2 Days Akagera National Park safari
- 4x4 Car Rental Rwanda
- 2 Days Akagera National Park safari
2 Days Akagera National Park
Akagera is the safari you don’t need a week for. Unlike every gorilla-trekking itinerary that starts with a border crossing and a multi-hour drive, Akagera sits barely two hours from Kigali, entirely inside Rwanda, with no permits to book months in advance and no passport stamps required. It’s also one of the few parks left in Africa where you can genuinely self-drive your own game viewing rather than being confined to a guided vehicle, across savanna, wetland, and lakeshore that now holds a full reintroduced Big Five. This is the itinerary for a weekend that still delivers lions, rhinos, and a proper boat safari, without the logistics of a full Uganda circuit.
Trip Highlights
- A genuine Big Five park lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo, and both black and white rhino, all reintroduced within the last decade
- One of Africa’s true self-drive parks, with well-marked trails you can navigate without a mandatory guide
- A scheduled Lake Ihema boat safari for hippos, crocodiles, and shoreline elephants
- An optional night game drive for hyena, leopard, and nocturnal bird species rarely seen by day
- Just a two-hour drive from Kigali each way no border crossing, no visa, no advance permit booking
Full Itinerary
Depart Kigali mid-morning for the roughly two-hour drive via Kayonza to Akagera's south gate. After registering your self-drive permit, spend the afternoon on a self-guided game drive through the southern savanna, watching for giraffes, zebras, buffalo, and the antelope species that make up the bulk of Akagera's plains game. Check into your accommodation inside or just outside the park in the late afternoon, with the option to add a night game drive after dinner for a chance at hyena and other nocturnal wildlife along the park's trails.
Start with an early scheduled boat safari on Lake Ihema, gliding past hippo pods, basking crocodiles, and elephants that come down to drink at the water's edge, along with prolific waterbirds along the reeds. Spend the late morning on a second self-drive loop toward the park's savanna and rocky outcrops, keeping an eye out for lion and rhino, before departing in the early afternoon for the drive back to Kigali, arriving by early evening.
What's Included
- Akagera National Park entrance and self-drive permit fees for the full visit
- 2-day self-drive 4×4 vehicle rental with unlimited mileage
- 1 night’s accommodation with bed-and-breakfast basis
- One scheduled Lake Ihema boat safari
- Kigali pickup and drop-off for the rental vehicle.
- Bottled drinking water in the vehicle throughout the trip.
What's Excluded
- Rwanda and Uganda visa fees, including the East Africa Tourist Visa where applicable
- Fuel for the self-drive vehicle
- Alcoholic beverages and other drinks beyond bottled water
- Personal travel insurance
- International or regional flights to and from Kigali
- Lunches and dinners (available for purchase at each accommodation or en route).