Akagera National Park

This only savanna national park is establishing it self as Rwanda’s big 5 game park. Located on the north-eastern edge of Rwanda borders Tanzania and incorporates the Kagera River, hence the name Akagera. Located at a relatively low altitude on the border with Tanzania, the Akagera National Park strongly contrasts with the breezy hills that characterize much of Rwanda. Covered with a labyrinth of swamps and lakes that follow the meandering course of the Akagera River, the most remote source of the Nile, with its meadows dotted with acacias, the park is an archetypal of the African savannah.

The national park was founded in 1934 to protect animals and vegetation in three habitats; savannah, mountain and swamp. Focusing on “big game” Akagera National Park currently includes African elephant, buffalo, zebra, giraffe and a variety of antelope. Akagera and its lakes are home to many hippopotamus and the Nile crocodile, the world’s largest reptile.

It is recognized as one of the best spots for bird watching in Rwanda. The diverse habitats of the park encourage a wide variety of bird species to the area. Akagera is indisputably the best place in Rwanda to find savannah birds and raptors. It is also very well stocked with water-birds living amongst the papyrus swamps can be spotted. Akagera and Nyungwe national parks are complementary in terms of bird life and there aren’t any species breeding in Rwanda that can’t be spotted in either of these sites.

Facts about Akagera National Park

The park covers an area of 1122km and it was also an African parks project since 2010, the park is managed by Akagera Management Company which is also a joint entity between African Parks and Rwanda Development Board. This park has greatly attracted many tourists to enjoy Rwanda safaris. The park is located in the north east of Rwanda along the border with Tanzania. It was also named after the Akagera River which flows along its eastern boundary and also feeds the largest lake ihema. The park is characterized by rolling hills of the Acacia and Brachystegia woodland which are coupled with the scattered grassland and the swamp fringed lakes along the meandering Akagera River which is combined to create a good scenic beauty.

Rwanda is known as a country of a thousand hills and the Akagera National Park as its fair are of the mountains terrain in the mutumba hills region. The highlands also provide spectacular views over the expanse of the lakes as well as the swamps. Most of the park was re located a farms to returning refugees following the Rwandan civil war.As a result, in 1997 the park was reduced in size from more than 2,500km² (nearly 10% of the surface area of Rwanda) to its current extent of 1,122km². The park biodiversity has greatly attracted many people to enjoy safaris in Rwanda.

Akagera National park is also characterized by forest fringed lakes, papyrus swamps, savanna plains and the rolling highlands which are combined in a small area. The park has got different levels of the biodiversity, which is partly due to its position at the confluence of the different vegetation ones. The systems of fresh water lakes and the associated papyrus swamps form the largest protected wetland in central Africa. Again with Rwanda’s high population density biodiversity losses have been in the order of 90-95%. This park is the only protected savannah region in Rwanda and also is the only refuge for savannah adapted animals and plants on national scale. It also complements the humid forests of Nyungwe National Park in the south of Rwanda and the Afro alpine habitats of the volcanoes National Park in the north.

There are species that have been introduced in to the park include the giraffes, Rhinos, lions, elephant population in the park is currently estimated at around 90 individuals. The primates in this park also include; the olive baboons, vervet monkeys, bush babies and many more. The other predators include; the leopards, hyenas, lions, mongoose species, viverrid species, serval, and the side striped jackal.

Things to See

Mostly inhabited by giraffes, zebras, antelopes, crocodiles, hippopotami and over 300 bird species, the Akagera National Park provides a very attractive environment for tourism.

Visitors to the park can take a day trip or 2-5 days safaris with in Akagera National Park. Travelers loooking for longer safaris in Rwanda combine a visit to Akagera National Park with other amazing places in Rwanda such as Nyungwe Forest National Park and the Volcanoes National Park. You can look for a local tour operator to create for you a custom tour of your own from our tour operators’ section.

Things to Do in Akagera National Park

Possible Things to Do in Akagera include

A one-day tour: you leave Kigali for Akagera and come back to Kigali.
A two-day tour: Kigali-Rusumo-Akagera-Kigali, with accommodation at Akagera Game Lodge or you go camping in the park.
A several day tour is also possible; all depends on the tourists’ choice.

Game drive in Akagera National Park: With all talk focused on mountain gorillas, it is easy to forget that Rwanda is also excellent for game drives and standard wildlife safaris. Akagera is Rwanda’s only savanna park covering an area of 1,085 square kilometers. It was established in 1934 but the park lost a significant number of wildlife during the 1994 genocide. Thousands of fleeing citizens used the park as an escape route to seek safety in neighboring countries. When the genocide ended, many chose to settle in parts of the park leading to uncontrolled poaching and encroachments.

When the African Parks Network teamed up with the government to manage the park, the number of wildlife increased and species that had been lost were re-introduced. Akagera National Park is composed of swamps, savanna plains, woodlands, lakes, rivers and terraced hills. It is now home to all the Big 5 animals (Lions, Rhinos, elephants, Buffaloes and Leopards) hence offering tourists a chance to experience a full wildlife safari in Rwanda (Taking into consideration other activities like gorilla trekking, chimpanzee tracking, cultural encounters and mountain climbing). Akagera is also home to olive baboons, blue monkeys, vervet monkeys, hyenas, leopards and hippos to mention a few. Apart from standard game drives, Akagera is excellent for birding, nature walks and sport fishing in Lake Shakani. The afternoon boat cruise along Lake Ihema is very popular too and rewards tourists with beautiful scenery and encounters with aquatic birds, crocodiles, hippos and antelopes drinking by the Lake shores.

In any case, the cost varies according to the type of vehicle, the time, the accommodation and catering.

Camping alongside a lake in Akagera is a truly mystical introduction to the wonders of the African bush. Pods of more than 50 hippopotami grunt and play about, while crocodiles warm themselves in the sun, their jaws wide open. The sky becomes magic under the unforgettable flying of a pair of fish eagles, the avian monarchs of Africa’s waterway.
Along the lakes, you find one of the greatest concentrations of birds of the continent; the connecting marshes are the haunt of the papyrus gonolek, lively but endangered, and the bizarre shoebill stork, the most sought out of all Africa’s birds. Several tour operators organizes tours and proposes itineraries but the customers can suggest the routes themselves. Routes often vary according to the time and budget available.

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