Akagera National Park

Karen and I were commiserating that we never do anything fun- Gitarama can be a very quiet, sleepy place at night. If an expat hasn’t planned a games night or dinner, there is little to do and after exhausting most of my DVD supply, we really needed SOMETHING to do! So we picked up the Rwanda Bradt Guide Book on Tuesday night and decided on Akagera National Park. It is in the far east of the country, right on the Rwanda/Tanzania border and with a friend living in the area to stay with, we organized a driver and set out for some safari adventuring.
Can I just mention that I was a little over-excited about this trip? Honestly if I had seen one animal I would’ve been happy. After chimp trekking in Nyungwe Forest for four hours and seeing NO chimpanzees, I was psyched for some nature. On a tight budget, we hired a local man with a matata (basically like the mini-buses from town) and he picked us up at 5:30am on Saturday morning. Now, the reaction of our tour guide at the park was priceless. There were six other vehicles there that day- all of them SUV’s, Jeeps or 4x4s and we pull up in a rusted out bus whose doors won’t close properly. When we came across a dozen buffalo, one of whom was not too pleased with our presence, the guide alerted us to “not make any noise just now” and Karen and I could not stop giggling at the thought of a male buffalo vs broken-down matata showdown. Who would win do you think? He’s pictured on the right of my blog.
Seeing the giraffes was magnificent! You know in the movies “Dances with Wolves” or “Last of the Mohicans” when there are scenes on the prairie and its’ vastness is accompanied by sweeping, epic music? I kept hearing that music in my head as we communed with these graceful animals. They walk with opposite hand and opposite leg but when they run, they saunter. Their necks look too heavy for their bodies to support and the patterning of their skin is incredible. We were quite close to a male and female who were trying, albeit unsuccessfully, to mate. I said to Karen, “I don’t really want to see this, but if I get a good photo I’m selling it to National Geographic!” As it turned out, Mrs. Giraffe was playing hard to get and kept running off as Mr. Giraffe attempted to jump on.
We saw many baboon, impala, bushbuck, birds of extraordinary colour and the Tanzanian coastline! In between animal sightings, it was a very bumpy, uncomfortable ride with the only two seats in the matata seemingly ready to break free of their hinges. Only the back window opened so when an animal was spotted, we had to hop over the seat to hang out the back window, or sit on the spare tire in the back. Several times, while off-roading it appeared as though we were stuck and might have to get out and push our 'little engine that could' back onto the road. Karen kept saying “This’ll make a better story in the end” and I kept thinking “but what end exactly?”
We entertained ourselves by trying to spot various animals which is quite tricky as there are lion-coloured rocks and giraffe-like tree branches EVERYWHERE! We also enjoyed acknowledging our fellow adventurers in their SUVs who gave us two girls in our cheapmobile strange looks all morning. We started to sing the songs from the Lion King and just at that moment, our guide said “Look, it’s Pumba and the kids!” A family of five warthogs ran by. The three little ones scurried hurrily beside mom and dad; just as frightened and horrified by our white matata as the khaki-clad SUV people.
Down by the water was the real treat. Many hippos floated contently in the water. Our guide encouraged us to get out of the van and walk closer for the sake of photos. The SUV group beside us was seen to be gesturing and arguing with their guide about the fact that we were out of the car and one by one, they also got out to investigate. It was the sounds the hippos made that impressed me the most. From time to time their nostrils cleared the waterline and “POOF!” they took a breath and then disappeared again. There was a tiny baby crocodile skimming across the surface as well, and we were reluctant to stay longer fearing that Mama crocodile was probably very near. Other highlights were seeing the sacred Ibis, baboons with babies clinging on, the monkey from Friends and just the whole experience in general- far better than another Saturday watching movies on the laptop.
Elephants hadn’t been spotted in over a month. That was the one disappointment, I had really hoped to see elephants. Maybe next time…
Karen and I thanked our guide, who reminded us to come in a “real vehicle” next time. We just laughed and climbed back in our rustmobile to clunker our way back home, nursing very sore backsides but with very satisfied curiosities.