1 Day Akagera National Park

A 1-day safari to Akagera National Park brings you to one of the biggest and oldest national parks in Rwanda best known for its wildlife safari. This national park located in the Eastern part of Rwanda on its border with Tanzania and was gazetted as a national park in 1934.This park is known for being the only savanna park in Rwanda as well as a home to the BIG 5. It has a variety of wildlife such as lions, zebras, buffaloes, giraffes, rhinos, Topis, and primates such as velvet monkeys, black and white colobus monkeys, blue monkeys, and olive baboons among others.

This national park was named Akagera National Park after the river Akagera found on the eastern boundary and pours its water into different lakes including Lake Ihema being the largest located within the national park.

A 1-day trip to Akagera allows you to enjoy the beauty of wildlife in Rwanda in case you have a busy schedule, minimal money for a safari or you’re on a short visit to Rwanda and wouldn’t want to leave the country without visiting one of the famous destinations.

Itinerary overview

Transfer from Kigali to Akagera National Park, Game drive and Boat cruise then return to Kigali

Detailed Itinerary

A professional English-speaking driver guide will pick you up from Kigali at 4:30 am with a packed breakfast and you begin your 3-hour journey to the Eastern part of Rwanda through the magnificent landscape and the beautiful sceneries en route. On arrival at the Southern gate of the park at Kayonza, you will be given a short briefing after which you will be allowed to enter the park. You will have a short game drive to Lake Ihema where you will have a boat cruise that will start at 7:30 am. At the lake, you will meet a ranger guide who accompanies you through this activity. It allows you to explore the rich biodiversity of the national park by water and see water animals that you couldn’t see on a game drive. During the boat cruise, you will see a variety of animals such as crocodiles and so many hippos due to their large concentration in this place. Birds such as Africa’s most sought-for rare shoe bill stork will also be spotted.

After the boat cruise, you will find your driver guide and then proceed on a game drive that will take about 6 hours through the various trails within the park enjoying the rich wildlife and viewing various animals such as elephants, zebras, buffaloes, rhinos, Topis and many more others.  You are highly advised to go with a ranger guide for this activity for easier spotting of the animals since they always know the proper geography of the park. There will be a lunch break in between the game drive within the park after which you will proceed with the game drive. This game drive will come to a halt at the Northern gate in Nyagatare.

From this point, you will then continue with your journey back to Kigali from where you will proceed to your next destination enjoying the scenic drive through the land of a thousand hills.

Other activities that you could include on your to-do list for Akagera National Park are birding, fishing, hiking, guided nature walks, community visits, and the behind-the-scenes experience.

Inclusions

• 4×4 safari vehicle
• Professional English-speaking driver guide
• Meals
• Bottled water
• Game drive
• Boat cruise
• Ranger guide

Exclusions

• Tips
• Drinks and Cigarettes
• Visas and international flights
• Extra activities