Rwanda Akagera Express

Leaving the busy city roads behind, we ride smaller country roads towards the north. We hit the main road again for a short while, before we enter a small offroad track that leads us into the small town of Nyagatare

We drive south, through hot, low-lying plains. We can enjoy empty stretches of new highway, where digital speed cameras monitor our speed. However, we will certainly also drive some gravel roads along Akagera National Park, a long protected area running north to south that borders Tanzania. The park encompasses savanna, woodland, and wetlands, and a dozen lakes. After the near-eradication of poaching in just five years, lions and black rhinos were reintroduced between 2015 and 2018, and white rhinos were introduced in 2021 as part of a conservation effort to protect these species.

Early morning starts with an optional game drive and after a late breakfast we depart for our ride south. We enter the district of many lakes through nice gravel roads and cut along the Burundi border towards the west. Part of today’s ride will be on gravel and dirt road, with several smaller tracks in between. Nyanza is a small country town where not much seem to happen, but it lives up at night.

The first few hours will be gravel and dirt roads crossing many rivers through tea plantation area. The last few hours of the day will be a bit more busy approaching Kigali.