It is not yet the season for the short Vuli rains, that are expected in November, but already heavy downpours are wreaking havoc in the Serengeti National Park, affecting tourism.
The wildlife-filled endless plains happen to be among the most affected areas as torrential rains pound most parts of the Lake Zone.
The freely flowing gushes of rainwater are reported to be causing some flush floods that are wreaking havoc on the roads in the Serengeti plains.
With the tourism season still on the peak, tour operators are already complaining of badly damaged roads, especially the section from Golini all the way to Seronera.
The Tanzania Association of Tour Operators (TATO) has urged an urgent repair of the road from Ngorongoro to Seronera, via the Naabi entry gate which also has badly destroyed infrastructure.
The Chairperson of TATO, Willy Chambulo pointed out that Serengeti is the leading generator of revenue as far as tourism is concerned and therefore the government needs to pay more attention to the National Park.
“Serengeti is the icon of Tanzania and therefore the park needs to be well maintained to maintain its image as the mirror of the country’s tourism,” Chambulo added.
Tour drivers are also facing the challenges of negotiation on bad roads in the protected area which does not permit off-roading.
Game drive roads are almost impassable, while the tracks in the plains from Viboko to Mawe Meusi and the area near Seronera river have all been damaged by the rains.
“Vehicles are getting stuck and sometimes tourists get late for flights,” said a tour driver, Athuman Njiku from Solo adventure who admits that the rains are heavy in the endless plains.’
Other operators in Arusha say it was high time the Tanzania National Parks (TANAPA) rehabilitated the roads in the country’s most popular attraction site.
Serengeti receives an average of 450,000 tourists per year, with the most traffic recorded during the wildebeest migration and the ungulates’ calving seasons.
The park, which is the third largest in Tanzania after Nyerere and Ruaha, has been winning the World Travel Awards (WTA) for seven consecutive years.
Previously during the occasion to mark Rangers Day in August 2025, the Conservation Commissioner for the Tanzania National Park, Juma Kuji had stated that TANAPA had collected over 500 billion/- in the 2024/2025 fiscal year beating the target of 430 billion/-.
According to Kuji part of the money was to be invested in rehabilitating infrastructure, including entry gates, roads and bridges in the National Parks.
Back in 2018 the former management of Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA) has initiated a project to harden the 80 kilometers road stretch from Loduare Gate to Golini using environment friendly concrete slabs, but this was later thwarted by the interference of the former Arusha Regional Commissioner, Mrisho Gambo.