Akagera National Park (Rwanda) - Sofari, Sogoodi

Akagera National Park is located in the east of Rwanda. The park covers over 2500 sq km of savannah west of the Kagera River, which denotes the frontier with Tanzania. The park has a variety of wildlife and is a habitat for over 500 different species of birds.

For our last day in Rwanda, we traveled with our host, Pastor Theophile, on sofari to visit the park, see the wildlife and experience some of rural Rwanda.

A beautiful trip, more hills than our sofari in Kenya. More lush areas and lakes.

Impalas

These are Rwandan Cows that were being hearded through the park. Cows are a big deal traditionally in Rwanda. The division between Hutu and Tutsi was made in part on whether a person owned cows. If you owned a cow you were considered to be in a higher level in the social structure. To this day cows are equated to social status for many in Rwanda. When a man proposes marriage, he must give a cow to the brides family. Traditionally if you offer a cow to someone, you are offering the greatest gift you can give.

Pastor Theophile and a giraffe encounter

Zebra

Hippos

Gibbon Monkeys

Butterflys

The storks in East Africa are huge - the adults are about 3 feet tall.

Baboons

(from left to right) Desire (our driver), Victore (our guide), Scott and Pastor Theophile.