Activities in Akagera National Park
Activities in Akagera National Park are some of the ventures that travelers can engage in when they visit the park to make their tour more exciting and meaningful. Akagera National Park is famous for its big five animals, as it is the only park in Rwanda where all the big five animals can be seen in the same area and as part of the top 10 attractions in Rwanda Akagera should not be missed out on your Rwanda tour because it has a number of activities that can be carried out to ensure that you have amazing time while you visit Rwanda and among the activities that can make your safaris to Rwanda memorable include the following;
Boat cruise: The boat cruise is one of the activities in Akagera National Park that should not be missed out on because it will offer amazing experience while in the park.
In the park, there are a number of water bodies where boat cruises are carried out for example the lake Shakani, lake Ihema where you will see a number of attractions like the different bird species like African fish Eagle, the open billed stork, the egrets, cormorants, Senegal lapwings, African darter, Caruthers’s cisticola, pied crow, black-headed weaver, fan-tailed widow bird, violet’s black weaver, long crested Eagle and the beautiful shoe bill stork that is usually seen in the swamps of the park.
A number of animal species can also be seen like the elephants quenching their thirst from the lakes, hippos taking a dip, buffalos can also be seen crocodiles in the waters among other animal species.
Game drive: There are different game drives that can be carried out in the park which include the morning game drives and the nocturnal game drives all of which offer unique surprises and twists as you carry out the game drives. The early morning game drives will enable you to see a number of early risers like the zebras, cape bushbucks, elephants that can be seen grazing in the plains during the early morning game drives. This is the most done of all activities in Akagera National Park.
A number of animals can be missed out on but don’t worry you can see them in the night game drives where you will be able to see the different nocturnal animal species especially the ones that hunt for prey like the leopards and lions can be seen trying to get what to eat. The night game drives enable you to see the animals that you might have missed out on during the morning game drives. It should be noted that with the introduction of the 5 black rhinos in akagera it enabled.
Sportfishing: Lake Ihema and Lake Shakani are some of the water bodies in the park that sport fishing can be carried out to ensure that you have an amazing experience while on you Rwanda tour, ideally, the idea of sport fishing involves catch and release but among the places where sport fishing is carried out, Akagera National Park is quite different from other places, akagera national park stuff allows you to take a fish after participating in the activity this has increased an increase in the number of people participating in the activity as a result of the reward of taking fish.
Sportfishing can also be carried out during the boat safaris/ boat cruise as you drive around the lakes to see a number of attractions like a number of bird species, a number of animal species like the hippos that can be seen taking a dip in the water, crocodiles can be sunbathing or waiting on their prey.
Birding: Among the different areas where birding can be carried out in Rwanda, Akagera national park should not miss out on the list because of over 500 bird species that can be found in the area.
Birding in the park is one of the most exciting adventures that one can carry out and among the different bird species that can be seen include the water birds like the African Fish Eagle, the open billed stork, the egrets, cormorants, Senegal lapwings, African darter and other bird species like the Hamerkop, Caruthers’s cisticola, pied crow, black-headed weaver, fan-tailed widow bird, violet’s black weaver, long crested Eagle and a number of other bird species that can be seen.
Usually, in the park, there different bird species can be seen in the papyrus swamp of the park where you will find the shoe bill stork, on the shores of lakes Ihema and Shakani
Nature walks: Interested in having a relaxing trip while on your Rwanda tour, then Akagera National park is the destination to visit where you will participate in a number of activities including the nature walks which will give you the most relaxing vibe as you engage with nature. The nature walks are usually guided nature walks where you’re accompanied by a guide/ ranger to protect you while in the park in order to avoid any accidents as you walk around the park. Interesting in the guided nature walks you will have a chance to see a number of attractions like the different butterflies and bird species, the cool breeze from the different water bodies makes the park the right environment to take part in the relaxing trips.
Cultural encounters: Visit the Humure refugee village and the Inema crafts village in order to understand more about the culture of Rwanda and its people. The Humure cultural village tour will enable you to visit different homesteads where you will be taught how to prepare Rwanda cuisines you will be taught daily activities like making butter, milking cows which offer an authentic experience of the Rwandan culture where there will be cultural performances among other activities. The Inema crafts village, on the other hand, tells about Rwanda cultural through art, storytelling poetry which will offer amazing experiences while you go for the community visit around the park.
