Super User 14 August 2023

Best Travel Guide To Magashi Camp Wilderness Wildlife In Akagera National Park

Explore camps in Akagera National Park in Rwanda. Magashi Camp by Wilderness is a one-of-a-kind experience in Akagera National Park in Rwanda. Wilderness Magashi’s home is in the miraculous Akagera National Park on Rwanda’s northeastern border.

In stark contrast to Volcanoes National Park, Akagera’s savannah, woodlands, wetlands and lakes create expansive landscapes, ideal for exceptional game viewing. Rare wildlife awaits at Wilderness Magashi, overlooking vast savannah, and the shimmering waters of Lake Rwanyakazinga.

Travelers witness the abundance of Akagera National Park from Wilderness Magashi. Home once more to an abundance of apex predators and their prey. Marvel at the lion, white and black rhino, buffalo, and elephant roaming its hills and vast savannah. This is the quintessential East African safari adventure and the perfect complement to your gorilla trekking experience in Rwanda.

Experiences at Magashi Camp wilderness:

Looking for a remote adventure? Immerse yourself in Rwanda’s Savannah at Magashi, a private wilderness area situated in the phenomenally diverse northeastern corner of Akagera National Park; Magashi is named after the peninsula on which it stands. The camp overlooks a beautiful lake and is home to one of Africa’s highest hippo densities, some very large crocodiles, and many other iconic African wildlife species.

Wake up to a chorus of birds, elephants quietly wading into the lake, and a freshly brewed cup of coffee, before heading out to experience the African wild. Game drives and boat cruises ended with an evening of traditional cuisine, stories, songs, and dances.

About Magashi Camp Wilderness and Akagera National Park:

Magashi Camp is located in the Akagera area of eastern Rwanda. At 1,120 Square Kilometers, Akagera National Park is a substantial conservation area that runs for about 100km down the country's eastern border with Tanzania. Akagera is a very scenic location, with an unusually diverse range of habitats for its size and therefore a broad range of wildlife.

During the period 1994-1996, the area came under great pressure, as desperate people fleeing the civil war and genocide made camps inside the reserve and hunted for food. After the conflict ended, a flood of refugees returning from Tanzania further overwhelmed Akagera.

During this period the wildlife of the reserve was decimated, including the total extermination of the reserve's 300-strong population of lions and at least 50 black rhinos.

In 2009 the reserve was taken over by the well-known non-profit organization of African Parks, which specializes in rescuing and rehabilitating wilderness areas that are under great threat. They now work in partnership with the Rwandan Authorities to restore the reserve to its former glory.

In July 2015 seven lions (five females from Phinda and two males from Tembe, both in the KwaZulu Natal area of South Africa) were relocated to Akagera, becoming the first lions in Rwanda for at least 15 years.

In May 2017, 20 black rhinoceroses (also from South Africa) were introduced, meaning that the reserve is now once again home to the big five species of lions, leopards, elephants, rhinoceroses, and buffaloes. The first truly Rwandan rhino was born in September of the same year.

This is a remarkable conservation story and one from which you can derive great satisfaction during a visit.

Private. Peaceful. Participatory. Akagera National Park is a story of survival and regeneration. And significantly, Rwanda's last remaining refuge for savannah species. Help us keep it that way by joining us in tracking and monitoring leopards, lions,s, and rhinos through the use of identikits, a wonderful way to become part of the Magashi rehabilitation story.

Magashi camp wilderness moments:

Everything about Magashi is a thrilling quest. Watch elephants, near the camp, submerge in the lake’s silvery blue waters. Drive across miles of open savannah tracking rhinos, giraffes, and lions. Try your hand at catch-and-release fishing, watched by a shy sitatunga. And listen to the stories of the land during a traditional Kugisha supper around a roaring fire with friends old and new.

Cuisine in Magashi Camp wilderness:

Meals at Magashi are designed with sustainability in mind, offering healthy flavorful recipes that tread lightly on the Earth. Our menu heroes Rwanda’s indigenous ingredients, local dishes, and fresh produce. Sample the famous ‘Rolex’ breakfast wrap - a signature choice - and a traveling Kugisha dinner, which is served with a collection of traditional stories and songs.

Magashi Camp Wilderness Impact at Magashi:

History was made at Magashi when we partnership was made between the Rwanda Development Board and African Parks. Since its opening in 2019, two of the Magashi guides became the first-ever Rwandans to receive a coveted FGASA qualification. Today, Akagera’s rebirth is an extraordinary conservation success story. And you’re part of it, helping increase the world’s wilderness and the ability to help protect it.

Reaching Magashi Camp wilderness:

The property is usually accessed as part of a guided overland safari around the country, usually coming in from the capital Kigali, a journey of around 3 hours. We usually include all the connecting transport for your trip unless you specifically ask us not to.

Tourist Activities at Magashi Camp Wilderness:

Magashi Camp provides access to a wide range of guided activities;

Magashi Camp Wilderness Day Game Drive Safari:

The main activity is a vehicle safari around the park with your guide in search of wildlife. Akagera is a very scenic location, with an unusually diverse range of habitats for its size and therefore a broad range of wildlife. To the west lies a range of gently rolling hills covered in light acacia scrub and dry grassy uplands.

Those hills drop down eastward into a broad north-to-south valley, with a patchwork of more dense acacia forests and open savanna that has the feel of a more conventional East African safari landscape.

Given this traumatic history, Akagera is now home to some impressive wildlife populations. Visitors should not anticipate the same levels of sightings as other more famous reserves, like the Serengeti, but there should be plenty to keep you interested.

Of course, if you are aware of the conservation story, then the occasional sightings of lions and rhinos take on a particular significance.

Common sightings include baboons, impalas, topis, Maasai giraffes, Burchell's zebras, topis, elands, buffaloes, oribis, Defassa waterbuck, reedbucks, bushbucks, sables, roans, hippos, and crocodiles.

There are elephants around, but with their notoriously long memories, they remain understandably skittish. One particular elephant, called Mutware, was born around 1970 and was semi-habituated when he was young. He is now famously neurotic, swinging between curious and angry moods, so it is usually best not to approach him too close.

Leopards and lions are rare sightings. Cheetahs are thought to be locally extinct and may not be reintroduced due to the loss of habitation during the park reduction in 1997.

Magashi Camp Wilderness Boat Cruise Safari:

Another highlight is the boat cruise safari out on the adjacent Lake Rwanyakazinga, operated in small eight-seated craft, in contrast with the much larger boats operated by the park authorities on Lake Ihema to the south.

Akagera is a prime location for birding, with over 500 species present. Further south the Kagera River feeds into a series of lakes, marshes, and papyrus swamps that are apparently East Africa’s largest protected wetlands and which make up a third of the park's total area.

The marshlands and lakes are particularly productive and are home to species including African fish eagles, marabou storks, crowned cranes, open-billed storks, cormorants, papyrus gonoleks, herons, egrets, and shoebill storks.

Magashi Camp Wilderness Walking Safari:

We understand that walking safari in this location will be limited to modest nature walks in a relatively small area around the property, so we expect these to focus mainly on flora and lesser fauna, rather than on any deliberate attempts to approach larger animals, which could be both fruitless and dangerous.

Magashi Camp Wilderness Night Game drives Safari:

We understand that a night vehicle safari will also be offered, using a torch to spot nocturnal creatures.

Accommodation in Magashi camp wilderness:

Perched like butterflies on the shores of Lake Rwanyakazinga, Magashi’s 8 spacious tented suites welcome you to an intimate wilderness area, surrounded by one of the most serene landscapes imaginable - the ideal stage for exceptional safari adventures.

Book with Ultimate Wild Safaris for the Magashi Camp wilderness experience in Akagera National Park in Rwanda.

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