Visiting Akagera National Park

If you do not have six hundred dollars to spend on a safari package from one of the agencies in town, and/or if you do not have access to a private 4WD vehicle, visiting Akagera National Park may be more hassle than it is worth.

Private Vehicle Owners are Winners

The drive to the park from Kigali is two and one half hours. If you are entering the park at the southern end, the first hour and a half - from Kigali to Kayonza to Kabarongo - is on tarmac roads. The final stretch to the main park entrance near the lodge is 27 km further down a passable but bumpy dirt road.

There is no petrol inside the park, so come prepared. The lodge recommends that you fuel up in Kayonza because there are sometimes shortages at the station in Kabarondo. We filled our reasonably fuel-efficient car up to the brim in Kayonza and were fine for one two-hour game drive and one five-hour game drive plus the trip home to Kigali. If you have a gas-guzzler, you may want to consider bringing along an extra jerry can of fuel if you want to drive more than three times and then exit the park at the northern boundary. Supposedly there is access to fuel when you exit at the top, but it all depends on how prepared you want to be.

Most importantly, make sure your car is suitable for the terrain. Both the northern and southern roads into/out of the park are passable for a normal car with reasonably high clearance, but once you enter the park the terrain is more severe. The roads are alternately rocky, bumpy, or steep. We drove during the dry season, so we did not need the four-wheel drive function; but I could see the spots of road in which a 4WD would have been necessary if it was raining. A true SUV would be an ideal ride, as even our car/SUV hybrid bottomed out a few times on steep or rocky slopes or was scraped underneath by the termite mounds jutting up in the center of the road.

Park Public Transport (or Lack Thereof)

We were lucky enough to travel with someone who had a 4WD vehicle, but I asked the park staff about using public transport to travel the same route. The replies painted a dismal picture. Minibuses run from Kigali to Kayonza, and from Kayonza to Kibungo. This is where the good news ends. Sixteen kilometers south of Kayonza, when you have to turn left toward Akagera and leave the tarmac road, the minibus supply dries up. The Bradt Guide explains, "Any minibus-taxi traveling between Kayonza and Kibungo can drop you at the junction, from where the only realistic option is a motorbike-taxi (assuming you can find one)."

On the dirt road, we did pass several motorbikes, but only four or five in one hour. Therefore I conclude that finding one may be a daunting task. If you have any accumulation of luggage or camping gear, a moto is an inconvenient option anyway. Plus, the roads were bumpy and dusty enough in a car, and I cannot imagine that riding on a motorcycle would be pleasant.

If you manage, scraping and clawing, to be dumped off at the park gate (for motorcycles are not allowed in the park), your crusade does not end. No walking, with or without a guide, is permitted. And... the finale... there is no vehicle available to hire for game drives anywhere in the park. It's B.Y.O. SUV at Akagera. In sum, if you do manage to make the trek to the entrance, you won't be able to leave the Game Lodge - assuming you get a ride from the gate to the lodge, that is.

Entrance Fees

Figuring out how much you owe the front gate takes a while because there is a complex system of fee-charging. It all depends on where you live, what you want to do, and how long you want to stay. After much wrangling, I paid $40 total: $30 for a two-day game driving permit and a $10 one time park entry fee. This was somehow portrayed to me as a bargain, but I had my doubts. Then we had to pay another fee, around $8, to take our car into the park, which struck me as highway robbery seeing as neither the park nor the lodge provides any alternative way to tour the park. Boat rides and fishing are expensive additional activities.

Take a Guide

The only thing the park provides nearly free of charge is a guide. You are not required to hire one, but it is strongly recommended. If nothing else, the guides carry radio in case of emergency or vehicular trouble. Ours was polite and helpful, especially in navigating some tricky terrain and bird-watching. He did not have an in-depth bank of environmental knowledge with which to be chatty, but it was still useful to have him along. Tipping your guide is expected, as is money for his moto transport back to the southern gate if you exit the park up near the Ugandan border because there is no other way back.

The Barren Frontier of Lodging

You have two extremely different options for staying overnight in Akagera. You can either by your own equipment and camp, or you can stay at the Game Lodge. Camping is $10 per person (not $3 like it says in the Bradt guidebook), and basic toilet facilities are provided at campsites. The sites we saw looked a little spartan, though - you have to bring your own drinking and cooking water and firewood. The park is quite empty, so don't expect to make new friends with your campsite neighbors. Our guide recommended the campsites at higher elevations because in the lowlands near Lake Ihema an elephant named Mutwale has been known to ransack human enclaves for food (see TRAVELOGUE).

If you are not set up to car camp, your only other option is to stay at the Akagera Game Lodge. The park staff may suggest that you can stay at other hotels in nearby towns, but in my estimation they are all too far away to be convenient. The Game Lodge is certainly convenient, but it is not a good value. Like any true monopoly, the rates were twice what they should be, and the service left a lot to be desired. For example, our rooms were only half cleaned when the staff showed us in, and then we had to twist arms to get the screens on our windows repaired because they were badly ripped. Gradually, I realized that there was a disconnect between the front desk staff and the rest of the staff, as the former would tell us one thing and the latter would tell us, or do, several different things.

Unfortunately, there was no isolated incident to forgive, as we encountered several conundrums during our short stay. One illustration reared its ugly head before dinner. The front desk explained that there was a pre-fix dinner menu or an a la carte menu from which to choose. When we sat down, however, we were informed that there was no a la carte menu. We were stuck with an overpriced package deal. It was tasty; but the vague sensation that comes with having no choice floated in my head: we got lucky. On a related note, breakfast was vastly enjoyable. It was a wonderful buffet of rolls, fruit, cereal, and custom made omelets.

I wish that the Lodge had more character. It is a modern place more reminiscent of a Holiday Inn than a real game lodge, with a bustling atmosphere that doesn't allow you to enjoy the natural scenery. The rooms were comfortable and the setting is not unpleasant; but I expected my experience there to be less stressful and more nature-oriented (with the notable exception of the baboons - see TRAVELOGUE). Any hotel situated around a pool instead of a watering hole is more oriented towards people than animals.

Come if You Can

Akagera can best be described as a selected experience. I will admit that I enjoyed myself - it is extremely difficult for me to be unhappy in beautiful wild places. Yet my felicity was tempered by the realization that very few travelers would be able to have the same experience. The park's biggest drawback is that many visitors, and especially tourists, have no way of transporting themselves to and around the park. Those that do might not mind staying at the Game Lodge; but for those of us with a tighter purse and/or a desire for unique travel experiences, the lodge does not satisfy. This trip is probably the most pleasurable for people who are in Rwanda for a longer stay and are willing to shell out for a change of scenery.

Travel to Kibuye: A Note from a Helpful Reader

A veteran Kibuye traveler wrote me and said that if you're willing to get up early, it is possible to take Iposita (Post Office) transit service from Kigali to Kibuye. I am grateful for the information and will look into it for my next trip.

Traveling from Kigali to Kibuye

If at all possible, avoid taking a mini-bus to Kibuye. Depending on your budget, however, this may not be possible. Alternatively, you can try to hitch a ride or spend the money to hire a private car. The latter option is easy - and well worth it - if you are part of a group of 4 or more, or if you can pool your resources with other travelers who have the same plans.

If you must take a mini-bus, I would brush up on the following French phrases: a) a request for the driver to slow down, b) ditto to pay attention, and c) ditto to prioritize the safety of the passengers over arriving fifteen minutes faster. Also try to avoid sitting in the back row, as you get whipped around.

We took an Okapi Travel and Tours mini-bus. Avoid them. Okapi and Atracao are two examples of 'private' mini-taxi companies. Okapi vans are newer than public buses and may be less crowded, but the same mentality exists: a speedy trip is a successful trip - at the expense of safety and comfort. These vans are not equipped to handle either the roads or the weather conditions (see TRAVELOGUE).

Unfortunately, there are very few vehicle options to travel out of Kigali, and this situation must be improved for tourism to increase. The Volcano buses to Butare are tolerable rides, but we don't recommend any other out of town transport companies right now. There are big green government buses, but we haven't taken one yet. It is difficult to judge if their larger size will make a trip through the mountains safer or more nerve-wracking.

Traveling to the National Museum of Rwanda in Butare

The National Museum of Rwanda in Butare is beautiful, informative, and sophisticated (see TRAVELOGUE). The displays are only in French and Kinyarwanda, but we received a gracious English-speaking guide when we asked for one. The museum is several kilometers north of town, so be prepared to walk or find transportation back and forth.

The Volcano Express is quite a comfortable way to travel from Kigali to Butare, especially when compared to a public mini-taxi. The company sells tickets for individual seats, and the buses are roomier than minivans. Each ride is around US $3, and you can purchase a round-trip ticket in advance. If you are planning a day trip, leave as early as possible in the morning and book a return by or before 4pm so you won't be traveling in the dark. Estimate between 2.5 and 3 hours travel time one way. Volcano Express is busy. Every bus is always full, so we suggest showing up at least 30 minutes before departure to get a good seat, as the crowd can get a little pushy close to departure.

The Peculiarities of Paying

Kigali has a few quirks when it comes to accepting payment. First, for those people whose lives revolve around plastic, there are few to no ATM machines here and the ones that exist are mainly for local banks. Credit cards are still not widely accepted at all.

A truly useful scoop: when traveling to Rwanda, the US dollars you bring should have been issued in 2000 or later. My bank teller in the States was from Ghana and had never heard this request. I did have a moment of doubt at her confusion, but this turned out to be true. Banks and Forex Bureaus are legally required to accept older bills, but they do not like to and may refuse to change your money. Hotels like accepting dollar payments, but they probably will not accept old bills. Avoid potential conflicts by bringing all new money.

Even if you ask for new money at your bank, go through and check each bill. My bank mixed about one-third 1996 bills in with the 2004 bills, and I didn't catch it in time. Now I get to argue every time I use money anywhere outside primary institutions, which is often because of public holidays.