PART 2 – AFRICA 2026

Wednesday and Thursday 3rd and 4th Jun 2026

When we holidayed in southern Africa in May 2024, I knew I had to come back.

I absolutely adored every part of that holiday, for lots of reasons.

One of those reasons was getting to see so many African animals in the wild.

Between a safari in Botswana, a visit to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe and a few days in Kruger National Park in South Africa, we saw so many of the gorgeous creatures I had only previously dreamt about seeing.

When we left, I did say it was ‘lucky’ that we didn’t get to see a lion, because that gave me an excuse to come back, and come back we did!

Jado, a young Rwandan tour guide who works for Rwanda Eco Tours, picked us up in the Toyota Landcruiser, that had been modified as a safari vehicle, at 7:30am on Wednesday. He was early, and as we have now learned this is not his only strength. Jado is 35, a father of two, a very good driver and extremely well organised. He’s also an excellent communicator, and already we have learned so much from him about this special part of the world.

I booked this safari tour about six months ago. Jado is looking after us for four days/three nights and the first day was an absolutely cracking way to start!

There was so much to see on the three-hour drive from Kigali to the South Gate of Akagera National Park, where we registered and received a briefing about the park. You can get arrested for having plastic bottles in the park, so we threw the two we had away! Jado had brought a very large water container and biodegradable cups for us – so all good!

Established in 1934 as a national park, Akagera is one of Central Africa’s largest protected wetlands. Following the Genocide the park was in disarray, with many of the animals killed or injured. Yes, not only a million lives lost, but many animals too 🙁 . In 2010, the Rwandan Government partnered with the Rwanda Development Board to support its conservation efforts and desire to utilise tourism as a driver for economic improvement. Since then, Akagera has become home to abundant wildlife species.

I’m sure you have all heard of the “Big Five”.

The Big Five animals are the lion, leopard, rhinoceros, elephant, and buffalo, originally named for being the most difficult and dangerous to hunt on foot (not the largest in size as I used to think). Over time, the term has shifted from hunting to wildlife tourism, becoming a popular checklist for safari-goers, like us!

We saw three out of five in Kruger in 2024, and I was really hoping that I’d add another to that list on this trip.

Little did I know I would see all five within 24 hours in Akagera!

We started the afternoon on Wednesday with a two-hour drive. At first, we didn’t see a lot, but then did as we approached the flatter, less scrubby plains. Here we saw zebras, giraffes (my favourite), buffalo, impala, water buck and heaps of different birds.

I’ll upload some random photos here – I took heaps, but hopefully this gives you an idea. You can imagine I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face!

We had stopped on the drive from Kigali for coffee (and a couple of samosas 😉 ), but by now we were getting a bit peckish. We drove to Ruzizi Tented Lodge to check in and have lunch. This place was absolutely amazing, and I was very excited to see our ‘tent’ for the night. It was right on the lakes edge, had an ensuite bathroom and thankfully a net over the bed to keep the bugs out!

Lunch was a burger for Dave and a schnitzel for me, the highlight being the incredible lake-side location of our table!

After lunch and a very short rest we were off on another drive. This time Jado headed north for an hour or so, where we saw plenty of baboons, quite a few zebras, and one of my favourites, the hippopotamus! We were due at the boat ramp at 4:30pm for a sunset tour of the lake, which we nearly missed as quite a few of the roads next to the water were closed by minor flooding! I feel like we got a bonus adrenaline thriller experience as we sped along the windy dirt roads. We got there a few minutes late – but thankfully Jado had called ahead so they waited for us!

We joined four others (plus the captain) on the hour-long cruise. We pulled up on the lakes edge and saw a heap more animals (including unexpectedly some elephants, two white rhinos and a crocodile), then looped around a small island where it seemed half the world’s birds were coming in to rest for the night! There are no predators on the island – so it’s a popular spot for birdlife!

By now Dave and I were getting tired and thought the half-hour drive at dusk back to the lodge would be uneventful. Little did we know!

About five minutes into the drive, Jado called out, “It’s a leopard,” as he stopped abruptly so as not to disturb it. Leopards are extremely rare to see so I was beyond excited. Jado was also pretty chuffed that we had managed to come across one.

After dinner in the lodge restaurant, we hit the sack… it had been a long and exciting day and we were both exhausted. We slept pretty well, even though a hippo who was directly in front of our ‘tent’ kept snuffling and snorting – but that did make it extra fun!

Breakfast on Tuesday was served again on the water’s edge, which was a gorgeous sight at daybreak. It was a particularly good breakfast, with my coffee freshly made and probably the best one I’ve had in a while. We also ordered porridge drizzled with the local honey and some fresh fruit and toast. All delightful!

The lodge had packed us lunch, and we set off at 6:30am for what ended up being a very big day. We drove around 100 km on pretty rough roads to get to the North Gate – which took us about six hours. Along the way we saw heaps more animals… and I was carefully scouring each side of the vehicle to try to find a lion! Do you know how tired it makes you to keep your eyes peeled for that long 😉

And then this happened… we spotted a lovely large lion sitting under a tree beside the road! It was the middle of the day by now and lions generally hunt in the mornings and evenings, so he was having a rest, while he kept an eye on his potential dinner nearby.

After stopping for our picnic lunch (not good, had to sneaky bin the chicken sandwiches) and exiting through the North Gate, we headed past many villages (and waving at a huge number of school kids) on our way to our next accommodation which was still another three hours drive away. But more on that tomorrow!