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Rwanda is best known for its gorillas and, to a lesser extent, chimpanzees, but few people seem to realise that out in the far east of the country there’s also a Big Five savannah park. Way back in the 1980s, Akagera National Park was regarded as one of East Africa’s better savannah parks, but then along came years of violence that culminated in the 1994 Rwandan Genocide. During these dark times Akagera was largely left to fend for itself and refugees fleeing violence elsewhere – or returning to the country after the genocide ended – occupied large parts of the park and much of the wildlife was pushed out.
Today, thanks to the efforts of the African Parks organisation and the Rwandan government, Akagera is back in big way. The park has been restocked with wildlife and is now once again home to all the Big Five, and tourist facilities have been massively upgraded (there’s now some superb accommodation options). But how does Akagera compare to some of its East African
Today, thanks to the efforts of the African Parks organisation and the Rwandan government, Akagera is back in big way. The park has been restocked with wildlife and is now once again home to all the Big Five, and tourist facilities have been massively upgraded (there’s now some superb accommodation options). But how does Akagera compare to some of its East African
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cousins? Well, the park, with its large lakes and fringing green hills, is unquestionably beautiful. It’s also very quiet. When I visited, as far I could tell I was the only tourist in the park. Wildlife-wise it was pretty decent, with lots of hippo, impala, buffalo, topi and a few giraffe. I didn’t get to see any of the park’s elephants, and I was also there before lion and rhino had been reintroduced, but bird life was abundant. I wouldn’t chose to visit Akagera over some of the region’s more famous parks, such as the Masai Mara or Serengeti, but if you have the time and just want to see a different side of Rwanda then Akagera can be a wonderfully rewarding park to visit. Finally, note that there can be lots of tsetse flies here, which have very painful bites and can mar the pleasure of a safari.
Rwanda’s Scenic Savannah
We have visited Akagera several times between 2000 and 2022, and it is heart-warming to see how this park has made a comeback from total neglect. The turning point was in 2010 when the non-profit African Parks took over its management. After fencing, they reintroduced lots of animals, most notably lion in 2015 and black rhino in 2017. Today, Akagera is once again a Big Five destination. Furthermore, in 2021, 30 white rhinos were brought in (this is the largest single rhino translocation ever).
Since the park is now free of poaching, wildlife densities are increasing, and animals are less skittish. On our most recent visit, we managed to see all of the Big Five during a five-night stay. We saw white rhino from afar, and a curious black rhino walked straight past our vehicle. Leopards are regularly seen on night drives, but while on a boat trip we spotted one sitting in a tree. As is always the case on safari, you never know what you’ll see where. The Big Five aside, we saw
Aside from the relatively large Akagera Game Lodge near the entrance, several tented camps deeper in the park offer more of a bush experience. Magashi Camp in the northeastern corner of the park operates on a private concession, and a stay here is on a par with what you can expect in the top private game reserves in southern Africa. We found the game viewing overall more rewarding in the north of the park. So, if you are staying in the south, it is worth taking a packed lunch and heading north for a full-day game drive.
Since the park is now free of poaching, wildlife densities are increasing, and animals are less skittish. On our most recent visit, we managed to see all of the Big Five during a five-night stay. We saw white rhino from afar, and a curious black rhino walked straight past our vehicle. Leopards are regularly seen on night drives, but while on a boat trip we spotted one sitting in a tree. As is always the case on safari, you never know what you’ll see where. The Big Five aside, we saw
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zebras, giraffes, waterbuck, oribis and big herds of topi. The fabulous setting for all this is a labyrinth of papyrus-fringed lakes with a backdrop of rolling hills. Stunning! You’ll really appreciate the park’s scenic beauty on a boat trip. On the water, we saw lots of crocodiles and hippos, and the birdlife is phenomenal. There is even a chance of seeing shoebill.Aside from the relatively large Akagera Game Lodge near the entrance, several tented camps deeper in the park offer more of a bush experience. Magashi Camp in the northeastern corner of the park operates on a private concession, and a stay here is on a par with what you can expect in the top private game reserves in southern Africa. We found the game viewing overall more rewarding in the north of the park. So, if you are staying in the south, it is worth taking a packed lunch and heading north for a full-day game drive.
Rewilded, scenic park, just two hours from Kigali
In the past few years, Akagera has burst on to the safari scene, first being successfully rewilded with the Big Five and then with its first luxury camp (Magashi) opening in 2019. Considering its relatively short development as a safari destination, I’ve had amazing wildlife viewing there – watching the interactions of a lion pride that stole a leopard’s kill in a tree, actually seeing a leopard (there are several newly-habituated leopards in the north), and spotting over 100 birds (there are nearly 500 in the park). It’s also a stunning area, with rolling hills, placid lakes, thick papyrus swamps and swathes of savannah. All that, just two-to-three hours from Kigali.
Conservation Success Story
Akagera National Park has undergone a massive transformation in the past few years making it one of Africa’s inspirational conservation success stories.
As a result of various reintroduction programmes, Akagera is now home to the Big Five (elephant, rhino, lion, leopard and buffalo). You can expect to see a lot of different herbivores, including rhino and elephants if you’re lucky, however big cats are still hard to find. So don’t come to Akagera expecting close-up predator sightings typical of East or southern Africa’s more famous game reserves. Do come to Akagera for the beautiful scenery, varied birdlife, enjoyable boat trips, and to be a part of this conservation good news story.
The highlight was the behind-the-scenes visit to the park headquarters (this has to be prebooked with an additional charge), to learn more about how the park has overcome poaching, successfully working with the local communities. We also loved the quieter, far north of the park, in particular the rustic Karenge Bush Camp.
Rwanda’s safari secret
Akagera should be on every traveler’s itinerary in Rwanda, yet it gets surprisingly few international visitors. Even without the wildlife, the beautiful landscapes alone merit a visit – it always reminds me of a cross between England’s Lake District and a mini Serengeti. While the wildlife hasn’t always been abundant, it has improved tremendously over recent years.
The park had a troubled recent history as thousands of returning refugees moved in following the genocide, causing the government to halve the park’s size, allowing the people to stay but protecting the wildlife in the remaining 1120km2. In 2010, the government partnered with conservation organisation African Parks to manage Akagera and the park has flourished. Lions and rhinos were translocated here in 2015 and 2017, making it a Big Five destination, and the Kilala Plains to the north can teem with game. Akagera’s amazingly diverse landscapes – with mountains, lakes, swamps and open savannah
Make time in your itinerary to spend a morning or afternoon with the freelance community guides affiliated to the park – they’ll show you local life, from milking Ankola cows and making banana beer to contributing to a local nursery. And you’ll be helping to spread much needed income and benefits from tourism beyond the park gates.
The park had a troubled recent history as thousands of returning refugees moved in following the genocide, causing the government to halve the park’s size, allowing the people to stay but protecting the wildlife in the remaining 1120km2. In 2010, the government partnered with conservation organisation African Parks to manage Akagera and the park has flourished. Lions and rhinos were translocated here in 2015 and 2017, making it a Big Five destination, and the Kilala Plains to the north can teem with game. Akagera’s amazingly diverse landscapes – with mountains, lakes, swamps and open savannah
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– attract around 500 bird species, including the rare shoebill and crested crane. In May, we took a boat trip to Nyirabiyoro Island on Lake Ihema and saw thousands of nesting cormorants, darters and egrets, along with various herons and kingfishers.Make time in your itinerary to spend a morning or afternoon with the freelance community guides affiliated to the park – they’ll show you local life, from milking Ankola cows and making banana beer to contributing to a local nursery. And you’ll be helping to spread much needed income and benefits from tourism beyond the park gates.
A Roaring Success
I first visited Akagera with low expectations. After three years working in conservation in Uganda, I’d notched up a few game drives. This was not a park that I heard people boast of visiting, but all that’s changed – and quickly – thanks to serious investment in Akagera’s recovery. Central to that is security: the behind-the-scenes tour at the park’s control room shows the advanced tech that protects and monitors the park. It’s on a whole other level.
Akagera isn’t cheap. It's now one of East Africa’s more expensive parks but if you’re short on time, you have a good chance of ticking off the big five, even on a short safari. Cue: a pair of (collared) lions gorging on a topi; and the biggest flock of grey crowned cranes I’ve ever seen, rescued from the pet trade and given sanctuary in Akagera. Lucky eyes may occasionally spot the shoebill too.
On my next safari, we spent half-an-hour with three sibling lions who played hide-and-seek in
Akagera isn’t cheap. It's now one of East Africa’s more expensive parks but if you’re short on time, you have a good chance of ticking off the big five, even on a short safari. Cue: a pair of (collared) lions gorging on a topi; and the biggest flock of grey crowned cranes I’ve ever seen, rescued from the pet trade and given sanctuary in Akagera. Lucky eyes may occasionally spot the shoebill too.
On my next safari, we spent half-an-hour with three sibling lions who played hide-and-seek in
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the long grass at the edge of the track. My friend and I felt like we had the whole of Akagera to ourselves as the big cats bobbed up and down around our vehicle: we couldn’t believe our luck.Wilderness reborn
Akagera is the only protected area offering traditional Big Five safaris in Rwanda. It boasts good wildlife opportunities, although not on quite the same scale as other iconic East African parks. Unlike the densely forested protected areas elsewhere in the country, Akagera is a typical savannah park dominated by sprawling grasslands and broken woodland. It is a refuge for elephant, buffalo, giraffe, tsessebe, impala and defassa waterbuck, while large populations of hippo and the elusive sitatunga – a rare aquatic antelope – thrive in the well-watered eastern sector of the reserve.
With the arrival of the African Parks non-profit conservation organisation in 2009 – and the reintroductions of lion in 2015 and 18 East African black rhino in 2017 – Akagera National Park became Rwanda’s only Big Five reserve. The park, with its attractive landscapes and extensive lake system, is also a bird-watcher’s paradise, with a staggering 525 species (including the iconic shoebill
The wildlife-rich Kilala Plain – with its abundance of grazing and water – is home to the richest biodiversity and largest concentrations of herbivores in all of Akagera, so any Akagera safari should spend significant game drive time exploring this impressive wildlife area. Although quite small by African protected area standards, the 112,200-hectare park protects central Africa’s largest wetland – known as Rwanda’s Lake District – and it’s the last remaining refuge for savannah-adapted species in all of Rwanda.
With the arrival of the African Parks non-profit conservation organisation in 2009 – and the reintroductions of lion in 2015 and 18 East African black rhino in 2017 – Akagera National Park became Rwanda’s only Big Five reserve. The park, with its attractive landscapes and extensive lake system, is also a bird-watcher’s paradise, with a staggering 525 species (including the iconic shoebill
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and endemic papyrus gonalek) recorded within the varied habitats of this relatively small, but extremely diverse, park.The wildlife-rich Kilala Plain – with its abundance of grazing and water – is home to the richest biodiversity and largest concentrations of herbivores in all of Akagera, so any Akagera safari should spend significant game drive time exploring this impressive wildlife area. Although quite small by African protected area standards, the 112,200-hectare park protects central Africa’s largest wetland – known as Rwanda’s Lake District – and it’s the last remaining refuge for savannah-adapted species in all of Rwanda.
A Resurgent Gem
When I first visited Akagera in 2000, it was barely functional, suffered badly from encroachment and poaching, and seemed destined to become one of those forgotten African parks that exist only on maps and in the statute books. The situation deteriorated over the next few years, but was reversed in 2010 when the NGO African Parks took over the management and set about transforming it by building fences and roads to keep out poachers and cattle, and implementing a reintroduction program that included lions and rhinos.
Now a fully fledged ‘Big Five’ reserve, Akagera ranks as one of East Africa’s most underrated safari destinations, offering the opportunity to see a wide variety of antelope at close quarters, along with the likes of lion, buffalo, elephant, giraffe and hippo. Game drives can be supplemented by several other activities, including boat trips on Lake Ihema, night drives in search of leopard and other nocturnal creatures, and, as of 2022, hot-air balloon safaris.
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Wildlife viewing is good throughout Akagera, but most rewarding in Wilderness Safaris’ private Magashi Concession, which comprises a 6,000-hectare/14,800-acre peninsula on Lake Rwanyakazinga. We clocked all the Big Five over the course of a recent two-night stay at Magashi; highlights included lions hunting on a night drive, a leopard snoozing on a lakeside tree, and a close-up view of the normally shy black rhino. Other great sightings included bushpigs crossing the road, a herd of eland (the world’s largest antelope) and some truly monstrous crocodiles.
Akagera is a very scenic park, set on rolling green hills that lead down to a labyrinth of lakes and papyrus-fringed channels fed by the Akagera River, on the border with Tanzania. Aquatic birds are well represented. It is the only place outside Uganda where I’ve ever seen the magnificent shoebill and gorgeous papyrus gonolek. The heronry visited by boat safaris on Lake Ihema is the most impressive I’ve seen, with around eight species represented, including goliath, purple, rufous-bellied and black-crowned night heron. A checklist of 480 birds also includes Ross’s turaco, the localized red-faced barbet and Ruaha chat. It’s a lovely safari destination, one that perfectly complements the forested habitats protected in Rwanda’s other national parks, and a highly worthwhile add-on to gorilla tracking in the Virungas.
Now a fully fledged ‘Big Five’ reserve, Akagera ranks as one of East Africa’s most underrated safari destinations, offering the opportunity to see a wide variety of antelope at close quarters, along with the likes of lion, buffalo, elephant, giraffe and hippo. Game drives can be supplemented by several other activities, including boat trips on Lake Ihema, night drives in search of leopard and other nocturnal creatures, and, as of 2022, hot-air balloon safaris.
Wildlife viewing is good throughout Akagera, but most rewarding in Wilderness Safaris’ private Magashi Concession, which comprises a 6,000-hectare/14,800-acre peninsula on Lake Rwanyakazinga. We clocked all the Big Five over the course of a recent two-night stay at Magashi; highlights included lions hunting on a night drive, a leopard snoozing on a lakeside tree, and a close-up view of the normally shy black rhino. Other great sightings included bushpigs crossing the road, a herd of eland (the world’s largest antelope) and some truly monstrous crocodiles.
Akagera is a very scenic park, set on rolling green hills that lead down to a labyrinth of lakes and papyrus-fringed channels fed by the Akagera River, on the border with Tanzania. Aquatic birds are well represented. It is the only place outside Uganda where I’ve ever seen the magnificent shoebill and gorgeous papyrus gonolek. The heronry visited by boat safaris on Lake Ihema is the most impressive I’ve seen, with around eight species represented, including goliath, purple, rufous-bellied and black-crowned night heron. A checklist of 480 birds also includes Ross’s turaco, the localized red-faced barbet and Ruaha chat. It’s a lovely safari destination, one that perfectly complements the forested habitats protected in Rwanda’s other national parks, and a highly worthwhile add-on to gorilla tracking in the Virungas.