Akagera National Park Rwanda
Akagera national park is located in the Eastern part of Rwanda along the frontier of the Neighboring Tanzania. The park was established in the 1934 to help protect and conserve the diverse fauna and flora commonly in the three (3) eco-regions the rolling hills of Acacia and Brachystegia Woodland, the sparsely distributed grassland and swamp-fringed Mountain. The famous Akagera Park got its name after the prominent Kagera River that flows along the frontiers of park supplying / feeding water to different water bodies mainly to Lake Ihema which is the second largest lake in Rwanda. Read More
Game drive; The park provides opportunities for rewarding game drive in its well-designed network of tracks, which take visitors through different vegetation zones alive with plenty of wildlife species like elephants, buffalo, zebra, bushbaby, hippos, crocodiles and many other mammal species. On rare occasions, one can see species such as leopard, lion and black rhino. As one of the most scenic savanna in East Africa, the game drive in Akagera offers chance to enjoy the views and sights of the gentle picturesque hills blending in beautifully lowland swamps and water bodies. A sunset departure for a guided night drive adventure is an ideal way to end your day and the best opportunity to see the much sought after nocturnal creatures found in the park
Bird watching; Akagera National Park after Nyungwe is the most significant ornithological site in Rwanda. Morning and evening bird safaris on the game tracks in Akagera National Park offers an excellent opportunity for birdwatchers to have an account of wide- selection of savanna bird species. This park is most popular for its richness in water birds in the East African region and one of the exceptional places to view papyrus endemics. Some of the common species on this birding watching safari are; black headed gonalek, heuglin’s robin-chat, crested barbet, the gorgeous lilac-breasted roller, grey hornbill, Ross’s turaco, and many more.
Short boat trips; AKagera national park surrounded with various Akagera’s lakes also gives room for short boat trip. This offers an opportunity to get close to the plentiful water birds including numerous African fish eagles, open-billed stork marabou stork, cormorants, crowned cranes, egrets and herons. On good day visitors may even get to see the elusive shoebill stork. Boat trips along the shores of Lake Ihema, Rwanda’s second largest lake, yield some great aquatic bird sightings and you can even fish on Lake Shakani.
Fishing; Lake Shakani is the site for the fishing activity; visitors to this park can spend relaxing day fishing off the lake shore and then cook their catch over an open fire at the campsite.
Behind the Scenes; Unusually, African Parks provides a chance to get a feel for the management of a national park on behind-the-scenes tours to their HQ and to meet the staff. Interestingly, because Rwanda is particularly strong on gender equality, Akagera National Park has many female guides, a rare breed on most African safaris. For more insight into Akagera, including conservation developments within the park, take a ‘Behind Scenes’ tour of the park headquarters and meet some of the people integral to the management of the park
Birds in Akagera national park; The park boasts of over 500 bird species and this has made it one of the sound birding destinations in Rwanda and the whole of East Africa. The different bird species are favored by diverse natural habitat which is found in Akagera Park. Akagera supports a mixture of acacia and papyrus species, including Red-faced Barbet, Bennett’s Woodpecker, Papyrus Gonolek, White-headed, Black and familiar Chats, Carruther’s and Tabora Cisticolas, White-winged and Broad-tailed Warblers and Miombo Wren-Warblers. In addition to the above include the African fish eagles, marabou stork, crowned cranes, cormorants and open-billed stork, herons and egrets among others. Read More
Fauna/Wildlife in Akagera national park; Akagera national park over the past recent years has experienced an increase in wildlife populations and the latest statistics approximated that the Park is now housing a total of 8,000 large wildlfe species. The range of wildlife in the park includes the rare plains species such as the Impala and Topi also called tsessebe in Southern Africa. The park also has other species like eland species, oribi, the Masai giraffe, bushbuck, Defassa waterbuck, reedbuck, sable and antelope. The commonly encountered species include the Burchall’s zebra, hippo, the crocodiles and buffalo with in park areas. The new perimeter fence that was completed in late 2013 was introduced/ initiated to help protect and guard the wild life from crossing to neighbor communities around the park. There are ongoing plans to reintroduce lions, Rhinos in the park so that the park becomes perfect home for all the big five animal species .Currently due to lack of many predators in the park, wild life is currently relaxed and hence giving room for easy viewing. Read More
Flora /Vegetation in Akagera national park; Akagera national park is blessed with exceptional levels of biodiversity, partly due to its convenient location at the confluence of various vegetation zones. The park is made up of Forest fringed lakes, savannah plains, papyrus swamps and rolling highlands. The extensive systems of freshwater lakes together with papyrus swamps, all combine to form the largest protected and conserved wetland in central Africa. Akagera National park is the only outstanding protected area with savannah vegetation in the land of thousand hills-Rwanda and this makes it to be the only refuge for savannah adapted plants and animals on a national scale. It complements the humid forests of Nyungwe National Park in the south of Rwanda and the afro-alpine habitats of Volcanoes National Park in the north. Read More
How to get to Akagera National park Rwanda
Akagera National Park is 120kms about 2-3 hour drive from Kigali and can be visited on a long day trip if you’re short of time.
The only entry to Akagera National Park is via Kiyonza Gate in the south, close to the Park Headquarters and Akagera’s best lodge. Nyungwe Gate in the north is currently only available to exit the Park.
Rwanda National Parks – Rwanda safari Destinations
The montane forest of Nyungwe is a rich habitat to common chimpanzees that are explored on chimpanzee safaris in Rwanda, the Black and white colobus monkeys, counts of bird species and remarkable flora. The Akagera National Park feature rolling savannah combretum which supports counts of wild game including the lions, the Buffaloes, elephants, giraffes, baboons, gazelles and zebra.
These parks contribute significantly to biodiversity conservation and national development through tourist revenue generation.
Volcanoes National Park Volcanoes National Park is most popular to many travellers as gorilla trekking destination in the picturesque Virunga Conservation Area and as the first African national park that was established in the year 1925 as the area covered by Virunga Volcanoes i.e. Mikeno, Karisimbi and Visoke volcanic peaks and a mountain gorilla’s natural sanctuary. Read More
Nyungwe Forest National Park Conveniently located in the resplendent hills of southwestern Rwanda, Nyungwe Forest National Park is bordering Democratic Republic of Congo on the west and Burundi on the southern part with Lake Kivu. The park is the only one in the Central and East Africa with enormous Montane forest. Its strategic location in the watershed between the basin of the river Congo on the western part of the park and the basin of the river Nile on the eastern section makes the forest to be one of the fabulous sources of the famous Nile suited on the eastern part of park. Read More
Akagera National Park Akagera national park is located in the Eastern part of Rwanda along the frontier of the Neighboring Tanzania. The park was established in the 1934 to help protect and conserve the diverse fauna and flora commonly in the three (3) eco-regions the rolling hills of Acacia and Brachystegia Woodland, the sparsely distributed grassland and swamp-fringed Mountain. The famous Akagera Park got its name after the prominent Kagera River that flows along the frontiers of park supplying / feeding water to different water bodies mainly to Lake Ihema which is the second largest lake in Rwanda. Read More
Rwanda Gorilla Safari Tours – Rwanda Gorilla Trekking Safaris
We offer Rwanda Gorilla safaris & tours (Rwanda Gorilla Safari Tours) such as tailored Rwanda gorilla safaris & tours featuring gorilla trekking in Rwanda`s Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda primates, wildlife safari plus Rwanda cultural encounters. Customise your Rwanda Gorilla safari tour now and enjoy the true African Safari experience. Rwanda dubbed the land of a thousand hills is one of the Countries in Africa offering the life time gorilla safari experiences that can never be got anywhere else in the world. Naturally gifted with the super natural sceneries of the rolling winding hills as well as the lush green country side occupied by the beautiful and hospitable Rwanda citizens, Rwanda’s endangered Mountain Gorillas thrive in the Volcanoes national which is dotted with the Virunga massifs. Read More
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Long Rwanda Gorilla Safari Tours – Long Rwanda Gorilla Trekking Safaris
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Akagera National Park consists of a total area of 1,200km² and it is one of the ancient and oldest national parks in the great Africa Continent. The northern section of the park is commonly occupied /covered by fairly savannah plains and the low-lying grasslands which combine to constitute the park indistinguishable from other traditional/ancient safari destinations of East African region. On the western section or part of the park, it’s en-compassed with rolling hills and valleys while the eastern side supplies and feeds arrange of papyrus swamps, marshes and lakes that constitute the vast protected wetlands in the east and central Africa.