Activities in Akagera National Park; Akagera National Park is a perfect safari destination that offers a unique combination of savannah, wetlands and mountain forests, with rich biodiversity of wildlife species. Visitors on their holiday safari here can experience a bucket of fabulous activities such as game drives, boat cruises and bush walks. The park is located in eastern Rwanda, covering an area of about 1,122sqaure kilometers along the international border with Tanzania.
More so, Akagera was established in 1934 as a national park that is comprised of savannah, montane and swamp habitats. Despite the fact, AKangera National Park is home to all of Africa’s ‘’big five’ ’lion, African leopard, African bush elephant, Rhinoceros and African buffalo.
While at visit in Akagera National Park visitors are able to participate in such remarkable activities; Boat raised, Day and night game drives, Fishing, Camping, Community cultural experiences Birding, Behind the scenes and walk the line among others, as they are explained below;
Game Drives in Akagera National Park
Akagera National Park is a perfect place to go for wildlife viewing in Rwanda, that gives a great reward of all the Big five animals. The park itself sits on land covering over 1,122 square kilometers that is habitat to more than 8,000 large wildlife animals including lions, rhinos, leopards and buffaloes. Other animal species visitors expect to see includes Burchell’s zebra, Giraffes, Antelopes, Impala, Topi, Sitatunga, Jackals and hyenas many more.
Recently, there has been an addition of 5 more black eastern rhinos in the park, which were transferred from the Czech Republic in Europe.
The night game drive in Akagera offers a great chance to see nocturnal animals such as leopards, lions, civets, hyenas, bush babies and serval cats among others.
Note; Night game drive in Akagera takes between 1 to 2 hours and cost 40USD per person. Then, day guided game drive goes at USD30 per person and best done in the early morning and late afternoon.
Boat tour in Akagera
Visitors in Akagera National Park looking to experience the beauty of its lake inside the park ‘Lake Ilema’ which is known as the second biggest lake in Rwanda. All you have to do is to take a boat trip along Lake Ihema where you can have a chance to sight see water animals like hippos and crocodiles.
Boat trips in Akagera National Park can be done four times a day, first session starts at 7:30 am ,9am and 4:30 pm respectively. However, the park has got also non-scheduled boat trips available in the park for visitors who wish to engage in private boat trips on the lake. Visitors on a boat trip in Akagera have high chances of spotting a number of bird species including the rare Shoebill stock.
Birding in Akagera National Park
Fact, Akagera National Park is home to birders paradise with over 500 species of birds. The park is home to residents and migratory bird species, birds to be spotted includes; White-brown coucal, Ring- necked francolin, Brown-chested lapwing, Carruthers’s cisticola, Grasshopper buzzard, Papyrus gonolek, Martial eagle, March tchagra, Marsh owl, Caspian plover, Denham’s bustard, Dimorphic egret, Double -toothed barbet, Eleonora’s falcon, Lesser moorhen, Crested barbet, Cardinal quelea as well as the most sought-after bird -shoebill stock mentioned but few.
Fishing in Akagera National Park
This is one of the most enjoyed activities in the park which takes place on the Lake Shakani, which is popular for its variety of fish species like Tilapia and catfish. Visitors can decide to spend a day relaxing and fishing along the lake shores and after enjoy your caught fish into snack food over an open bonfire at your campsite. It is advisable to carry your own equipment.
Those interested in doing fishing activities should contact management at Akagera National Park.
Hiking and Guided Nature walks
The park offers a great adventure of hiking and guided nature walks to the visitors. The hiking adventure gives visitors an opportunity to view a variety of flora and fauna species including insect, tree species, plant, butterfly as well as bird species.
Community Cultural Experience
This activity in Akagera offers to visitors a stunning a opportunity to explore the rich Rwandan culture and her people. Expect to learn about their amazing lifestyles, learn how to milk cows on a farm, and honey juice many more. The revenue collected from the community cultural tour -supports the communities which are visited by the tourists.
Behind the Scenes in Akagera National Park
This gorgeous experience in Akagera takes visitors through the park’s headquarters where you can get to meet the staff of Akagera National Park and also learn about an interesting conservation project in the park.
Walk the line hiking in Akagera national Park
Its amazing that Akagera allows its visitors to have chance to step in the shoes of its fence attendants. Take a walk with park guides which take 2 hours and the walking trails are secure and operational.
The walking experience begins at the park’s entrance and takes visitors through beautiful hills in the park, where visitors enjoy rewarding views of the endless plains of the park. All we recommend you is to have enough mineral water bottle to help you from hydrating.
Lastly, you can choose to combine Akagera activities with a visit to Masai Mara National Reserve Kenya for the great wildebeest migration events which tends to happen from July to Mid-October every year, or visit Volcanoes National Park for primate safari ‘’Gorilla Trekking Experience’’ among others.
Get started Now!
