Game drives in Rwanda
Game drives in Rwanda take place in the country’s sole Savannah park, Akagera National Park. While on safari, game drives are the greatest way to see a large portion of the savannah national parks. Explore the park in a custom-made safari vehicle, such as a safari jeep, which is comfortable enough for the rough terrain. The game drives allow opportunity to see various animals, birds, and magnificent landscapes while relaxing in the comfort of custom-made safari vehicles
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Game Drives in Akagera National park
The Akagera National Park draws a considerable number of people who come mostly to go on game drives. The game drives in Akagera are separated into three sessions: a half-day game drive in the morning, an afternoon game drive, and a night game drive. Morning game drives are available from 6:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., afternoon drives are available from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m., and night drives are available from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Only the park’s southern half offers night game drives. Akagera Management Company(AMC) vehicles pick you up from your hotel and return you to your accommodation at the end of your night game drives.
Game drives in Akagera National Park are either half-day or full-day excursions. From 6:30 a.m. until 5 p.m., full-day game drives are offered. The park entry price includes a self-drive game drive, but if you prefer a guide from Akagera national park, you may pick one up before 9 a.m. at the Akagera reception and drop them off after 5 hours for a half-day game drive. If you pick up the guide after 9 a.m. and return them before midday, you will be charged the full-day rate. Guides picked up after noon will be charged the half-day rate as well.
Game viewing is best done in the mornings and evenings when the temperatures are cool and the animals are hungry. Entry fees must be paid by adults and children, as well as citizens and international residents. Children under the age of five are free to visit and participate in any activities at Akagera National Park. Your status must be proved to qualify for an exemption; otherwise, ordinary fees will apply.
The AMC-operates day game drives and they are priced as follows: the half-day game drive, a 5-hour tour with a driver guide, costs 180 USD, and the full-day game drive, with a maximum of seven people, costs 280 USD. The night game drive lasts two and a half hours and costs $40 USD for adults and $25 USD for children aged 6 to 12. The self-drive game drive in Akagera National Park is included in the park entry ticket; however, if you want an Akagera guide for a half-day (5-hour) game drive or a full-day game drive, you will have to pay 25 USD per guide.
About Akagera National Park
Rwanda may not be the best place in Africa for wildlife safaris, but Akagera should be on your list if you’re seeking a scenic trip in a beautiful wilderness setting. The big five — buffaloes, rhinos, leopards, lions, and elephants – are found in the park. Giraffes, zebras, and hippos are among the other wildlife in the park. The park is home to over 500 bird species that are seen during game drives and boat cruises.
Akagera National Park is located in eastern Rwanda and features spectacular landscape plains as well as many wildlife sightings during game drives. The game drives take place in the northern portion of the park due to the topography. However, animals may be seen throughout the park. The park encompasses Lake Ihema, providing the possibility for a boat safari. The park’s entrance is in the south, while the departure is through the northern gate. The park is one of the nearest wildlife parks to the country’s primary airport, Kigali International Airport, and is about a three-hour drive away.
Wildlife in Akagera National Park
Following the reintroduction of lions and rhinos, Akagera officially became a “Big Five” park in May 2017. It presently has robust lion, leopard, elephant, rhino, and buffalo populations, as well as zebra, giraffe, and hundreds of birds. Leopards and spotted hyenas were the park’s sole major predators prior to the reintroduction of lions. After the species was wiped out in the 1990s, a founding population of seven lions was reintroduced in 2015. In order to promote genetic variety, two more males were translocated to the park in 2017, and the park’s lion population has since quadrupled in size. Small predators abound, including the serval, the side-striped jackal, and various mongoose and viverrid species.
Primates
Vervet monkeys and Olive baboons are the common primate species in Akagera. Far more unusual is the elusive blue monkey, which was thought to be extinct in the area until recently.
Herbivores
The biggest mammals found in the park include elephants, rhinos, giraffes, and hippopotamuses. They join buffalo, topi, zebra, defassa waterbuck, the secretive roan antelope, and the majestic eland as naturally existing big plains game species. Duiker, oribi, reedbuck, klipspringer, bushbuck, and impala are examples of smaller herbivores. The endangered Masai giraffe was imported to Akagera from Kenya in 1986, and there are currently an estimated 78 in the park.
Elephants have always been in Akagera, but poachers drove them out until a small group of 26 individuals—all under the age of eight—were reintroduced in 1975. Since then, the population has increased to almost 100. The biennial airborne census in 2021 recorded 11,891 big animals, including 133 elephants, which had a 20% population increase from the 2019 aerial census. After a 10-year hiatus, 18 eastern black rhinoceros returned to Akagera—and Rwanda—in 2017. The first calves were born in 2018, and five translocated black rhinos from European zoos in June 2019 aimed to increase genetic variety. 30 Southern white rhinos were successfully translocated from Phinda Private Reserve to Akagera in collaboration with the RDB and andBeyond, in an aim to expand their range state and establish a species safe haven.
Other safari activities in Akagera National Park
Bird Watching
Akagera National Park in Rwanda is a well-known and significant birding site. Visitors to Akagera National Park will enjoy seeing both endangered bird species such as the shoebill stork and papyrus gonolek and more common species such as weavers, egrets, and different Kingfishers. Birding watching opportunities include game drives, nature walks with a ranger, and boat safaris on Lake Ihema. Birding on Lake Ihema allows you to view water species that you would not see on a Savannah grassland game drive. Overall, we suggest birding at Akagera National Park because of the variety and ease with which the species may be viewed.
Boat Tour on Lake Ihema
Exploring Akagera by boat is an exciting and thrilling adventure. The lake is located in the national park’s southern portion and is one of the park’s ten lakes. Lake Ihema has a surface area of around 90 square kilometers and a depth of approximately 5-7 meters. The lake’s eastern end borders Rwanda and Tanzania. The lake is fed by the famous River Kagera, which also feeds the bulk of the lakes in the national park. A boat excursion on Lake Ihema allows you to explore the lake’s numerous biodiversity. During a boat tour on Lake Ihema, visitors will see animals such as hippopotami and crocodiles. The lake is well known for having the most hippopotamus in East Africa. Among the various bird species that may be seen are the Papyrus Gonolek, sandpipers, malachite kingfisher, jacanas, herons, hawk, and the rare shoebill stork.
Cultural Encounters
Experience rural Rwandan life among the cattle herding towns near Akagera National Park. Traditional cow grazing, milking, and milk storage in calabashes for preservation may be observed and/or participated in. Participate in the cooking, utilizing some of the milk products’ ingredients. The locals that live around the park offer a genuine cultural experience, and it may complement their agricultural income. This eventually positively impacts the conservation  of culture as well as the park’s wild animals.
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