I just can’t wait to be there
The Lion King movie is now 30 years old, but still feels fresh and exciting. Its iconic characters have become superstars in their own right and a whole new generation of movie and safari lovers was introduced to the inhabitants of the Pride Lands with the 2019 remake.
This month will see the release of a new Disney animated film, in the same photorealistic style as the 2019 remake. ‘Mufasa: The Lion King’ will be both a prequel and a sequel to the 2019 movie and will feature many of the same characters including favorites such as Zazu, Timon and Pumba.
A hot new travel trend
‘Set-jetting’ is trending online at the moment as people flock to the places where top-rated movies and series were filmed. Paris (thanks to ‘Emily in Paris’) and Thailand (featured in the most recent series of ‘The White Lotus’) have seen an upsurge in visitors in 2024 as viewers head to the locations they have seen on screen.
While the Pride Lands in The Lion King films are fictional, they are situated in the real-life country of Tanzania and their combination of rocky outcrops (or kopjes), rolling plains and lone acacia trees is very reminiscent of the Serengeti.
The backdrop to the Great Wildebeest Migration and one of Africa’s best wildlife-viewing destinations, the name of this region comes from the Maasai term meaning ‘sea of grass’. Adjacent to the equally fabled Masai Mara in neighboring Kenya, the Serengeti National Park forms the centerpiece of the legendary northern circuit which also includes the Ngorongoro Crater.
Watching The Lion King movies that have already been released, it’s clear that the animators spent a lot of time observing animals in the wild and absorbing the beauty and majesty of Tanzania’s landscapes.
Reliving the Lion King
As with any safari, there are no guarantees when it comes to wildlife sightings on safari. However, by staying at lodges and tented camps in the Serengeti, you’re likely to see many of the species featured in the movie. It’s possible that you might see scenes reminiscent of key moments from the films, such as lion cubs interacting with other pride members, hyenas skulking around elephant bones or even a wildebeest stampede. It’s worth noting however that the Great Wildebeest Migration is in perpetual motion, and the herds only spend part of the year in the Serengeti before moving on.
The real thing is even better than the movie
While visitors to some cities where shows and movies have been filmed apparently feel let down that the real-life locations are not as spectacular or as romantic as they appear on screen, we can promise you that the Serengeti (and Tanzania’s other national parks) will not disappoint. In fact, excellent as The Lion King movies are, watching them cannot come close to the thrill of seeing lions, warthogs, meerkats and wildebeest – along with dozens of other mammal species and hundreds of kinds of birds.
The Lion King is just the start…
Of course, many other classic movies have actually been filmed in Africa, and you can visit some of the key locations during a safari vacation. Karen Blixen’s farmhouse from ‘Out of Africa’ still stands; it is now a museum in the Nairobi suburb of Karen. You can also experience a scenic flight over Kenya’s Great Rift Valley in search of flamingoes whilst imagining that you’re Robert Redford or Meryl Streep.
Botswana’s Kalahari Desert was the setting for ‘The Gods Must Be Crazy’ while ‘Born Free’ (which recounts the remarkable story of Elsa the lioness and her adoptive human parents) was mostly filmed in Kenya’s Meru National Park.
Make your own movie
Camcorder or phone in hand, you can capture equally thrilling videos on your African safari vacation. To find yourself in the director’s chair of your own safari film, with sunlight, camera and wildlife action, contact our journey specialists today.
