Akagera Game Lodge has recently reopened as SALT of Akagera, following a takeover by The Lux Collective, and it remains the largest place to stay inside the park with sixty rooms and suites on the ridge above Lake Ihema. Bookings now go through the new brand rather than the old lodge name. The lodge sits in the southern sector of Akagera National Park in eastern Rwanda, roughly two and a half hours from Kigali.
Nothing about the location has moved. Same hill, same view down over the lake, same short drive to park reception. What has changed is the ownership, the name above the door and the standard of the rooms, so anyone searching for the old lodge will end up in the right place under a different sign.
Akagera Game Lodge Is Now SALT of Akagera
The property has had several lives. It was for many years the only accommodation inside the park, owned by the Rwanda Social Security Board and known simply as Akagera Game Lodge. Mantis took over management in 2018, refurbished it, and it traded for several years as Mantis Akagera Game Lodge. The Lux Collective has now taken over and reopened it as SALT of Akagera, the first SALT branded safari property anywhere in the world and the first of five planned Rwandan properties under the group.
The repositioning is towards a five star eco safari lodge rather than a conference hotel that happens to be in a national park. Design work leans on natural materials, earthy tones and locally made detail. Food is the part that has changed most visibly, built around Rwandan produce, lake fish, honey and coffee, with a stated farm to table, low waste kitchen. Signature offerings include a dining sequence tracing Rwandan agriculture from soil to plate, open fire boma evenings under the stars, and a behind the gate session on Akagera’s conservation work. Community strands run alongside, connecting guests with local artisans and conservation staff.
Rooms and Suites for Safari Guests
Sixty rooms and suites make this comfortably the biggest property in Akagera, where the alternatives are tented camps of seven to nine units. The range covers singles, doubles and twins, balcony rooms, family rooms and suites, arranged so that rooms and terraces face the lake.
Rooms are conventional in the good sense: air conditioning, satellite television, a mini fridge, tea and coffee making, a work desk, en suite bathroom with shower, hairdryer, local and international adaptors, a telephone, quality linen and free WiFi. That list matters because none of it is standard in the tented camps here, where solar lighting, canvas walls and no air conditioning are the norm. Some rooms interconnect, which suits families. One caution worth passing on: the family room configuration works well for parents with younger children and is tight for adult children, since one bedroom is reached through the other, so ask for the layout in writing before booking a group into it.
Dining at the Lodge Between Safari Drives
There is a restaurant and a bar, historically named for the shoebill and the elephant, serving breakfast and dinner in the main dining room with lighter food available through the day. Breakfast has long been the meal guests single out, with cooked stations alongside the buffet and Rwandan dishes served next to the familiar ones. Tree tomato juice and agatogo are worth trying if they appear.
Under the new operation the menus lean seasonal and local, drawing on farms near the park, lake fish and Rwandan coffee. Meals are usually taken on a full board basis, which suits the rhythm of a safari day: out at dawn, back for a late breakfast, lunch on the terrace, dinner after the afternoon drive. Drinks and premium items sit outside the board basis. A cultural evening with music and dance runs on some nights of the week, which is a gentler introduction to Rwandan performance than joining in at a village visit.
The Pool, Tennis Court and Family Facilities on a Family Safari
This is where the lodge separates itself from everything else in the park. There is a large swimming pool and pool deck positioned for the lake view, plus a children’s pool, a playground and a playroom. There is a gym and a tennis court. Board games and outdoor games are available.
For families that combination is decisive. The small tented camps in Akagera mostly set minimum ages and have nothing for a child to do between drives, whereas here a five year old can spend the hot middle of the day in the pool while the adults sit above the lake with a cold drink. It is the one property inside the park that routinely takes younger children, which is why so many Rwandan families and visiting groups end up here.
Lake Ihema Views From the Safari Lodge Ridge
The lodge stands on high ground at the southern end of the park, elevated above the savannah, and the view is the reason the building sits where it does. Lake Ihema spreads out below, ninety square kilometres of it, with papyrus fringes, islands and the Tanzanian border along the far shore.
Wildlife comes to you as well. Hippos are audible from the terraces at night. Waterbirds work the shoreline all day, and elephant and buffalo come down to drink within view during the dry months. Sunset over the water from the pool deck is the picture most guests take home. From the same ridge you also look across to the woodland where the leopards are rarely seen and often present.
Safari Activities From Akagera Game Lodge
Every park activity is arranged from here, though most are booked and paid for at park reception rather than included in your room rate. Game drives run in your own vehicle, with a park or community freelance guide riding along, or in a park vehicle with driver and guide. Morning drives leave from half past six, full day drives run to five, and the southern lake circuits start almost at the lodge gate.
A boat trip on Lake Ihema is the obvious pairing, with four scheduled departures daily and a sunset run that suits guests staying inside the park. Night drives leave at half past five and give you hyena, genet, serval, bushbaby and the occasional leopard. Sport fishing happens on Lake Shakani, and the community cultural visits and the Walk the Line fence walk are booked through the same reception. Birders should know that the red faced barbet, the most sought after bird in Akagera, is regularly found in the trees around this lodge, which makes an early morning stroll of the grounds worthwhile before anyone has started the car. The game drives and birding pages cover both in more depth.
Conference and Group Trips at the Lodge
Conference and meeting rooms, a large room count and secure parking make this the only property in Akagera set up for groups of any size. Rwandan institutions, companies and school groups have used it for years, and the combination of a working meeting room and a game drive in the afternoon is genuinely hard to find elsewhere in the country.
Two practical notes for organisers. Every delegate pays park entry to reach the lodge, since it sits inside the boundary, so budget that per person per day rather than assuming it is bundled. And buses larger than a coaster are not allowed into the park at all, while coasters must take a guide, which shapes how you move a large group around once you are through the gate.
Who This Safari Lodge Suits
It suits families with younger children, groups, conferences, anyone who wants air conditioning and a pool after a dusty morning, and anyone whose budget stops short of the tented camps but who still wants to sleep inside the park. It sits below the tented properties on price while being inside the fence, which is a combination nothing else offers.
It suits you less if you came for a small camp under canvas with the sounds of the bush a metre away. Sixty rooms is a hotel, not a bush camp, and the atmosphere reflects that. It also sits in the southern sector, which means the northern plains where the lions concentrate are a five to six hour drive away, so predator focused visitors are better served sleeping north. Choose this lodge for comfort, family practicality and the lake view, not for being closest to the action.
Getting to the Lodge and Paying Park Entry
The drive from Kigali runs about 110 kilometres and takes two to two and a half hours to the southern entrance, then a short drive on to the lodge on its ridge. You head towards the airport, turn left before it, run east through Rwamagana to Kayonza, right to Kabarondo, then left onto tarmac and follow the signs to the gate. A private road transfer can be arranged, or you can self drive on a road that is tarmac almost the whole way. Helicopter transfers into the park are also possible. Full directions sit on the getting there page.
Because the lodge is inside the boundary, park entry is payable to the park authorities at the gate on the day you check in, separately from your room. Keep the receipt. Check in is normally from two in the afternoon and check out by eleven, and gates open at six and close at six, so plan your arrival to be through the entrance in daylight. Rates and categories are set out on the entrance fees and costs page.
Other Safari Lodges Inside and Outside Akagera
If this lodge is full, the alternatives inside the park are Ruzizi Tented Lodge on the shore of Lake Ihema, Karenge Bush Camp on the northern plains, the two Wilderness Magashi properties in the private concession, and four campsites. Outside the boundary, Akagera Rhino Lodge, Dereva Hotel and a handful of smaller places around Kayonza cover the budget end, though staying outside means paying full park entry for every day you drive in.
The full picture is on our Akagera hotels and lodges page, with Ruzizi Tented Lodge, Karenge Bush Camp and camping in Akagera covered individually.
Frequently Asked Questions About Akagera Game Lodge
How much does it cost to stay at Akagera Game Lodge?
Rooms at what is now SALT of Akagera are commonly quoted from around 270 US dollars for a single and 360 for a double with meals included, which places it below the tented camps in the park and above the lodges outside the boundary. Rates move with season and room category, and suites and family rooms cost more. Park entry is charged separately at 100 dollars a day for an international adult, 50 for residents of Rwanda or the East African Community, 50 for Pan African visitors from outside the region and 15,000 Rwandan francs for citizens. Activities such as game drives, boat trips and night drives are extra again.
Has Akagera Game Lodge closed?
No. It has changed hands and changed name. Owned for years by the Rwanda Social Security Board and managed by Mantis from 2018, the property has been taken over by The Lux Collective and reopened as SALT of Akagera. Same building, same hill above Lake Ihema, sixty rooms and suites, refurbished and repositioned as a five star eco lodge.
Does the lodge accept children?
Yes, and it is the most family friendly option inside the park. There is a children’s pool, a playground and a playroom, plus family rooms and interconnecting rooms. Small tented camps elsewhere in Akagera often set minimum ages, so families with young children usually end up here. Ask about the exact family room layout when booking if you have older teenagers or adult children.
What facilities does the lodge have?
Sixty rooms and suites, a restaurant and bar, a large swimming pool and pool deck overlooking Lake Ihema, a children’s pool, playground and playroom, a gym, a tennis court, conference and meeting rooms, laundry, free WiFi and secure parking. Rooms have air conditioning, satellite television, mini fridges and tea and coffee making.
Do I have to pay park entry to stay there?
Yes. The lodge is inside the national park, so entry fees are payable at the gate on the day you check in, in addition to your accommodation. That applies to every guest including conference delegates and children over five. On the plus side, staying inside means your entry fee halves on the second and third nights and then drops away for further nights up to a week.
Can I do game drives directly from the lodge?
Yes. The southern lake circuits begin close by, and drives can be arranged in your own vehicle with a guide or in a park vehicle with a driver and guide, booked at park reception. Boat trips on Lake Ihema, night drives, fishing at Lake Shakani and community cultural visits are all arranged the same way. Bear in mind that reaching the northern plains and the lion country there is a full day from this end of the park.
Is the lodge suitable for a conference or a large group?
It is the only realistic option in the park for that, with meeting rooms, sixty rooms and parking. Bear in mind that buses larger than a coaster cannot enter Akagera, coasters must take a guide, and every delegate pays park entry, so factor both into the plan.
If you are weighing this lodge against the tented camps, or trying to work out whether an inside the park stay costs more than one outside once the gate fees are counted, an operator can price it both ways in a few minutes. Any of the companies listed on our Rwanda safari companies page books here and can add the drives, the boat and transfers from Kigali.
Mention the new name when you enquire, since some systems still list the property the old way. It saves a round of confusion at the booking stage.