Tourist Activities in Akagera National Park.
Akagera National Park is one of the remarkable conservation areas in Rwanda, situated in the eastern part of the country along the border with Tanzania. It’s the only country’s savannah national park famous for hosting the Big Five mammals and the best place to experience classic African wildlife safaris. It is the oldest park in the country, established in 1934, covering an area of about 1,122 square kilometers. It was named after the famous Akagera River, which feeds many lakes and wetlands that call this park home. It has a rich biodiversity that supports various tourist activities in Akagera National Park, including game drives, nature walks, sports fishing, birding, and boat cruises.
It has a mix of unique ecosystems, such as lakes, savannah grasslands, woodlands, and wetlands that support the park’s rich inhabitants. Akagera hosts up to 90 mammal species, including the big five elephants, leopards, lions, rhinos, and buffaloes, 480 bird species such as water birds, migratory birds, woodlands, and savannah bird species, amphibians, and reptiles. Travellers planning a safari in Rwanda, Akagera National Park, should add it to their bucket list.
Tourist Activities in Akagera National Park.
Boat Cruise.
A boat cruise is one of the top things to enjoy on your safari in Akagera National Park, which gives visitors an opportunity to explore Lake Ihema and its scenic views. Lake Ihema is the largest lake in the park, which is fed by the Akagera River. While on a boat cruise, visitors will have a chance to enjoy the breathtaking views of the lake and its surroundings. They will see various animals, such as schools of hippos swimming, which spend their day in the water and graze during the night, crocodiles will be relaxing in the sun, buffaloes, elephants, waterbucks, and statungas, among more, drawing water from the lake shores. Bird lovers will enjoy the beautiful songs and sounds of various water birds, including African Fish Eagle, Shoe bill, Goliath Heron, Purple Heron, Little Egret, Pied Kingfisher, Hamerkop, and Pink-backed Pelican, among others.
Bird Watching.
This is one of the best tourist activities in Akagera National Park that attracts ornithologists and bird enthusiasts to indulge themselves in the park’s unique bird species. The park is home to over 480 bird species, including migratory birds, water birds, savannah birds, woodland birds, and the park’s endemics. This is a guided activity led by an experienced park birder who gives more information about the bird species you might encounter. The bird species to encounter includes Secretary bird, Red-faced Barbet, Egyptian Goose, Osprey, White-faced Whistling-Duck, Fulvous Whistling-Duck, African Pygmy-Goose, Red-billed Duck, Garganey, Blue-billed Teal, Helmeted Guineafowl, Crested Francolin, Ring-necked Francolin, Shelley’s Francolin, Coqui Francolin, Hildebrandt’s Spurfowl, Blue Quail, Red-necked Spurfowl, Red-winged Francolin, Dusky Turtle-Dove, Speckled Pigeon, Mourning Collared-Dove, Ring-necked Dove, Emerald-spotted Wood-Dove, Blue-spotted Wood-Dove, Laughing Dove, Tambourine Dove, Red-eyed Dove, African Green-Pigeon, Denham’s Bustard, Black-bellied Bustard, White-crested Turaco, Ross’s Turaco, Purple-crested Turaco among others.
Game Drives.
These are the most exciting activities for travellers visiting the park, which allow them to explore the woodlands and the open savannah grasslands. These are guided activities led by a knowledgeable park guide who gives more insights about the wildlife and bird species. Visitors can do morning game drives, which are the best for active wildlife sightings, evening game drives, and night games, which let you spot nocturnal animals and birds like civets, lions, and bush babies under spotlights. Visitors will be able to spot various birds and animals, including lions, elephants, giraffes, buffaloes, zebras, rhinos, leopards, elands, oribis, blue monkeys, vervet monkeys, and birds like Red-faced Barbet, Egyptian Goose, Osprey, White-faced Whistling-Duck, Fulvous Whistling-Duck, African Pygmy-Goose, Red-billed Duck among others.
Nature Walks.
These are among the tourist activities in Akagera National Park that allow travellers to explore the park’s unique beautiful scenery, wildlife, and bird species on foot. These excursions are led by the park’s expert, who gives more insights about the park’s inhabitants they might encounter. There are gazette trails that are used for nature walk excursions. Visitors will have an opportunity to see various plants and tree species, animals like elands, giraffes, waterbucks, warthogs, vervet monkeys, blue monkeys, oribis, and others.
Where to stay in the Park.
Akagera National Park offers several eco-friendly accommodation options for travellers, which cater to all travellers’ budgets, from luxury accommodations to standard accommodations, all provide unique and memorable stays. If you are looking for luxury stays, consider Ruzizi Tented Lodge, Magashi Camp, Mid-range accommodations Akagera Game Lodge, Karenge Bush Camp, Akagera Transit Lodge and those looking for budget-friendly accommodations, look at Mutumba Campsite, Akagera Rhino Lodge, Muyumbu Campsite and Shakani Campsite.
