On the shore of Lake Rwanyakazinga, a pair of elephants are feeding on an acacia tree. One, known as Mihembe, is the largest tusker in the park, weighing around six tons. From our boat, we watch as the bachelors eat thorny branches and lumber along to continue the feast. Nearby, cormorants warm their spread wings. A scattered herd of impala grazes in the background.
“Akagera is a special place,” guide Luke Abbot tells me as we take in the scene. “The Akagera River makes the park what it is. It’s Central Africa’s largest protected wetland — without the river, there wouldn’t be all these lakes. Every corner you turn, you see something.”
There is indeed plenty to see here. What we don’t see a great deal of, though, is people. The small park in eastern Rwanda is home to 29 black rhinos, 30 white rhinos, 133 elephants, up to 100 leopards, around 40 lions, 85 Masai giraffe, and nearly 500 species of bird. But it’s possible to enjoy wildlife sightings here without many, or any, other vehicles or humans in sight, especially on the peaceful waters of silvery lakes that stretch
