Akagera National Park

Akagera National Park has established itself as a destination on the rise – Rwanda’s only Big 5 park and one of the premier safari choices on the continent.

The 1,122km2 (112,200 hectares) Akagera is situated on the eastern edge of Rwanda, where the sinuous bends of the Akagera River mark the boundary with Tanzania. The park's south has more water and dense vegetation, and the north has more open areas.

The national park safeguards Central Africa’s largest protected wetland, a complex system of lakes linked by papyrus-lined swamps. Away from the marshes, jagged lines of animal pathways weave across vast plains and sweeping highlands like a network of veins, a testament to Akagera’s status as a paradise for wildlife.

Visitors to Akagera search for the Big 5 - rhino (black & white), elephant, lion, leopard and buffalo. Also present are Maasai giraffe, hyena, defassa waterbuck, zebra, topi, impala, roan, klipspringer, bushbuck, common duiker, eland, oribi, bohor reedbuck, hippopotamus, crocodile, warthog, African bushpig and kudu.

Smaller species include side-striped jackal, honey badger, serval, aardvark, pangolin, olive baboon, vervet and blue monkeys and several species of mongoose.

Akagera hosts 478 bird species - including shoebill, red-faced barbet, ring-necked francolin, papyrus gonolek, grasshopper buzzard, Tabora and Carruthers' cisticolas, white-crested turaco and northern brown-throated weaver.

African Parks has managed Akagera in collaboration with the Rwanda Development Board since 2010.

At that time, the park was a depleted landscape overrun by more than 30,000 cattle and little sign of wildlife. Effective law enforcement, strong community engagement and wildlife reintroductions were the foundation for rehabilitation. Today, Akagera continues to provide for the 300,000 people living around its boundaries, directly benefitting from its existence.

Akagera is now a flourishing Big 5 safari destination for Rwandans and international tourists.