Akagera national park with Burundi luxury tour
A combined tour of Rwanda’s Akagera National Park with a visit to Burundi’s most popular tourist destination offers an unforgettable experience of East Africa’s scenic landscapes, abundant wildlife, and cultures.
This tour starts in Akagera National Park, located in the eastern part of Rwanda. Akagera is one of Rwanda’s main havens of biodiversity. The park is well known for its plain savannah that stretches Tanzania, rolling hills, lakes, and marshlands.
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Akagera national park is the only place in Rwanda where one can see the Big Five Namely Rhino, lion, buffalo, leopard and elephant, among other animals to see in Akagera include giraffes, zebras, hyenas, and different bird species which include the rare shoebill. Other main activities in Akagera include a boat cruise on Lake Ihema, a night game drive, going for cultural encounters by visiting some local communities living around Akagera
Extension from Akagera Park to Burundi luxury tour
Transfer from Akagera to Burundi, Rwanda is a small but culturally rich country with beautiful landscapes, vibrant traditional music, and historical sites. Bujumbura is Burundi’s capital located on the shores of Africa’s deepest Lake Tanganyika, Tanganyika offers lakefront beaches in the capital Bujumbura, these beaches are ideal for relaxation, while for those who wish to see Bujumbura’s nightlife its showcases Burundi’s energetic music and dance, visit Gishora Drum Sanctuary, this sanctuary allows you to experience the drumming tradition of Burundi, Kibira National Park is another amazing place to visit while in Burundi, Kibira park is a rainforest with several primates such as chimpanzees and also good for those who love birdwatching, Kibira is located close to the Rwandan border which makes it easy to combine Akagera national park with Burundi luxury tour
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Combining Akagera National Park with Burundi luxury tour makes for an excellent itinerary that balances wildlife safaris with cultural and historical exploration in East Africa. This tour allows travellers to witness natural beauty, interact with locals and experience the unique traditions of both countries. See below a detailed itinerary of Akagera National Park with a Burundi luxury tour for 7 days
Day 1: Arrival in Kigali Rwanda and go for a city tour
Arrive in Kigali. Depending on the time of arrival, your driver/guide will take on a city tour where you will get a chance to visit to Kigali Genocide Memorial and Kigali Craft Market.
Luxury Accommodation Options:
Kigali Serena Hotel, Superior Double Room
Day 2: Transfer to Akagera National Park in Rwanda
After breakfast, early in the morning drive to Akagera National Park, you will reach there in time for lunch and after go for an afternoon boat ride in Lake Ihema, if time allows you can go for an evening cultural encounter in the nearby village of Humure as you prepare for night game drive.
Luxury Accommodation Options:
Mantis Akagera Game Lodge, Balcony Room, Lake View
Day 3: Game drive in Akagera National Park – Picnic Lunch – Night Game drive
Have morning breakfast as you wait for your Guide/Driver to pick you up. This day is all about game drives. Our Guide will pick up an experienced park Guide to move with you and take you to the best places for game drives. your guide will take you to the different parts of the park as explore the park’s landscape including woodland forest, savanna plains, riverine forests and wetlands. This morning’s game drive is the best time to watch out for hippos, Impala, warthogs, Topi, Zebras, spotted hyenas, giraffes, buffaloes, crocodiles, elephants and birds. Guides are key when it comes to locating lions, Rhinos and other elusive creatures of Akagera.
Lunch will be a picnic in the open Savannah plains to allow you to experience the unique feeling of dining out in the African wild. After lunch, the driver will take you back to your lodge where you can relax and take a swim in the late afternoon as you prepare for the night game drive, for those who wish to go out specifically to spot the birds, Akagera Park is one of the top birding destinations in Rwanda with over 500 species recorded including the Papyrus Gonolek and Shoebill storks.
Our night game drives in Akagera Park are designed to allow you to spot the nocturnal animals like leopards, hyenas, and lions among many other nocturnal wild animals of Akagera.
Luxury Accommodation Options:
Luxury: Mantis Akagera Game Lodge, Balcony Room, Lake View
Day 4: Morning Game drive and Transfer to Butare-Huye in Rwanda
Take breakfast and prepare for one last game drive in the park (extra optional) just in case you didn’t see some of the animals. Our Guide/Driver will meet with the park guide and take you to another section of the park for yet more wildlife encounters and after, start the journey to Butare also known as Huye.
Visit the Butare National Museum
Get the opportunity to visit Butare National Museum which is one of the biggest tourist attractions in the Butare area, this museum houses perhaps the finest ethnographic collection in East Africa. Butare Museum displays most of Rwanda’s traditional artefacts are illuminated by a fascinating selection of turn-of-the Rwanda’s monochrome photographs, providing insight not only into pre-colonial lifestyles but also into the subsequent development of Rwanda into one of the modern African states.
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Visit the Royal Palace at Nyanza
One of the cultural significances of Butare is further underlined by a visit to nearby Nyabisindu, formerly known as Nyanza, the traditional seat of Rwanda’s feudal monarchy. Get a chance to see the impressive Royal Palace at Nyanza, this place has an enormous domed construction made entirely of traditional materials which is amazing, it has been painstakingly restored to its 19th-century state and is now maintained as a museum.
Luxury Accommodation Options:
Hôtel Maisons-Sifa, DeLuxe Room with King Bed
Day 5: Transfer from Rwanda to Bujumbura, Burundi
After breakfast, we start the drive to the Rwanda/Burundi border for entry formalities/border clearing which takes about 20-30 minutes. Afterwards, you will drive to Bujumbura City. Have some time off to relax at the beach of Lake Tanganyika where your hotel is located. You may use complementary services (swimming pool) or enjoy a walk on the shores of Lake Tanganyika. Depending on the time you can go for a (optional) visit to Rusizi National Park where a relaxed boat cruise is possible to let you explore closer the hippos and birds in the Rusizi River.
Luxury Accommodation Options:
Club du Lac Tanganyika Hotel, with Lake View and Terrace
Day 6: Visit Source of the Nile, Karera Waterfalls, Gishora Drum Sanctuary
After breakfast at 7:00 am, your guide/driver will transfer you to Rutana to see the amazing Karera waterfalls and the source of the Nile in Rutovu. Visit Gitega National Museum a collection of artifacts and antiquities from Burundi and Gishora drum sanctuary before driving back to Bujumbura city.
Luxury Accommodation Options:
Club du Lac Tanganyika Hotel, with Lake View and Terrace
Day 7: Bujumbura, Burundi City Tour and Transfer to Bujumbura Airport
After breakfast, go for a city tour in Bujumbura city, visit the Explorers Memorial, a huge rock in the Suburbs of Bujumbura that commemorates the meeting between explorers Livingstone & Stanley, later in the afternoon transfer to Bujumbura Airport for your flight back home.
