Akagera

Akagera National Park is the Largest and only Savannah Park in Rwanda bording Tanzania. It was established in 1934 and it covers an area of 1,222 square kilometers and consists of Savannah, woodlands, montane forests and swamps. The park has waterbodies such as River Kagera, Lake Shakani and Lake Ihema.

Akagera national park lost most of its animal population after the Rwanda genocide in 1994. Thousands of former refugees stormed the park and opened up farms while at the same time poisoning all the 300 hundred lions in the park then. 

As of today, the park has the big five Leopards, Elephants, Rhinos, Lions and Buffaloes. Also tourists can spot other animals such as zebras, impalas, oribi, bushbucks, elands, tsessebes, hippopotamus and crocodiles. Akagera National Park is one of the best places for birding in Rwanda. It has a great concentration of water birds which thrive on the park’s vast marshes and wetlands. 425 species of birds have been recorded including the shoebill stork and the papyrus gonolek

The success of tourism in the country has motivated the government and partners to fence off the entire park and build the necessary infrastructure required to support increasing visitors. For better service delivery, the government entered into a partnership with the Akagera Management Company (AMC) and the African Parks Network (APN) to manage the park while also helping raise funds for conservation and infrastructure developments.

Activities that you can do in the park; Game drives, bird watching, boat rides, sunset cruises.