GUIDE ON AKAGERA NATIONAL PARK IN RWANDA

Travel Planning Guide For Akagera Park

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Alluring, breathtakingly beautiful, inspiring, stunning, tranquil, and resilient: wilderness vacationers use these adjectives and more to describe not just Akagera National Park, but also the wonderful spirit of the country in which it is found, Rwanda. Situated along the northeastern border with Tanzania, the reserve was created in 1934 and originally covered an area of more than 2500 square kilometers, or close to 10% of the total area of the country. Today, however, it encompasses only 1122 square kilometers. The park is named for the Kagera River, which runs along the eastern border of the park and spreads its life-giving waters through it, feeding Lake Ihema and Lake Shakani thus keeping the land fertile.

At the time of the park’s inception, intrepid travelers marveled at the incredible diversity of wildlife it hosted, including the Big Five of Africa. Its landscape reflects the diversity of the multifaceted wilderness of Rwanda, which includes sprawling golden grass savannahs, rolling hills, lakes nestled within lush forests of acacia and brachystegia, and wetlands filled with papyrus reeds, the largest wetland area under protection in central Africa. Today, safari visitors touring this region are once again able to view Rwanda’s splendor and beauty with a visit to Akagera.

Over the years since the park’s creation, colonialism and unrest took their toll on the country. The park suffered from poaching and illegal hunting to protect domestic animals, which led to its once thriving populations of lions, rhinos, elephants, and other species being wiped out. While the country limped back from the horror of genocide in the 1990s, its people extended the effort to rebuild their lives and country to rejuvenating Akagera.

Although a large section of the park’s former holdings had to be reallocated to returning refugees for conversion into farmland, there were also massive conservation efforts to restore the park’s lost wildlife. Intrepid holidaymakers on safari can once again revel in the sight of magnificent lions, grand pachyderms, and stalwart Maasai giraffes, among the many other species that live in the park. In 2017, conservation efforts were made to bring back the black rhino, once again, thus redeeming the only one of its kind park in Rwanda to host the Big Five (best time to visit Akagera).

The park is famous for the rare and elusive sitatunga, a species of antelope that inhabits the swamps, and the shoebill stork, a peculiar marsh bird. In addition to lions, predators that may be glimpsed in the park include the hyena, side-striped jackal, leopard, and mongoose. Among herbivores, duikers, elands, zebras, waterbucks, roan antelopes, and many more roam the land.

In 2009 the Akagera Management Company, or AMC, was instituted as a result of collaboration on conservation and preservation efforts between the African Parks Network and the Rwandan Development Board. Thanks to their joint activities, people who live around the park are being educated on how tourism can become a viable source of livelihood for their communities. Local people are now learning to develop a cooperative existence with the park denizens.

Many young Rwandans are signing up as rangers to patrol and build fences to protect the park from poaching, while others work as guides to take guests on safari trips around Akagera. With in-depth knowledge of the park, they introduce visitors to the spectacular wildlife, which includes an astounding 520-plus species of birds and more than 8,000 large mammals. Women who learn to sew and create hand-woven baskets now craft fabulous souvenirs for guests to purchase at the Akagera Park store on their way out.