Akagera National Park Safari: Big Five and Boat Tour

27 Ratings

Kigali

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Embark on a thrilling day trip safari to Akagera National Park, an off-the-beaten-path Big Five destination in East Africa. Explore the park’s diverse wildlife and enjoy an optional boat safari at Lake Ihema.

Duration: 10 hours, 12 minutes

Cancellation: 24 hours

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Highlights

Kigali - Depart from your hotel at 5:00 AM and journey through Rwanda’s stunning, cultivated hills, reaching Akagera National Park by 8:00 AM.
Lake Ihema - Opt for a Boat Safari on Lake Ihema, gliding along the forest-edged waters amidst hippos lounging and Nile crocodiles on the hunt for breakfast. The lake is a haven for bird enthusiasts,…

What's Included

Customized safari vehicle with pop-up roof for game viewing
Convenient pick-up and drop-off in Kigali
Complimentary bottled water per person

What's Not Included

Akagera Park Entrance Fee 100 USD Per Person (Offered by the Government)
Optional Lake Ihema 1 Hour Boat Safari 35 USD Per Person
Lunch 5 - 20 USD - Kindly Discuss/Request guide for Options
Items and Services of Personal Nature

Additional Information

This tour offers a visit to Akagera National Park, a Big Five destination gaining recognition as one of the top off-the-beaten-path safari parks. Its absence of large tourist crowds distinguishes it from other East African destinations, and the opportunity to partake in an optional boat safari on Lake Ihema (provided by the government) adds to its…

Location

Kigali

Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings

4.4

(27 Ratings)

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Gracerx3165kd

Dec 31, 2024

Great Experience! - The tour was great! Our guide clearly knew the park well and mentioned that he mentally takes notes on animal locations so that he knows where to take tours the next day. The boat tour was great! The boat tour was run by the national park itself and not this tour vendor, so you should ignore the weird review complaining about the boat. I thought it was very professional and, like I said, it was run by the park so any tour group you pick will have the same boat experience at this national park.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

N0vexa

May 3, 2024

Spectacular Sunset Cruise - The boat trip was throughly enjoyable. We had a great guide with Mr Emmanuel who took us around and showed us the wildlife. From baby crocodiles, to lurking hippos, bush bucks and all sorts of birds, we indeed got a taste of the Lake’s wildlife. Taking the sunset cruise was also a good idea, only if you are staying over.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Cjdamico

Aug 14, 2023

Day trip Safari - Both our tour operator (Simon), and our tour guide/driver (Bosco) were fantastic and very enthusiastic in helping us enjoy this day experience. I recommend this tour highly!!!

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Maureen_g

Jul 26, 2023

Wild Animals in their natural habitat - unbeatable! - We most enjoyed our tour guide, Erath (Ilat? sp), who was extremely knowledgeable every part of the trip. He was a good driver on the extremely bumpy roads and we had a lot of laughs. We would like to extend to him our appreciation (we were with him on Monday, the 24th Maureen Gosling and Maxine Downs, and he picked us up at the Marriot Hotel and dropped us at our airbnb in the evening. We saw a wide variety of animals, though not usually in big numbers - but it might have been the hour of the day or this dry season.

Review provided by Viator

Carol_c

Jul 24, 2023

The best way to spend a day! - We saw 3 of the big 5. Our guide Issa was amazing! This day trip surpassed our expectations, thank you!! Antelope, Giraffe, Rhino, Zebra, Buffalo, Monkey, Hippo, Baboon, Elephant, and many birds including the African Fish Eagle!

Review provided by Viator

Crys

Jul 10, 2023

Awesome time! - This was an awesome experience with a great tour guide. We were able to see the majority of the animals on our list. The lions were hiding out the day we went to the park. My 12 and 4 year old had a great time watching the animals in their natural habitat. I would highly recommend this tour for families. Might be a bit overwhelming for children under 4. Bring snacks and cold water!

Review provided by Viator

Wei_q

May 8, 2023

Fantastic Trip - I had a fantastic trip to this park. I saw a lot of animals there. We booked a 7-adult ticket. The car is a land cruiser, which is very big and cosy. The driver is very polite and patient. I really like talking with Rwanda people as they are polite and nice. I would like to have a second trip to this park. Sea you again in Rwanda.

Review provided by Viator

Relax24143956232

Jan 31, 2025

5 strikes and you're out - I am glad that I took this safari. I only had one day and this fit the bill and I got some good pictures. The guide I had was an outstanding driver and and very good guide. There were a number of issues that would not make use this organization again: Here they are: 1. I had some time limitation on my trip and needed to be back in Kigali by ~ 5pm. I was not told that the normal day safari would have me back in Kigali at 8-9 pm, so missing 4-5 hr of what they normally would provide, which meant that I would not have time to go to a particular part of the park to see more animals 2. I asked about an earlier pickup but no response from the company and yet the driver (who was not informed about my time limit) suggested that we should have arranged an earlier pickup! 3. I was told that I would be going on safari with a modern vehicle. The vehicle was not very up to date and most annoyingly, the popup roof was defective so I had to take all my pictures from the passenger side window. Because I could not take any pictures straight in front of the vehicle, I missed several great opportunities to get some great shots of animals right in front of us. 4. The car made some high pitched squeals intermittently which would have scared off any animals near by. 5. Akagara park is beautiful and lush, but 50% of the roads that we were on had no visibility past 10 ft on either side of the vehicle because of trees and thick underbrush. If there were animals there, you wouldn't see them.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

632yaeln

Mar 2, 2024

Worst experience in the boat ride! - The boat was over loaded with people, we had 20 people on our boat. The ride is moving very fast, you barely have a chance to take pictures. We left w 2 boats ( overloaded with people one guided) and when we got to the island with wild animals like crocodiles the other boat stuck underground. We tried to rescued them but it was impossible to move the boat specially when it overloaded with people and only one guide un knowledge in the boat. All the passengers tried to help and even Ofer to get out and push the boat, but it was too risky. My husband is license’s captain and suggested to bring back the passengers safely to shore and go back to rescued the other boat. My suggestion are: 1. Don’t overload the boat with passengers, instead provide 2 guides in the boat. 2. Provide more often the boat ride 3. Make sure you have the proper robe or line in the boat. I didn’t feel safe in the boat, and I set in the first row in the front and my camera got wet, in the first 10 minutes of the ride. Make sure to have water proof to your camera. I know everybody recommended Sunrise ride But I’m my opinion it’s more darker for the pictures and in tropical weather, most likely it will rain.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Jul 23, 2023

Guide never showed up - The guide “Issa” never showed up, we had a local person call him on his local line since he never answered via WhatsApp. He was asleep, said the tour operator never sent him money for gas and asked US to pay his fuel. This is the most unprofessional experience we have ever had with trip advisor and this ruined our trip. Today was the last possible day to do this since we are flying out and now we missed out on this safari experience. Expedition happy hour was the trip advisor operator and the guide’s company is “magazine tours”. I would recommend against ever using either one.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Check Availability

From $98

up to 7 guests

1 - Adult