Akagera National Park

Akagera is the Rwanda you do not expect: warm, low-lying plains of savannah, woodland and papyrus wetland stretched along a chain of lakes on the Tanzanian border. It is the country's only savannah park and the only place to see the Big Five.

Why visit

Managed with African Parks since 2010, Akagera has gone from a park that had lost its lions and rhinos to one where lions breed freely and eastern black rhinos have been reintroduced, protected by aerial patrols, a canine unit and dedicated rhino trackers. Elephant, buffalo, giraffe, zebra, hippo and crocodile are easy sightings; leopard and the lions take a little luck and an early start. An afternoon boat on Lake Ihema adds hippos at eye level and some of the best waterbirds in the country. Night drives, booked through the park, turn up the animals the daylight hides.

Getting there and getting around

The southern gate is about two and a half hours from Kigali on good tarmac, which makes Akagera the easiest big park to reach. Inside, you explore by vehicle — your own, or with a driver-guide — on tracks that run north through the park and exit at the northern gate. A pop-top safari Land Cruiser is the vehicle for it: everyone can stand to photograph, and the eastern tracks earn their two spare tyres. We can deliver the car to a lodge at the gate the night before so your first game drive starts at dawn, when the animals are still moving and the light is gold.

Practical notes

Park fees, the boat safari and a park guide are paid to the park and quoted separately once your dates are known. Lodges and tented camps inside the park book out in the dry seasons; we hold rooms at the ones we would stay in ourselves.

We would take the Safari Land Cruiser.