couple hundred vehicles driving around.
Mr Mwakilema, a former Serengeti chief park warden himself, said what was certain was that wildebeest have been migrating within the park for over one million years.
“The wildebeest’s journey is an endless pilgrimage, a constant search for food and water. The only beginning is at the moment of birth and ends when they die,” he explained.
The wildebeest and zebra moreover form a star cast of a unique spectacular – drawing tens of thousands of nature lovers, photographers, filmmakers and researchers to east Africa each year to witness one of the world’s most awe-inspiring spectacles.
The vast Serengeti plains comprise 1.5 million hectares of savannah, harbour the largest remaining unaltered migration of two million wildebeests plus hundreds of thousands of gazelles and zebras, engaging in a 1,000-kilometre-long annual circular trek, spanning the two adjacent countries of Tanzania and Kenya, as their predators waylay themΩ
