Guide to Game Safaris in Rwanda

Guide to Game Safaris in Rwanda: Rwanda, best known by most travelers for its breathtaking mountains and gorilla tracking, is also an ideal game-viewing country. The whole country is full of various and easily accessible ecosystems that provide the opportunity to observe the most different animals in their natural environment. Today, Rwanda’s parks and reserves an attractive like the more conventional safari holiday destinations. If it is the Big Five that you are dreaming of or rare bird species, Rwanda’s game safaris are a memorable experience.

Akagera National Park: Rwanda’s Premier Game Safari Destination

In as much as game safaris in Rwanda are concerned, Akagera National Park is undoubtedly the premier park. Located in the eastern region, Akagera is Rwanda’s only savanna national park measuring over 1,200 square kilometers. Other vegetation formations comprise of plateaus, prairies, forests, swamps, and the beautiful shores of Lake Ihema, which provide a perfect background on the samples of the various classes of animals.

The park has the big five which include lions, leopards, elephants, rhinoceros, and buffaloes. The park is also famous for its prolificacy of giraffes, zebra, hippos, and crocodiles, many different antelopes like eland, impala, and topi. During a game drive in Akagera, a traveler stands an opportunity to view these animals moving across the park’s beautiful grounds.

Apart from the standard game drives, there is also access to the park through water, in privately chartered boats on Lake Ihema. This is a home to hippos and crocodiles and there are many types of birds along the shoreline, so often used as a destination for bird watching. This park is home to over 480 bird species, among which are the shoebill storks, making it a front-liner park for bird-watching activities.

Game Drives in Akagera National Park

Safari activities in Akagera National Park can be done in the morning, evening, or at night at the park, particularly in the central and eastern parts of the park. The purpose of a day safari is to cover the largest number of animals as this tends to vary based on the time it is. There is nothing quite like going out for the morning Game drives when hunting big predators such as lions and leopards are more frequently observed, and the Afternoon Game drives are the most appropriate method of observing large browsers such as elephants, giraffes, and buffalos. Night drives afford an opportunity to see animals at night, such as hyenas, the bush baby, and various night birds.

Akagera has well-made roads that allow easy vehicular drive and tour guides also fill our tour by giving us explanations on the wildlife in the park and the habitats. Others include self-driving tours where visitors can organize their own tours to these parks in the stations.

The Second Time the Big Five Catches Our Eyes

Among the more recent encouraging activities in Akagera National Park is the successful revival of lions and black rhinos which makes the park part of the Big Five. These conservative measures have greatly boosted the tourism value of Akagera because tourists are now able to witness all five big species of fauna within a single park.

Habitat restoration through the translocation of these animals is a plan that has been implemented by the Akagera Management Company which is a joint venture between the Rwanda Development Board and African Parks. The company has also been instrumental in other species restocking in the park and thus makes Akagera a success story in wildlife conservation in Rwanda.

The two main characteristics of Akagera are that Akagera, in addition to featuring many large forests and rocky crags, has a large wetland system comprising Lake Ihema and other lakes and marshes. This offers a form of sampling that is quite distinct from the common savanna drive. A boat safari on Lake Ihema allows visitors to take a closer look at the resident hippos and crocodiles that sunbathe along the water’s edge. Wildlife also flourishes with bird life being common with many species of birds such as the African fish eagles, kingfishers, and the hard-to-find shoebill birds’ favorite feeding grounds being the edge of the lake.

These moving tours include;

Free roaming is allowed in other parks though for more enhanced experiences in Akagera National Park, walking safaris are offered. These walking safaris give tourists a chance to go through the park with the aim of seeing wildlife on a physical basis under the close supervision of a professional guide. Safari walking adventures allow greater biological immersion into the environment and provide unique ways of viewing small wildlife, plants, and bird species than a game-viewing drive.

Also, the park provides exclusive guided tours that cover behind-the-scenes tours discussing lion and rhino stocking, anti-poaching, and the operations of park rangers. Such experiences provide insight into the difficulties and achievements realized in wildlife conservation in Rwanda as well as give the visitor a new perspective towards the protection of the park’s habitat.

Nyungwe National Park:

Conversely to Akagera which is the reference destination for classic game safaris, Nyungwe National Park has a completely different type of wildlife encounters. It is one of the largest montane rainfall forests in East Africa, situated in southwest Rwanda, and is famous for its primate species and most diverse biological community. While not a conventional savanna tracking ground, Nyungwe Forest boasts of over thirteen (13) primate species among which include chimpanzees, different varieties of colobus, and the delightful golden monkeys – perfect ground for your primate tracking escapades.

Volcanoes National Park: Gorilla & Golden Monkey Tracking.

Another place that wildlife lovers should not miss is Volcanoes National Park in the northwest of Rwanda. Although not a game safari destination in the ordinary sense, Volcanoes National Park is famous for gorilla-tracking tourism. Gorillas live in the Virunga Mountains tangled in the clouds and experiencing them up close on a trek is one of the biggest attractions of the region.

Apart from gorilla tourism, tourists visiting the Volcanoes National Park can also indulge themselves in the golden monkey hiking. These funny animals are endemic to the Virunga region and can be found living on the bamboo at the feet of volcanoes. Golden monkeys are delightful to watch as they move from one tree to another, and this is an addition to gorilla watching experience.