Akagera NP - Cats on the road

Running giraffes

We have spent quite a lot of time in Akagera in 2019 - about 8 times in the first 3 months of the year.  And it has paid off with some nice sightings of lion, a couple of glimpses of leopard, and one really good long weekend where we caught the Big 5.  

Akagera NP - A Big 5 weekend

The lions of Akagera

The jewel in the crown of an African safari is the sighting of the big 5.  However, despite Big 5 being thrown around, the reality of sighting the Big 5 are actually very rare. This is mainly because one of the Big 5 - the leopard - is just plain hard to spot anywhere despite its wide distribution. Another - the rhino - is already extinct in some of the iconic national parks in Africa. Buffalo is probably the easiest to spot in any of the African parks along with elephants. If there are lions around, you have a good chance of finding them provided you know how to track down lions.

Rwanda - land of a thousand hills

The land of a thousand hills

The Rwanda story has to start with the horrible events of 1994 but I leave you to read the various reads on this subject, without which one can never really understand the Rwanda story but all I can say is never again! What is relevant is to focus on what Rwanda is today and just how far this small little country has got to since those dark days of 1994. In a relatively short period of time Rwanda is today one of the great success stories of Africa.