Drive to Akegera National Park - 8th June

 Drive to Akagera National Park

This was it. The most exciting bit. We were going on Safari! I was just a little bit excited. 

It was a long drive from Musanze, just over four hours, and the main road took us through Kigali where we stopped off for KFC. We still had to avoid the swarms of moto taxis as we drove through! 

The road from the main road down to Akagera was 25km alone! We got to the gate and were met by some guards who sent us in to the reception - another 10 minute drive. It was quite surreal knowing that at any minute an animal could walk across our path. 







We checked in and paid our park fees and drove up to the game reserve hotel - this is the main place to stay in the park and you can even book on booking.com. Most of the rooms overlook the pool and park in the distance. 





We met our guide, Felix, for tomorrows game drive so we knew who to look out for in the morning.





Mantis Akagera Game Lodge

The room was lovely, with a balcony overlooking the pool. We hadn't had a pool all holiday so whilst everyone was still out on their game drives we headed down for a swim. Be warned, its freezing!



They put on a very nice buffet dinner with lots of variety. It's expensive but was worth it for the quality. The waiters also brought round order froms for packed lunches the next day if you were on an all day game drive and you could order your choice of sandwich. 



You will need a 4x4 for Akagera, mainly because most of the car rentals dont let you have anything less, but the ground can get quite boggy in places, and the height just gives you a bit more comfort when driving the long distances on dirt roads.

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