Akagera National Park
Akagera National Park
Activities in Akagera National Park
More than 36,000 tourists visited the park in 2016. With the reintroduction of black rhinos and African lions by Rwanda Development Board , Akagera national park is now home to all of Africa’s “big five”: the lion, leopard, elephant, rhino, and buffalo.
Game Drives and Nature Walks – A game drive is like unwrapping a present – each game drive hold new surprises as nature reveals its treasures in the form of scenic wonders, Wildlife such as Elephants, Buffaloes, Antelopes such Topi or Elands, Burchell Zebras, Maasai Giraffes, Savannah Birds, Monkeys, Leopards, Civets, Hyenas, Lions, Serval Cats, Rhinos, and more.
Nocturnal – Night Game Drives – The are most exciting as you venture out with spotlights to see the creatures of the night found in Akagera National Park
Birding – Akagera National Park is one place that is not to be missed by Birders along with Nyungwe Forest National Park. There are over 520 species of bird species that are found in Akagera National Park.
Fishing for Tilapia and Catfish on Lake Shakani – one thing that might be a bit out of the ordinary is fishing along the shores of Lake Shakani – you will hear the snorts of Hippos and the cry of water birds and hopefully, the only other noise will be the sound of a fish on your line.
Boating Safaris on Lake Ihema – Boating Safaris are normally the highlight of a visit to a park in East Africa and so it it is with a boating safari on Lake Ihema in Akagera National Park.
Understanding Akagera National Park
Akagera National Park is located in the north east of Rwanda along the border with Tanzania. Although founded in 1934, much of the park was re-allocated as farms and in 1997 the park was reduced in size from more than 2,500 sq km (nearly 10% of the surface area of Rwanda) to its current extent of 1,122 sq km. Since 2010, a joint venture with African Parks has seen Akagera return to its former glories.
It is named after the Akagera River that flows along its eastern boundary and feeds into a labyrinth of lakes of which the largest is Lake Ihema. The forest fringed lakes, papyrus swamps, savannah plains and rolling highlands combine to make Akagera amongst the most scenic of reserves anywhere in Africa. It has exceptional levels of biodiversity and forms the largest protected wetland in central Africa.
Akagera combines well with Nyungwe and the Volcanoes NP to offer a great safari element as it is home to many large plains game species as well as species restricted to the papyrus swamps such as the Sitatunga and the sought-after Shoebill Stork. Notable plains game include elephant, buffalo, topi, zebra, waterbuck, roan antelope and eland. Other antelope are duiker, oribi, bohor reedbuck, klipspringer, bushbuck and impala. Of the primates, olive baboons, vervets and the secretive blue monkey are seen during the day, with bushbabies often seen on night drives.
Of the larger predators, only leopard, hyena and side-striped jackal are still present and although lion once occurred throughout Akagera, the population was wiped. Plans are underway for the reintroduction of lion, as well as black rhino in 2015, which will restore Akagera’s ‘Big 5’ status
Due to its wide variety of habitats, Akagera is an important ornithological site with nearly 500 bird species. The rare and elusive shoebill shares the papyrus with other rarities such as the exquisite papyrus gonolek and countless other water birds that inhabit the wetlands in large numbers.
The park management has vehicles available to hire for game drives, that come with their own driver and guide, and a choice of half day or full day drives. However, it is also possible in Akagera to self-drive your own vehicle round the park. Guides are available to accompany you on your drive. The guides can direct you to areas where wildlife is most abundant and guide you to stunning scenic spots that you may otherwise miss.
There is a two-tier guiding system in the park with 10 park-employed guides and 15 community freelance guides. As a park visitor, and subject to availability, you may choose to take a park-employed guide who has guiding experience ranging from 2 to 12 years in Akagera National Park, and has undertaken training in content, interpretive guiding and first aid in the past 2 years. Or, you can choose one of the Community Freelance Guides, who are enthusiastic, fast learners. They have completed an in-house training and assessment programme.
Both guides are dedicated to providing an authentic experience and support the success of the park. By choosing a freelance guide you are strengthening the relationship between the park and the local community, by stimulating economic development and allowing community members living alongside the park to benefit from the tourism growth in Akagera.