Akagera is reached by road from Kigali in two to two and a half hours over about 110 kilometres, entering through the southern main gate, with a second entrance at Mutumba Gate in the north and an exit only gate at the far northern end. Helicopter transfers take under half an hour. Akagera national park lies in Rwanda’s Eastern Province on the Tanzanian border.
The good news for anyone planning this is that it is genuinely easy. The road is tarmac almost the whole way, the turnings are signposted, and you can leave Kigali after breakfast and be watching hippos before lunch. The parts that catch people out are which gate to use, how long the drive inside the park actually takes, and the fact that public transport more or less stops before you get there.
Driving From Kigali to Akagera National Park for Your Safari
The park sits roughly 110 kilometres east of Kigali. Allow two to two and a half hours to the southern entrance, and note that the gate is not the end of the drive: park reception is a further three kilometres in, and whatever you have booked may be considerably further than that.
Most visitors drive out in the morning. Leaving Kigali at six puts you at the gate by half past eight, which is early enough for the best of the morning game viewing. Gates open at six and close at six, and there is no entry after closing, so an afternoon departure from Kigali only works if you are staying in the southern sector. A high clearance vehicle is sensible and a four wheel drive is necessary between March and May.
Driving to the Southern Gate on a Self Drive Safari
The route is simple enough to follow without a navigator. From Kigali city centre head towards Kigali International Airport, then turn left roughly 500 metres before the airport and run east towards Rwamagana. Continue through Rwamagana to the roundabout at Kayonza. Turn right there and follow that road about fifteen kilometres to Kabarondo. Just after the fuel station in Kabarondo, turn left onto the tarmac road and follow the signs for Akagera for twenty four kilometres to the entrance gate.
If you are using a phone for navigation, search for Akagera National Park South Entrance rather than the park itself, which will otherwise route you to the middle of the reserve. The visitor centre at reception, three kilometres past the gate, is open from six in the morning until six in the evening and has a café, a curio shop and an information desk. Buy a park map there, or the fuller guidebook with animal and bird checklists, both of which cost a few thousand francs and make a self drive considerably easier.
Reaching Mutumba Gate on a Northern Safari Route
The second way in is Mutumba Gate, which serves the northern half of the park and cuts hours off the drive if your accommodation is up there. From the Kayonza roundabout, turn left onto the road towards Nyagatare and continue about eleven kilometres to Kukimodoka, then turn right onto the dirt road towards Rwimbogo and follow the signs. From Kayonza to Mutumba Gate is roughly sixty kilometres, around an hour of driving outside the park.
Coming from the north, from Nyagatare, turn left onto the dirt road at Rwagitima centre and drive a further forty seven kilometres to the gate. Either way, this is dirt road for a good stretch, so a suitable vehicle matters more here than on the southern route. Anyone booked at Karenge Bush Camp should consider this route, since the camp is about an hour from Mutumba Gate against four hours from the southern entrance.
Driving Through the Park and Exiting North on a Full Day Safari
The northern gate is exit only. You cannot enter the park through it, which is the single most common misunderstanding about access here, and turning up expecting to will cost you a long detour.
What you can do is drive the length of the park and leave through it. From the southern gate to the northern exit covers roughly a hundred kilometres of track depending on your loops, and the park recommends allowing five to six hours, which makes it a full day rather than a transfer. From the northern exit it is about twenty two kilometres to Kucyanyirangegene and the tarmac, where you turn left for the Kayonza roundabout and back towards Kigali. If you have taken a guide with you, drop them at Kayonza so they can get transport back to reception. That crossing is one of the best days available in Akagera, since it takes you through the lions and the open plains of the north, but do not attempt it on a tight schedule.
Getting There With a Tour Operator or Private Driver
The park does not run transfers of its own, so if you are not driving yourself, you arrange transport. Three routes exist.
A tour operator is the usual choice, and most run purpose converted game viewing vehicles seating five to seven with a roof hatch, which is a different experience from a saloon car. Some offer shared day trips on fixed days for anyone travelling alone or on a budget. The Rwanda Tours and Travel Association can supply a list of members if you want to compare. A private driver or taxi from Kigali will take you out and back, though the vehicle is unlikely to be a safari conversion, so make sure whoever you hire has a reliable four wheel drive or high clearance car. A 3 days Akagera safari package folds the transport, park fees and accommodation into one price, which is often simpler than assembling the parts yourself.
Car Hire and Self Drive Safari Access
Akagera is a self drive park and your entry fee already includes self drive game viewing, which makes hiring a vehicle a genuinely good option here. There are fewer international rental brands in Rwanda than you might expect, but local companies operate and some specialise in equipped four wheel drives with rooftop tents.
Whatever you rent, check three things before you leave the yard: that there is a spare tyre, that the tools to change it are present, and that the vehicle is in decent order. There is no fuel anywhere inside the park, so fill up in Kabarondo or Kayonza. If you break down inside, the park will come and get you for a recovery fee, and if you get stuck the sensible thing is to stay with the vehicle rather than walk. Should you want to hire a car rental company in Rwanda, look for one that will confirm the vehicle is cleared for national park use.
Public Transport to Akagera and Why It Complicates a Trip
It is possible and it is not recommended. Minibuses run from Kigali as far as Kabarondo, and from there onward services towards the park are irregular and reach only the last town before the entrance. Moto taxis cover that stretch but are not permitted inside the park, so they can drop you at the entrance gate and no further, with reception another three kilometres beyond.
Once you are there without a vehicle your options collapse. Walking is not allowed anywhere in Akagera, so the only way to see anything is to hire the park’s own safari vehicle for a half or full day drive, which will collect you from the entrance as part of that booking but will not do short transfers to a lodge or campsite. If you are on a tight budget, two better ideas: hire a vehicle from Kayonza or Kabarondo rather than Kigali, which cuts the cost considerably, or find others to share an operator’s day trip.
Helicopter Transfers and Scenic Flights for an Akagera Safari
Akagera can be reached by air. Helicopter transfers from Kigali International Airport take around twenty five to thirty minutes against two and a half hours by road, operating as scheduled flights on a set daily timing or as private charters at whatever hour suits, subject to weather.
Aircraft land at the airstrip inside the park or, for guests of the northern concession, at a private helipad. The park charges a landing fee per landing on top of whatever the flight costs. This is expensive, obviously, and it makes sense in two situations: when time matters more than money on a short trip, and when you are heading for the far north and want to avoid the four hour drive. Scenic flights over the park are also sold, which is a different product from a transfer.
Entry Requirements: Visas and Documents for a Rwanda Trip
Rwanda has one of the more open visa regimes on the continent. Citizens of every country can obtain a visa on arrival without applying in advance, at Kigali International Airport and at all land borders, and you can also apply beforehand through the government’s Irembo portal, which is faster at the desk.
Several groups pay nothing. Citizens of East African Community member states are issued an entry pass free of charge for six months. Nationals of African Union, Commonwealth and Francophonie member countries receive a free thirty day visa on arrival, and a further specific list of countries is granted ninety days free. Everyone else pays the standard tourist visa fee. If you are visiting more than one country in the region, the East Africa Tourist Visa covers Rwanda, Uganda and Kenya on a single multiple entry document, applied for through the portal of whichever country you enter first.
Carry a passport valid for at least six months with a blank page, and a yellow fever certificate if you are arriving from a country where the disease is present. Nothing about entering Rwanda requires a separate permit for Akagera; park fees are paid at the gate. If your trip also includes the primate parks, our page on the Rwanda gorilla safari covers how permits work there, which is a very different arrangement.
What to Have in the Vehicle Before a Safari Day
Fuel first, because there is none in the park and the tracks use more than you expect in low gear. Then water, more than you think, plus food if you are not eating at reception or the café at the Mihindi picnic area, which sits about fifty kilometres in.
Bring a spare tyre and the tools to change it, a phone with the park reception number saved, binoculars, sunscreen and a hat. Cash is not needed for park fees, since Akagera is cashless and takes card, bank transfer and mobile money, but you may want some for tipping a guide. If you are camping, everything you need comes with you, including drinking water, since tap water in the park should be boiled or avoided.
Arrival, Gates and Timing on the Day of Your Safari
Your first stop is reception, three kilometres past the southern gate, where you pay entry, arrange a guide if you want one and get a safety briefing. Tell the staff how long you have and what you hope to see; they will suggest a route, and the suggestion is usually better than the one you had planned.
Gates operate from six in the morning to six in the evening. Day visitors must be out by six, and overnight visitors must be at their accommodation by then unless they are on a booked night drive. You are registered in and out, so if you have not left by closing a search begins, and the cost of that search falls on you. Buses larger than a coaster cannot enter at all, coasters must take a guide, and in the wet season coasters are refused entry to the low lying northern plains. Gate charges are set out on the entrance fees and costs page.
Frequently Asked Questions About Getting to Akagera
How long does it take to drive from Kigali to Akagera?
Two to two and a half hours to the southern gate, covering about 110 kilometres on tarmac almost the whole way. Reception is three kilometres further. If you are heading to the north of the park, add up to four hours of driving inside the park from the southern gate, or use Mutumba Gate instead, which is around an hour from the northern camps.
What does it cost to enter the park with a vehicle?
Park entry is currently 100 US dollars per day or night for an international adult, 150 for two nights and 200 for three, with children of six to twelve at about half and under fives free. Residents of Rwanda or the East African Community pay 50 dollars, Pan African visitors from outside the region pay 50, and Rwandan and EAC citizens pay 15,000 Rwandan francs. The vehicle fee on the park’s current list is 10 dollars for a car or minibus and 20 for a bus or overlander. Entry includes self drive game viewing.
Do I need a visa for Rwanda, and what does it cost?
Every nationality can get a visa on arrival, and you can apply ahead through the Irembo portal. A standard thirty day single entry tourist visa currently costs 50 US dollars, with a ninety day multiple entry option around 70, and the East Africa Tourist Visa covering Rwanda, Uganda and Kenya at 100 dollars for ninety days. East African Community citizens enter free for six months, and nationals of African Union, Commonwealth and Francophonie countries get thirty days free on arrival. Bring a passport valid six months and a yellow fever certificate if arriving from an affected country.
Can I enter through the northern gate?
No. The far northern gate is exit only. The two entrances are the southern main gate, reached via Kabarondo, and Mutumba Gate, reached via the Nyagatare road out of Kayonza. Plan your route accordingly, because discovering this at the wrong gate costs hours.
Can I get to Akagera by public transport?
As far as Kabarondo, yes, and after that it becomes difficult. Onward minibuses are irregular and stop before the park, moto taxis cannot enter, and walking is not permitted anywhere inside. Without a vehicle your only option is hiring the park’s safari car for a half or full day drive. Sharing an operator’s day trip or renting a vehicle in Kayonza or Kabarondo works out better.
Do I need a four wheel drive?
High clearance is the minimum and four wheel drive is strongly advised, becoming necessary from March to May when the northern tracks soften. The road to the gate is tarmac, so the vehicle matters for what happens after you are through it rather than for getting there.
Is there fuel or food inside the park?
No fuel at all, so fill up in Kabarondo or Kayonza. Food is limited to the café at reception, a second café at the Mihindi picnic area roughly fifty kilometres in, and the restaurant at the large lodge in the south. Bring water and a packed lunch if you are driving the length of the park.
If working out gates, driving times and which end of the park to sleep in sounds like more planning than you want to do, the operators listed on our Rwanda safari companies page handle transfers from Kigali along with park entry, guiding and accommodation.
Tell them where you are staying inside the park when you enquire. It decides which gate you use and what time you need to leave Kigali, and getting that wrong is the one mistake that costs a whole morning.