Safari time!

Rwanda is a small country in East Africa, not one that is known for its safaris and astounding game parks. However, Akagera is the national park in Rwanda that has some of the big animals one thinks of as animals you’d see during an “African safari”. There aren’t any lions, leopards or rhinos, and only a few elephants so we didn’t see any, but I have nothing to compare it to and I was excited to see the hippos, monkeys, impala (and other types of antelopes), buffalos, warthogs, zebras and giraffe! It wasn’t really a traditional safari, as we went in our own SUV with a guide from the park joining us in the vehicle, but ironically enough our driver’s name was Safari! (He is one of our favorite taxi drivers in Kigali and graciously took us on the 12 hour trip from 5am to 5pm!) Our guide was pleasant and was excellent at sighting and identifying animals, which was helpful. Unfortunately the park is smaller than it used to be, and there are some poachers, which means some of the animals have really low populations and are at risk.

A lot of the park was covered in tall grasses and bush and trees which meant fewer animals lived in those areas – primarily the impala and other antelope-type animals. As this was the part of the park we entered, we were still excited anytime we saw a herd of impala and stopped the car frequently to take photos out the window! One of the lakes was home to several hippos, so they were the first “big animal” sighting and we daringly got out of the car to photograph the big guys standing or laying in the mud near the water. The monkeys and warthogs were fun to see but incredibly skittish so I didn’t get any photos. After many kilometers of beautiful trees, grasses and lots of impala, and going off-roading once to greet the buffalo (we stayed in the car for that one!), we were excited to reach the northern part with savanna grasses and one luscious valley where many animals were found – notably: topi (cross between antelope and buffalo?), zebra and giraffe!!! The giraffe are incredibly immense and majestic up close; we were within 20m of them in the car and maybe 70m when we exited the car! I really don’t have words to describe them but it was almost overwhelming. The zebra were also quite beautiful; it was a bit unreal to see the zebra, topi and giraffe all in the valley together. Not quite “Lion King” but I definitely felt like I was in some documentary about African animals!

The best way to show you my “safari” experience is definitely through photos, so here you go! 

A hungry (or tired?) hippo!?

Wouldn't want to come across these buffalo out of a car!

The male impala have horns and one male is the leader for a herd of females
 - until another challenges him and takes over that responsibility.

Joyce and me in Akagera park.

Zebras!!!

Topi and zebras in the valley - see the baby zebra in the middle?? 

So majestic...

Why did the zebra cross the road? (And why did the zebras leave the park?)

For me, it was a great experience to see these animals in the wild and not in the zoo! It was amazing how close we could get to some of them to take photos, and just to be able to observe them in their natural habitat. Another huge highlight of the day was sharing it with Joyce (my Rwandese friend and former language tutor). She was incredibly happy to be able to go with us (very few Rwandans go to Akagera, probably due to distance and/or price), and I was happy our car was fuller and to have time to be with her. Seeing her joy when she saw the lakes (apparently she really likes big bodies of water) and the trees that reminded her of growing up in Uganda made me so happy. People here don’t readily talk about their lives, and the past is rarely spoken about, so I loved hearing a bit about Joyce’s childhood in a village in Uganda helping her parents raise a big herd of African cattle.

It was a one-of-a-kind experience to see the animals, and it was great to learn some about my friend’s life and life in the village in Rwanda/Uganda. I won’t forget that day.

The following day was an Ultimate Frisbee tournament here in Kigali with players from Rwanda (expat and local), Uganda and Burundi playing together, which was pretty unique as well. I enjoyed the contrast to sitting in the car all day; the typical sunburn and sore legs following a tournament are well worth the fun of running hard and playing my favorite sport.

So…the past few days were busy and amazing, and there are more adventures to come this week as we prepare the closing ceremony for the students at Mwana Nshuti that will be held on Friday. Life is good!