Akagera National Park
The 1250 sq.kms Akagera National Park is one of Africa’s most picturesque safari regions.
And whilst it cannot compete with the best parks in Kenya and Tanzania for quantities of game and quality of game viewing, the park is well worth a visit. Located in north-eastern Rwanda on the border with Tanzania, the park could scarcely be more different to the cultivated hills that characterise the rest of the country.
The landscape is dominated by a series of large lakes which spill out from the Kagera River and are surrounded by floodplains, acacia woodland and further back, rolling grassland hills.
Although not found in high concentrations, there is a wide range of species to be seen including re-introduced elephant, buffalo, lion, leopard, hyaena, giraffe, zebra, hippo, topi, eland, roan, sitatunga and oribi, and the lakes themselves are home to an impressive list of birds (over 500 species) including the rare shoebill and the papyrus gonolek. The regionally endemic red-faced barbet is also a sort-after species.