31.5 Akagera National Park Adventure

Jan. 13 & 14, 2016

John swooped into the meeting Ruth Ann was in at the Rubilizi campus in Kigali -- with kids in the car -- to help us get-away to Akagera. We drove about 2 hours to the town of Kayonza where we had reservations at the eco-lodge at the Womens Opportunity Center. (Ruth had been there before, but not stayed there.) At this lodge they have the luxury safari tents for sleeping, with attached bathrooms. There is a covered sitting area where we enjoyed playing cards while the dinner meal was prepared. It was beautiful and fun!

In the morning we tried to get going early (around 6) to arrive by 7am at the Akagera visitor center. But we were a little slow. And only a few meters into the park we spotted an elephant! It appeared to be a teenager -- just crossing the road and nibbling on some branches. We got to the park center around 7:30am and met our guide and driver for the day. After a brief orientation, we hopped in their safari vehicle with the opening in the roof and we were off!

I think everyone enjoyed the half-day ride through the park. Our guide was excellent. We saw impala, waterbuck, zebra, birds, a hippo. We saw the cages that brought the lions to the park last year, but not the lions themselves. At the end of our park visit we were treated to the most amazing sight of all -- a full-grown adult elephant was feeding on the side of the road as we drove up. He (she?) looked at us and we stopped and gazed at him. Then he walked towards us! He walked right up on the road in front of our car! This is when John decided to start the car and back up a bit. This gave the elephant some pause. He decided he had learned enough about this strange carload of people and continued over the road and into the bush!