Rwanda Safari Tours
Gorillas, savannah game drives and forest primates: how to build a safari in a country you can cross in a day.
The Experience
A Rwanda Safari, Explained
A Rwanda safari is not one park. Most trips combine mountain gorillas or golden monkeys in the northwest, forest primates in Nyungwe, and a savannah game-drive stay in the east, all within a day's drive of each other. The savannah leg happens in Akagera, and it has its own page: see our Akagera safari tours for the park in detail.
Akagera National Park sits along Rwanda's eastern border with Tanzania, a landscape of open savannah, papyrus swamp and low acacia woodland that looks more like classic East African safari country than anywhere else in Rwanda. It's also a conservation success story: after decades of decline through the 1990s and 2000s, a partnership between Rwanda Development Board and African Parks rebuilt the ecosystem almost from scratch, reintroducing lions in 2015 and both black and white rhino in 2017 and 2019.
Today Akagera holds the full Big Five (lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo and rhino) across a park roughly a third the size of the Maasai Mara, meaning game drives cover more ground with fewer other vehicles in sight. Morning and evening game drives are the core of any Akagera visit, tracking predators along the park's network of tracks with an experienced ranger-guide; a boat safari on Lake Ihema adds hippo, crocodile and excellent birdlife to the day.
We typically build Akagera into a Rwanda itinerary as a two-day extension either before or after gorilla trekking. See our 2-day Akagera safari and 3-day Akagera safari itineraries, or compare every wildlife option on our Rwanda wildlife tours page or read the Akagera National Park guide.
Akagera National Park is Rwanda's only Big Five safari destination, located a 2.5-hour drive east of Kigali. Game drives run year-round with the best predator sightings during the dry seasons (June–September, December–February). Most visitors spend two nights, combining a sunrise game drive, an evening drive and a Lake Ihema boat safari.
What You'll See
Akagera's savannah and wetland habitats support over 12,000 large mammals, including sizeable herds of buffalo, zebra, giraffe, topi and impala, alongside the reintroduced lion and rhino populations. The park is also one of Africa's most rewarding birding destinations, with over 500 recorded species including the rare shoebill stork in its papyrus swamps, a major draw for our birdwatching tours.
When to Go
Dry season (June–September and December–February) concentrates wildlife around remaining water sources, making sightings more predictable. The wetter months bring dramatic green landscapes, migratory birds and noticeably fewer other vehicles, at the cost of muddier tracks in places.
Common Questions
Rwanda Safari FAQ
Can you see the Big Five in Rwanda?
Yes. Akagera National Park is Central Africa's only Big Five park, home to lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo and both black and white rhino following successful reintroduction programmes.
How many days do I need for an Akagera safari?
Two full days allows for a sunset and a sunrise game drive plus a boat trip on Lake Ihema. One day is possible as an add-on to a longer Rwanda itinerary but limits your wildlife sightings.
Is Akagera as good as Kenya or Tanzania for safari?
Akagera is smaller than the famous East African parks but offers comparable Big Five sightings with far fewer vehicles, making it a strong complement to gorilla trekking rather than a replacement for a dedicated Serengeti or Maasai Mara safari.
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