NATIONAL PARKS

WORLDS APART

AKAGERA NATIONAL PARK

Rwanda’s national parks don’t begin and end at Volcanoes. Looking for iconic wildlife, biodiversity, and unique cultural activities? Make sure you explore everything Rwanda has to offer.

The story of Akagera National Park is a remarkable one. The restoration of peace in Rwanda following the 1994 genocide saw refugees returning to Rwanda in huge numbers. As people turned to the forests for survival, deforestation began on a mass scale, and species including lions and rhinos were hunted to local extinction, to be replaced with cattle farms. As biodiversity declined, the impact was felt across Rwanda’s employment levels and tourism sector. All this changed in 2010, when the management of Akagera passed to the African Parks Organization, in partnership with the Rwanda Development Board (RDB). It was only a matter of time before the so-called ‘Big Five’ soon returned, so that Akagera now serves as a model for the potential of conservation efforts worldwide to regenerate seemingly-lost natural habitats. In 2017, the park celebrated the return of 18 eastern black rhinoceros after a 10-year absence, closely followed by the translocation of two new male lions to boost the diversity of Akagera’s growing pride, which has now tripled in size since their initial reintroduction in 2015. With the return of its wildlife, Akagera has regained its place as one of Rwanda’s top tourist attractions. From 8,000 visitors in 2010, the park welcomed 44,000 people in 2018, including more than 2,000 school children, teachers and local leaders as part of environmental education programs.

AKAGERA NATIONAL PARK LAKE KIVU KAYAK WITH KINGFISHER JOURNEYS

NYUNGWE NATIONAL PARK

For an alternative but equally-enthralling experience, why not try Rwanda’s newest national park? Located in Rwanda’s Ngororero and Rutsiro districts in the country’s Western province, roughly a three-hour drive from Kigali and near the impressive Lake Kivu, Gishwati-Mukura National Park occupies an rea of 13.7 square miles, playing host to an unmatched diversity of plant life, including over 60 species of trees. Comprised of both the Gishwati and Mukura forests, it is yet another park whose history is riven with tragedy. The area was occupied as a refuge in the mid-1990s for those escaping the brutality of Rwanda’s genocide. Farming, deforestation and illegal mining followed, but 2015 saw the passing of a law to instigate the region as a joint national park. Gishwati-Mukura was announced in 2016, with the aim of boosting Rwanda’s tourism industry. Today, it provides a home for a big number of Rwanda’s safari-wildlife species, but is particularly regarded for its wide variety of primate species. Sighting here include Chimpanzees, L’Hoest’s monkeys, blue monkeys, golden monkeys, white and black colobus monkeys. Avid birdwatchers also have the opportunity to spot up to 232 species of birds, among them Albertine Rift endemic species and forest specialists. Visitors to the park are also able to participate in a number of community-based activities, including a farm stay, live cultural dancing, handicraft-making, beekeeping, and tea and coffee experiences.

Other parks to visit in Rwanda include Nyungwe Forest National Park, and Volcanoes National Park. c