Day Trip Safari - Akagera National Park With Optional Lake Ihema Boat Safari

Quite enjoyable trip across rural rwanda with family. We spotted 4 out of the Big 5.. the driver guide shadadi (dadi) was friendly and quite knowledgeable.

I am glad that I took this safari. I only had one day and this fit the bill and I got some good pictures. The guide I had was an outstanding driver and and very good guide. There were a number of issues that would not make use this organization again: Here they are: 1. I had some time limitation on my trip and needed to be back in Kigali by ~ 5pm. I was not told that the normal day safari would have me back in Kigali at 8-9 pm, so missing 4-5 hr of what they normally would provide, which meant that I would not have time to go to a particular part of the park to see more animals 2. I asked about an earlier pickup but no response from the company and yet the driver (who was not informed about my time limit) suggested that we should have arranged an earlier pickup! 3. I was told that I would be going on safari with a modern vehicle. The vehicle was not very up to date and most annoyingly, the popup roof was defective so I had to take all my pictures from the passenger side window. Because I could not take any pictures straight in front of the vehicle, I missed several great opportunities to get some great shots of animals right in front of us. 4. The car made some high pitched squeals intermittently which would have scared off any animals near by. 5. Akagara park is beautiful and lush, but 50% of the roads that we were on had no visibility past 10 ft on either side of the vehicle because of trees and thick underbrush. If there were animals there, you wouldn't see them.

The tour was great! Our guide clearly knew the park well and mentioned that he mentally takes notes on animal locations so that he knows where to take tours the next day. The boat tour was great! The boat tour was run by the national park itself and not this tour vendor, so you should ignore the weird review complaining about the boat. I thought it was very professional and, like I said, it was run by the park so any tour group you pick will have the same boat experience at this national park.

The boat trip was throughly enjoyable. We had a great guide with Mr Emmanuel who took us around and showed us the wildlife. From baby crocodiles, to lurking hippos, bush bucks and all sorts of birds, we indeed got a taste of the Lake’s wildlife. Taking the sunset cruise was also a good idea, only if you are staying over.

The boat was over loaded with people, we had 20 people on our boat. The ride is moving very fast, you barely have a chance to take pictures. We left w 2 boats ( overloaded with people one guided) and when we got to the island with wild animals like crocodiles the other boat stuck underground. We tried to rescued them but it was impossible to move the boat specially when it overloaded with people and only one guide un knowledge in the boat. All the passengers tried to help and even Ofer to get out and push the boat, but it was too risky. My husband is license’s captain and suggested to bring back the passengers safely to shore and go back to rescued the other boat. My suggestion are: 1. Don’t overload the boat with passengers, instead provide 2 guides in the boat. 2. Provide more often the boat ride 3. Make sure you have the proper robe or line in the boat. I didn’t feel safe in the boat, and I set in the first row in the front and my camera got wet, in the first 10 minutes of the ride. Make sure to have water proof to your camera. I know everybody recommended Sunrise ride But I’m my opinion it’s more darker for the pictures and in tropical weather, most likely it will rain.

Both our tour operator (Simon), and our tour guide/driver (Bosco) were fantastic and very enthusiastic in helping us enjoy this day experience. I recommend this tour highly!!!

We most enjoyed our tour guide, Erath (Ilat? sp), who was extremely knowledgeable every part of the trip. He was a good driver on the extremely bumpy roads and we had a lot of laughs. We would like to extend to him our appreciation (we were with him on Monday, the 24th Maureen Gosling and Maxine Downs, and he picked us up at the Marriot Hotel and dropped us at our airbnb in the evening. We saw a wide variety of animals, though not usually in big numbers - but it might have been the hour of the day or this dry season.

We saw 3 of the big 5. Our guide Issa was amazing! This day trip surpassed our expectations, thank you!! Antelope, Giraffe, Rhino, Zebra, Buffalo, Monkey, Hippo, Baboon, Elephant, and many birds including the African Fish Eagle!

The guide “Issa” never showed up, we had a local person call him on his local line since he never answered via WhatsApp. He was asleep, said the tour operator never sent him money for gas and asked US to pay his fuel. This is the most unprofessional experience we have ever had with trip advisor and this ruined our trip. Today was the last possible day to do this since we are flying out and now we missed out on this safari experience. Expedition happy hour was the trip advisor operator and the guide’s company is “magazine tours”. I would recommend against ever using either one.

This was an awesome experience with a great tour guide. We were able to see the majority of the animals on our list. The lions were hiding out the day we went to the park. My 12 and 4 year old had a great time watching the animals in their natural habitat. I would highly recommend this tour for families. Might be a bit overwhelming for children under 4. Bring snacks and cold water!

I had a fantastic trip to this park. I saw a lot of animals there. We booked a 7-adult ticket. The car is a land cruiser, which is very big and cosy. The driver is very polite and patient. I really like talking with Rwanda people as they are polite and nice. I would like to have a second trip to this park. Sea you again in Rwanda.

Very fantastic trip! Guide Jean is very friendly and professional. Had a really pleasant trip -- witnessed a lot of special animals that were never able to see in wild!

We had an absolutely wonderful time exploring Akagera national park with our guide/driver Vincent. We had a great time chatting with him throughout the ride and he was incredibly knowledgeable about the history of the area and the wildlife in the park. It’s hard to predict which animals you’ll see on the trek, but Vincent worked hard to maximize the amount that we did see. We were able to see zebra, rhinos, hippos, water buck, elephants, crocodiles, baboons, giraffes, water buffalo, several kinds of antelope, and many kinds of birds in the park, as well as what life is like in the more rural areas of Rwanda. I’d highly recommend doing the additional boat tour, as you get to see much more than you would only doing the park trek. Overall, we’d highly recommend taking this tour and I’d say it was the highlight of our trip!

We saw so many animals and Emilie was so such a good driver and guide. Seriously he could not have been better at looking after us and really went the extra mile to ensure a good time. Akagera itself was very pretty and the car was very comfortable.

We had a great trip to the Park in the morning where we got to see the country outside of Kigali. Once at Akagera, we encountered many animals and got to appreciate the beautiful scenery. Our guide was knowledgable, polite, and funny. Would highly recommend!

Augustin was an amazing guide! He knew the park extremely well and managed to show me plenty of interesting animals that I hoped to see. I'd recommend requesting Augustin as your guide if possible, he did a tremendous job!

My guide was super amazing! He had Such a calm demeanor that was relaxing!!the drive from kigali to the park was so scenic it was an experience on its own! The park workers were efficient! I truly enjoyed every part of this never to be forgotten moments

It was alright, my first safari ever. The guide was knowledgeable. We didn't really see most of the things we had hoped for: no lions, giraffes nor elephants. Not the company's fault of course. It was also way too much sitting in the car (12 h) for me. I wasn't aware that you couldn't walk around, but I guess that's on me.

Bosco! That’s it! He made sure that we had the BEST time! We were so thankful to have him as a tour guide! He was timely, and made sure we were as comfortable as possible. He was knowledgeable about the park and the animals.

The safari was great. Our guide/driver, Vincent, was extraordinarily nice and helpful. Everything went as planned, and we enjoyed our safari a lot. We were lucky enough to see many different animals. Highly recommended tour.

Bosco did an excellent job! Really appreciated all his efforts! It was a long hard day but he was very patience and knowledge.

Safari, boat safari, wildlife, and game drive were above and beyond any expectations. Best memories.

More than anything, I think I'd avoid using the Viator service in the future. The outing was provided by a third party and the description of the tour on the Viator site didn't match the tour we were offered. Our car broke down twice (!) and we couldn't see more than a couple hundred meters of Akagera. Next time I'm in Rwanda, I'll work directly with tour operators and will ask about the age and condition of their vehicles.

I was in Rwanda and one free day. I was so happy to have found this tour. It was a long day (pickup at 5 am and dropped back off at 9 pm - so well over the 10-12 hours). Our guide was John Paul (JP) who spent more time with us because one of the people in group wanted to see every bird possible. We were fortunate to see hippos, buffalos, zebras, monkeys, giraffes, impalas, warthogs, and a lot of great birds. We didn't see lions, leopards, or elephants. Our guide trip hard to find the elephants as he saw them the day before. Unfortunately, sometimes the animals just aren't where we want them to be. Certainly not the fault of our guide! Overall, it was a great day! I highly recommend this trip. It's a LONG drive but you get to see the countryside and certainly lots of people walking and riding their bikes as they go to work, school, or the market. We did the optional boat tour ($35 each) and it was well worth it.

All wild animals can be seen here. Nice experience. Would highly recommend if you are a wildlife lover. Especially if your also interested in the boat safari.

This was amazing. We saw a lot of animals and the guides were fun and very knowledgeable. The morning boat safari is relaxing, totally worth it.

we did a day trip safari with expedition happy hour. it was an awesome experience going on the game drive. we saw leopards, Hippos, monkeys, warthogs, zebras, giraffes and lots of birds. would recommend Expedition Happy Hour for the Akagera Safari as the drivers go off road to ensure you see all the animals.