Akagera National Park is located in the east of Rwanda, bordered by Tanzania to the east and Uganda to the north. It’s characterised by woodland, swamps, low mountains and savannah. The varied terrain shelters wildlife, including zebras, giraffes, elephants, lions, and hundreds of bird species, such as the rare shoebill stork.
In the southern part of the park, the vast Lake Ihema is home to hippos and crocodiles. Akagera National Park was founded in 1934 to protect animals and vegetation. The park is the largest protected wetland in Africa. It was named after the Akagera River, which flows along its eastern boundary.
Early morning, after breakfast, you will be driven to Akagera National Park by our English-speaking guide at 5:30 am, it’s a 2hrs 30mins drive from Kigali. The guide will help you register once you reach Akagera, and later start your game drive into the Akagera savannah grassland in search of the big 5 and other animals, which are easily spotted, like the Topi, zebras, and giraffes, among others.
We shall drive back to Akagera Game Lodge for a lunch break and then head for the afternoon boat safari on Lake Ihema, which has one of the largest concentrations of hippos in East Africa, and it certainly is a sight to see the large crocodiles that you will find along the shores of the lake.
There are also countless water birds you will find, and hopefully you will spot a shoebill stork, other animals such as elephants, find their way to the lake to water and bathe, and you will have the opportunity to get closer to them than you would in a vehicle on a game drive. We shall then drive back to the hotel for dinner and overnight. Akagera Game Lodge.
Akagera Park has so many beautiful sights that can be best admired up close. Nature walks give you the opportunity to see things up close. The exotic plants, colourful butterfly species, the still water in some of the lakes, the water birds, and the smaller animals that you couldn’t see quite well on the game drive. Nature walks are peaceful and a very good opportunity to appreciate nature at a much slower and easier pace.
Akagera is one of the best birding areas in the world, with the highest number of species per unit area. more than 525 bird species are recorded here, revealing the extremely great diversity of birds including 44 raptor species, balaeniceps rex and several pale arctic migrants including glareola nordmanni, falcon naumanni plus gallinago media and also savannah and migratory bird species many of them endemic to the park plus the extremely rare species like the threatened papyrus gonolek which you will find in the papyrus swamps, the localized red faced barbes, the flying and you will be rest assured that you will spot the elusive shoebill while birding.
After your early morning breakfast, you shall start your nature walk early in the morning and as you have your birding experience, you will be able to see different types of bird species as mentioned above. We shall have our packed lunch break in between, and later we shall drive back to Kigali.
An agent is available to assist you.
Tour Consultant
Big 5 Safaris
Chimpanzee Trekking
City Tour
