Day 7: Akagera National Park

Monday, August 7th - Eastern Rwanda

Written by Heather Williams, World Dancer

Today was our day at Akagera National Park, a protected ecological and wildlife reserve taking up over 400 square miles of eastern Rwanda. After waking up at 5:00am in Kigali, we drove east to the district of Kayonza, where we will be spending the next few days, and entered the park.

As we drove through the gates of Akagera - full of excitement and singing The Lion Sleeps Tonight - we spotted our first of many zebra, right inside the gate! It was suddenly real, that we were here in Africa, and right there next to us was a zebra hanging out in its natural habitat. This wasn't a zoo. This was true Africa.

The entire drive through the park lasted about 6 hours, but the time flew by as we all kept our eyes peeled for wildlife, including the elusive lions. With our lovely and helpful guide Belise pointing out things we missed and describing each of the animals we saw, there was never a dull moment. Besides zebras, we also saw impalas, topi, water bucks, cape buffalo, warthogs, monkeys, baboons, hippos, crocodiles, fish eagles, herons, elephants, giraffes, and possibly some rhinos in the distance! (Unfortunately, the lions remained elusive.)

Akagera National Park is not only home to exotic wildlife, but contains diverse ecosystems as well. We drove through rolling hills reminiscent of our hometown mountains in Santa Barbara, along beautiful lakes and marshy swamplands, and across a great savannah plain. Every turn in the road revealed another breathtaking view, another moment where I thought to myself, "I'm in Africa!!" I could hardly believe it was real, it was all so stunning.

We mostly stayed in our big bus for the whole day, the group of us laughing, joking, snacking, and taking in the scenery together. There were a couple instances where we were able to get out of the bus and walk around, to be one with nature and with each other. These moments were precious and magical, as we were able to stand together and silently take in the scene before us, whether it was watching a herd of giraffes slowly loping across the plain, or gazing out at dozens of zebra and antelopes munching in an immense savannah, wondering if there were lions lying in wait beneath the grass.

One of our stops was on the shore of a beautiful lake, with palm trees on the opposite shore and rolling hills in the background, and there across the lake was an elephant, wading in the water! We all just stood and silently watched this beautiful creature in this beautiful setting. It was such a majestic, pure moment, that it moved me to tears. This is what I had been dreaming about since I first saw The Lion King when I was 4 years old! The gorgeous blue sky, the breeze rustling through the trees, the serenity of the lake, and the elephant giving himself a bath, with some hippos sleeping along the opposite shore. Nature, untouched, unfiltered. How can you not help but to cry at the beauty of it?! I was so caught up in the moment, that when Nicole saw me ugly-crying and asked me what was wrong, all I could say was "It's just so Africa!" Imagine feeling like that for 6 wonderful hours, and you'll have a sense of how I'm feeling now. It's a literal dream come true.

Thoughts from the travelers:

Nicole Greenwood: A while ago, I heard a radio show in Santa Barbara and they were talking about this thing called a “dolphin high”. It’s when you see dolphins swimming in the ocean and get so excited that for days after, it just picks you up. Welllllll I’m exhausted right now, but I’m thrilled I saw monkeys, giraffes, gorgeous birds, impalas, zebras, hippos, AND elephants. I’m going to be on this animal viewing high for weeks. Actually years! Especially because we had an Indiana Jones moment where the bus came between a mother and an older baby/child elephant. Our guide became focused, and quiet. She gave direct instructions to the driver in Kinyarwanda. As we passed, the young elephant opened its ears and made a loud warning sound and and began to charge. The driver hit the gas and we flew by so fast!! It was thrilling. I’m super dirty after sitting on that bus for so long, but it was worth the animal views of a lifetime. Ask me about it and I’ll tell you everything. I’ll still be high from this for years!