National Parks in Rwanda

Muraho, mwese! Hello everyone! It's time for another blog update (actually, I'm late, but better late than never!). This month, inspired by my visit to Akagera National Park last month, I'll be writing about Rwanda's National Parks.

There are three national parks in Rwanda: Nyungwe, Akagera, and Volcanoes. There are also two National Forests: Gishwati and Mukura, although with more than 80% of their area destroyed they are in danger of disappearing. In 1999, 3,600 square kilometers of land (14.6% of the total area of Rwanda) were designated protected areas, under the protection of L'Office rwandais du tourisme et des parcs nationaux (ORTPN). The tourism office has a difficult job, as with the rapid growth of Rwanda's population and ever-increasing pressure on the small amount of available land, the area of Rwanda's Natural Reserves diminished by 34.8% between 1958 and 1996. Rwanda's National Parks are home to many species, of which two most notably are endangered: the mountain gorilla and the black rhinoceros. There is a concentrated effort by the government and several organizations to make local people aware of the monetary benefits of these animals through tourism, and in 2000, the National Parks welcomed 3771 visitors, many from Europe, but 21.2% from Rwanda, indicating that locals are beginning to appreciate their natural heritage.

Nyungwe, in the south-west of the country, is home to chimpanzees, a wide variety of monkeys, and several rare species of birds. Volcanoes National Park in the North is home to the mountain gorillas as well as the highest peak in Rwanda, Mt. Karisimbi. Finally, Akagera, the only one I've yet visited, is home to elephants, hippos, crocodiles, and more.

On my visit to Akagera with my friends, we didn't see all of the animals reported to be there, but we did see a good amount. As an example of an animal we didn't see, there are reportedly only three lions (intare) in the whole Park, and we weren't fortunate enough to see one (although our tour guide has never seen one either). We did see plenty of other animals (inyamaswa), however: water buffaloes (imbogo), crocodiles (ingona), giraffes (intwiga), hippos (imvubu), baboons (inguge), topi (inyemera), zebras (imparage), impalas, antilope (impongo), and plenty of birds (inyoni).

We were there during the day, so we didn't get to do the optional night tour, when some of the other creatures in the Park come out, like hyenas (impysi) and leopards (ingwe). We also missed seeing elephants (inzovu), although we saw traces of them in the form of large dung heaps.

During our safari, we learned a couple of interesting facts about some of the animals and the Park. For example, we learned that old water buffaloes who no longer contribute to the herd are left to die on their own. This fact saddened a few in our group, but it was really interesting to actually see a couple of old water buffaloes out on their own, ready to die in a short time.

We also learned that there were as few as five giraffes in the Park at one time (four females and one male), but that they have since reproduced again and again to build a healthy herd of around 70! In my photos, you'll see that we got really close to one group of giraffes.

Akagera was a great experience. Eastern Rwanda, was hot, but the scenery reminded me of parts of Colorado and Wyoming in certain places, a welcome site.

I hope you are inspired to come and visit me and the Rwanda's National Parks, now! Clicking on the title of this post will link you to the Rwanda National Park website (in English) if you want more information. Until next month, murabeho.