Akagera from Above offers a striking vision of Rwanda’s last remaining diverse savanna ecosystems. From the air, the park reveals an extraordinary mix of rolling hills, sweeping plains, glittering lakes, and one of East Africa’s most extensive wetland systems. This variety unfolds differently with each visit, rewarding those who explore it over several days or across the changing seasons. The shapes of the hills, the shifting colors of the land, the expansive skies, and the ever-evolving vegetation create endless beauty for visitors who choose to linger.

Though Akagera National Park may be small by African standards—and often dismissed as “not the Serengeti” because it lacks the massive wildlife concentrations found in the Serengeti or Boma-Badingilo in South Sudan—it protects a remarkable richness. The park shelters unique species and preserves Rwanda’s last stretch of intact savanna, a landscape of both ecological importance and quiet wonder.

The park’s diversity and beauty stand as a powerful testament to the importance of conserving landscapes. These, here and elsewhere, serves as ancient, millennia-old evidence of our shared history and provides one of the last opportunities to understand the long environmental history of our planet.

Here is an aerial glimpse, with images taken over the years

For more information about the parc, check out akagera’s page from African Parks, and my other post: visual introduction.