Rwanda National Parks

Rwanda National Park: Akagera National Park, Volcanoes National Park, and Nyungwe Forest National Park. Rwanda’s tourism industry revolves around these national parks, which draw thousands of visitors annually. The Rwanda Development Board (RDB), an organization with assistance from the government, is in charge of maintaining Rwanda National Park, including all marketing functions as well as the infrastructure and tourist amenities. Every national park has a variety of fauna and its own unique tourist setting. Located adjacent to Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, the renowned Volcanoes National Park is home to the Virungas volcanic mountain range. Besides being the oldest in Africa, Volcanoes National Park is the most visited national park worldwide out of all of Rwanda’s national parks. In addition to the national parks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda, Volcanoes National Parks are home to the renowned mountain gorillas, whose numbers continue to increase each. However, in order to see these mountain gorillas, visitors must obtain Gorilla Trekking permits, which are limited and cost $650 per person. This means that permits must be obtained prior to the Gorilla Tracking activity.

In addition to the other national parks, chimpanzees and other primates can be found in large numbers at Nyungwe Forest National Park. Akagera National Park lies east of Rwanda, bordering the Republic of Tanzania and Lake Victoria, Africa’s largest lake. The diverse African species seen in this national park is encased in a savannah habitat. Elephants, giraffes, buffalos, zebras, and other animals are among them. Lions were once found in Akaera National Park, but during the genocide, they were eradicated due to food poisoning. It appears that the current fencing at Akagera National Park is intended to facilitate the reintroduction of lions, which have been transported from South Africa since 2014.