Game Safari--Akagera National Park

Akagera National Park is one of three national parks in Rwanda. There is one in the north called Volcanoes National Park where the gorillas live and Nyungwe National Park in the South-West which is home to five different primate species and lots more. Akagera is located along the eastern border of Rwanda with Tanzania. It is a more typical African savanna than the rest of the hilly lush areas of Rwanda. We continued with the Rwanda Eco-Tours company in our trusty Toyota LandCruiser 4x4. It is a 2 hour drive from Kigali to Akagera so we left our hotel at 6am...ugh!

The drive out of Kigali was not as spectacular as the other drives through the countryside because of a dense fog that blanketed the area. Just prior to our arrival, the sun started to break through. In the end, we had a beautiful sunny day driving through the park to see giraffes, buffalo, 5 different species of antelope, hippopotamuses (hippopatomi?), baboons, and countless birds. Our guide from the park was named James. His English was flawless and he had an encyclopedic knowledge of all the wildlife we saw. Did you know that a giraffe's tongue is approximately 45cm long (17+ inches)?! That makes it easier to pull the leaves off the thorny Acacia trees without getting stuck.

The LandCruiser was specially made for safaris--the roof over the 2nd and 3rd row of seats opens so you can stand or sit on top of the vehicle as you slowly drive through the park. James pointed out that there are also leopards and elephants in the park, but they are rarely seen during the hot sunny days. Erin and I got a lesson in how strong the sun can be when you are near the equator--though we used sunblock, we still got burnt. After 4 hours of driving through the different areas and seeing all the wildlife, we parked at a little fishing camp on the edge of Lake Ihema. A large troop of baboons live side-by-side with the fishermen. At first, Erin and I marveled at them and took lots of pictures. We watched as they groomed each other and scavenged for food. The fishermen were loading their catch from the night before and fixing their nets. The baboons here have a reputation of stealing from the fishermen who have been instructed by the park rangers not to attack the baboons because they are protected. We sat in one of the gazebos of the fishing camp and talked about what an amazing day we had. James said we could go ahead and have lunch while we were there. I thought it might be a bad idea to tempt the baboons with the ham & cheese sandwiches Erin and I had brought, but figured James knew if it was OK. After we each had 1/2, we decided to put the rest back in the LandCruiser. James tucked the bag with out leftovers under the front seat and closed & locked the doors.

Jamada, our driver, and I walked a few hundred yards away to see the fishermen loading their catch of tilapia and captain fish. James and Erin stayed near the truck to make sure neither the baboons or fishermen had a chance to steal our backpacks from the truck. Some of the fishermen were filling the back of a covered Toyota pickup with their catch among the blocks of ice that were driven there from Kigali that morning. The catch would be driven back to Kigali to be sold that afternoon. Jamada and I had walked past a dozen more baboons and an enormous termite mound to see the catch being loaded. On our way back we noticed that one of the baboons was sitting on the hood of the truck. James and Erin were less than 50 ft away keeping an eye on the baboon as Jamada and I approached. The doors were closed and the windows appeared to be rolled up. James told Erin that the baboon was nicknamed "Star" by the rangers at the park because he is the most mischievous of the bunch. He has been seen opening the the doors of trucks by the handle if it is left unlocked.

Just then, "Star" jumped over to the driver's door and was hanging from the window. He discovered that the window was open just enough to slide his fingers in at the top. He rocked back and forth with his feet on the door a couple times before the window exploded and he jumped in! James hopped up and threw a water bottle at "Star," but it was too late. In less than 2 seconds he had broken the window, jumped inside the truck, found the paper bag with a ham & cheese sandwich under the seat and jumped back out to run away and enjoy his spoils! James ran after him, but it didn't matter. Jamada and I ran to the truck. We couldn't believe what just happened. Our cool, calm, collected driver was shocked! After a few minutes, Jamada shook it off and he called a car shop in Kigali to make arrangements for the window to be fixed. It was early afternoon and we knew that there would likely be rain in the late afternoon on our drive back. We decided we should hurry back and try to beat the rain, which we did. While we were driving back to the park entrance, James nonchalantly mentioned that wasn't the first time "Star" had pulled that kind of move. Wow! What a memorable day!