From Singapore to Rwanda: Safari on a budget
Although Akagera National Park may not be as popular as Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park or Kenya’s Masai Mara National Reserve, it is a cheaper option for intrepid visitors.
By Bryan Kow
A muddied Toyota land cruiser bumps along the hilly gravel road behind a troop of baboons. Zebras and topis graze along the woodlands. A hippopotamus lumbers into the lake and basks in the sun as oxpeckers cling to its back.
Along an open plain, several land rovers come to a standstill as tourists marvel at a pride of lionesses lazing under a tree. I was among those tourists who stood in awe at this sight.
Wildlife documentaries have always fascinated me, so seeing these majestic animals in the flesh at the Akagera National Park was quite the experience.
Akagera, two hours from Rwanda’s capital city, Kigali, is home to various wildlife, including the “Big Five”: lions, rhinoceroses, buffaloes, elephants, and leopards.
The park, which covers an area of 1,122 sq km, is smaller than its neighbouring competitors. For instance, Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park is 14,763 sq km large — about 20 times the size of Singapore.
Despite Akagera’s size, it is a viable wildlife safari option for time-strapped travellers or those on a budget. The Rwandan government has invested heavily in the park as it seeks to grab a larger slice of the safari tourism pie.
Before these improvements to Akagera, the park had a tumultuous past.
The park was established in 1934 by the Belgian colonial government to protect wildlife.
In 1994, after the genocide against the Tutsis, returning refugees and their cattle resettled within the park, according to the park’s website. Conflicts ensued as wildlife animals destroyed crops and competed with cattle for grazing grounds.
By the early 2000s, lions were hunted to extinction as they were a threat to the cattle and people living in Akagera.
Meanwhile, black rhinoceroses were poached for their horns and last seen in the park in 2007.
Faced with depleting wildlife, the Rwanda Development Board inked a 20-year partnership with African Parks in 2010 to restore and manage Akagera.
Since then, seven lions and over 20 eastern black rhinoceroses have been added. In addition, 30 southern white rhinoceroses were translocated from South Africa to the park in 2021.
The African Parks website said the current population of lions has grown to 58 after the birth of several litters.
The growth of the wildlife population has also bolstered Akagera’s fortunes. A 2022 annual report by African Parks, a non-profit organisation focused on conservation, said the park earned a record tourism revenue of US$3.8 million (S$5.1 million), up from US$2.5 million in 2019.
During my visit to the park, a one-day guided game drive package for two — in an open-sided safari vehicle — cost US$644. The park is situated in eastern Rwanda along the border of Tanzania.
“Tourists with a lot of money will go and see the gorillas. Those with less go to Akagera,” said my tour guide, Justin Ngabo, 41.
The mountain gorillas are found in Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda’s top wildlife attraction. A trip to see the gorillas can cost north of US$1,500.
Ngabo, who works at Hermosa Life Travels and Tours, said the agency also offers tours to the safaris in Kenya and Tanzania. Such tour packages run seven to 10 days long and cost upwards of US$6,000 for two. There are no one-day tours as a day trip is too short to fully explore these safaris.
Unlike in Kenya’s Masai Mara National Reserve and the Serengeti National Park, the Great Migration of millions of wildebeest and herd animals does not occur here.
Instead, tour guide Vianney Nyamugungira, 38, said water makes up a third of the park, which has 10 lakes.
“This means you get to see more crocodiles and hippopotamuses compared to other parks.”
Along the lake, we also came across storks and herons looking for prey.
It took a 15-minute drive from the park’s entrance before we encountered our first animal—a long-crested eagle perched on a tree. Later, we saw impalas, giraffes, and waterbucks.
Still, spotting these animals during the game drive was difficult due to the terrain. Dense vegetation and undulating hills made for pretty scenery but hid the wildlife from plain sight.
A WhatsApp chat among the tour guides alerts them to animal sightings, said Ngabo. During the trip, he would head to the locations where some of the “Big Five” were last spotted.
Ngabo drove us to the northern end of the park in search of an elephant. But we only caught a glimpse of the elephant’s silhouette as the rest of its body was hidden by the thick foliage.
In comparison, the Serengeti National Park features open savannahs and rivers that enable visitors to see the animals easily.
Nigerian businessman Muyiwa Anyanwu, 44, was on his second African safari, the first being to Kenya’s Nairobi National Park.
He said: “The topography in Kenya is different. There was more flat land, maybe about 70 to 80 per cent of the park.
“There were already animals at the start of the safari, but here, I only saw them after driving for 10 minutes.”
Besides an array of wildlife, the park has several food and lodging options for visitors. While most make a day trip to the park, some visitors opt to spend a few days trying out boat tours, fishing and walking safari tours.
I spent six hours at the park and saw most of the attractions before returning to my accommodation in Kigali by dinner, refreshed by the brief respite from the bustle of the city.
In a saturated safari tourism market, Akagera offers visitors the chance to see the “Big Five” at a fraction of the cost of other popular African destinations.
The park certainly did not disappoint, especially for a first-time safari goer like myself.
The writer is a final-year communication studies student at the Nanyang Technological University’s Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information. The report is produced as part of the school’s Going Overseas for Advanced Reporting (Go-Far) programme.
How to get to Akagera National Park from Singapore
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