Akagera National Park

The park is well maintained and protected by authorities, but wildlife was difficult to spot.

Visiting Akagera National Park was my third game drive in Africa, followed by game drives in Kenya and Tanzania.

Akagera National Park is highly monitored and protected by local authorities against poachers. I was also told a percentage of the park fees are administered to neighboring communities so as to provide some economic income and deter poaching.

I know every game drive is different, and a lot depends on what and how many animals you see. However, my game drive in Akagera was really disappointing. I hardly saw any wildlife- zero in the first half of the drive. I think this was largely due to the fact that most of the park had recently been burned to 'control wildfires'. If I had known most of the park was recently burned, I would not have elected to go on the game drive as
I am sure this scared off most of the wildlife.

I recommend not visiting Akagera from June-August as this is when the park is burned. In addition, there is no off-roading allowed in the park. So, if wildlife are not close to the main road, it will be vey difficult to see them.