Akagera National Park

Situated at a relatively low altitude on Rwanda’s eastern border with Tanzania, Akagera National Park could scarcely be more different in setting to the cultivated hills and dense forests that characterise much of the country.

Dominated by the labyrinth of swamps and lakes that follow the meandering course of the Akagera River, the most remote source of the Nile, this is archetypal African savannah landscape of acacia woodland interspersed with open grassland.

Akagera is big game country with herds of elephant and buffalo emerging from the woodland to drink at the lakes, whilst leopard, spotted hyena and lion are occasionally seen. Giraffe and zebra roam the park, and more than a dozen types of antelope are found here, most commonly impala and topi, but also the statuesque Cape eland, diminutive oribi and secretive bushbuck.

The picturesque lakes of Akagera are home to large pods of hippopotamus, while huge crocodiles soak up the sun with their vast jaws agape. Magically, the air is torn apart by the unforgettable high duetting of a pair of fish eagles, asserting their status as the avian monarchs of Africa’s waterways. Lining the lakes are some of the continent’s densest concentrations of waterbirds, while the connecting marshes are the haunt of the endangered and exquisite papyrus gonolek and the bizarre shoebill stork – the latter perhaps the most eagerly sought of all African birds.