Akagera National Park

Akagera National Park is approximately a two-hour drive from Rwanda’s capital, Kigali, so visits to the park can be done in a day trip. Akagera’s open plains are home to a range of wildlife including elephants, giraffe, buffalo, zebra and a variety of antelope species. In 2015, seven lions were released into the park, fitted with satellite collars to allow the park management to track their movements as they explored their new surroundings. Since then, the lion population has slowly increased which shows positive progression in the park.

Further from the plains, the Akagera River on the eastern boundary feeds into a number of lakes which forms an area of swamps and wetlands. Hippos and crocodiles can be seen on the river banks and for those interested in birds, this is a great place to see a variety of species that are endemic to this park only.

Although there is wildlife in Akagera, other national parks in East Africa definitely present a better opportunity for game viewing. For example, the Serengeti National Park in northern Tanzania offers an impressive safari experience alongside opportunity to see the Great Migration as they circulate the plains of the enormous park.

The weather that affects Akagera is similar to the rest of Rwanda with a short rainy period between October and December and the main rains arriving from March to May.

Normally a visit to Akagera is combined with a trek to visit the gorillas of Volcanoes National Park which is similarly best visited during the dray season between June and October and again between late December and March.

For more insights into the best times to travel please see the when to go section below.  

As much as AI has changed the way we all approach our lives, there is still no substitute for picking up the phone and having a chat through the options with one of us on +44 1525 840 149

This allows us to completely tailor the property choices, costs and itinerary length to your needs…but we also understand that this is not always possible with the busy lives we all lead.

With this in mind, we have also put together a safari finder tool that should help you to narrow down the initial stages at which point we can jump in to “round off the edges” as it were.

Alternatively please feel free to send us an email with your timings, group size and rough likes and dislikes and we can get the ball rolling.