Serengeti National Park

The Serengeti — whose name means "Endless Plains" in the Maasai language — is the beating heart of East African safari. This 14,763-square-kilometer wilderness hosts the greatest wildlife spectacle on Earth: the annual Great Migration of over two million wildebeest, zebras, and gazelles in a perpetual clockwise loop. The calving season in February fills the southern plains with newborn wildebeest (and the predators that follow). The Moru Kopjes — ancient granite rock formations scattered across the plains — shelter rare Black Rhinos and resident lion prides. And the Retina Hippo Pool offers a massive, mesmerizing concentration of hippos in a single river bend. From luxury mobile camps that follow the migration to hot air balloons at sunrise, the Serengeti delivers safari at its most epic and timeless.