What to see, do in Akagera national park | Rwanda Wildlife Safaris

Looking for an  an amazing wildlife adventure in Rwanda, the Akagera National Park is the place to go. The park is located towards the boarder of Tanzania on the north Eastern side and it is covered with the Savannah kind of vegetation together with patch of acacia woodland and open grassland in other areas. Named from the famous River Akagera that runs along the boundary and pours its water into Lake Ihema, Akagera National park offers very beautiful scenery which is attributed to the gently rolling hills, the savannah plains, papyrus swamps, and the forests. The park has a huge biodiversity compared to other Parks in Rwanda and it is the biggest protected wetland there is in the central part of African continent.  

What to see in Akagera National Park | Akagera Wildlife

The Akagera Park together with Volcanoes national park and the Nyungwe forest makes a perfect safari in Rwanda because while Volcanoes Np is blessed with the mountain gorillas, Nyungwe has got almost all sorts of primates more so the chimpanzees and the colobus Monkeys and then the Akagera will blow you away by its amazing wildlife concentration. A game drive through this Park rewards you with plenty of wildlife species to include the topis, the Zebras, the waterbucks, elands, elephants, the buffaloes, the roan antelopes. There are also other types of antelopes like the impala, oribi, bushbucks, duiker and bohor reedbuck, among others. These are very easy to spot during the game drive as they often come out of their hideouts to look for food and water.  If one is lucky, you may also spot the hyena, leopard as well as a side strip Jackal because there are only a few predators left in the park. Recently Rwanda Introduced a group of Lions that are currently adhering to this surroundings.

Within the forest, are few primates like the olive baboons, different monkey species like the blue monkeys and the vervet monkeys, these you can see during the day and then in the night, the bush babies are commonly seen.

The aquatic life includes animals like the hippos which may be spotted on the lakes shores, crocodiles often seen sun bathing with their vast jaws widely opened as they trying to trap the flies. For those that love watching birds, you will be amazed by the multitudes within this park, as there are almost 500 species of birds in that park, like the fish eagles often seen working their trick on water, among several other water bird species. Around the swampy areas, birds like the beautiful papyrus gonoleks are very common and the shoebill stork which is the most eagerly sought bird in the whole of African may also be sighted.

When you visit the park, you can opt for either half day or full day game drives depending on how much time you have. There are park guides/ rangers to help guide you and your driver guide to where most of the wildlife may be and also to those spectacular scenic spots in the park.

Where to stay in Akagera

After having a wonderful day in Akagera or a day before you start you adventure, you may wish to spend a night in or close to Akagera national park. There are number of accommodation facilities where you can spend the night and have meals from. You can spend your nights camping with in the allocated camping sites like the Lake Ihema campsite which is along the shores of Lake Ihema and this provides basic facilities, there is also Lake Shakani campsite which is in the northern direction of park headquarters. While at these camping sites, chances of seeing hippos, crocodiles and other water creatures is high.

There are other accommodations facilities like the Ruzizi tented camp also close to the shores of Lake Ihema but somehow hidden away by the riverine trees. Besides this, is the Akagera game lodge which is an extremely elegant lodge with comfortable rooms, great views over the hills and will give you all the comfort you may desire during your wildlife trip.

Best Time to Visit Akagera National Park

The park can be visited all year round irrespective of whether it’s during the dry months or the wet months as the roads are accessible.

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