Accredited by the Rwanda Development Board
4.8(178 reviews)·Based in Kigali·Operating since 2013·2 tours on trip2rwanda
Big Five game drives and boat safaris in the east, with conservation-focused itineraries built alongside park management.
Akagera Plains Safaris has spent over a decade telling anyone who will listen that Rwanda is a savannah destination, not just a gorilla one. Founded in 2013, the company runs game drives and boat safaris exclusively in the east, and its guides log more days inside Akagera National Park each year than any other operator's.
The company works closely with park management — several guides came through Akagera's own ranger training — and its itineraries fold in the conservation story behind the park's remarkable comeback: lions returned in 2015, rhinos in 2017, and the boat safari on Lake Ihema drifts past one of Africa's densest hippo populations.
Family groups are a speciality; vehicles carry bean bags for camera lenses and patience for young wildlife spotters in equal measure.
4.8
Based on 178 traveler reviews
Reviews are verified — only travelers who completed a trip with this operator can leave one.
Two days, all Big Five except leopard, and a guide (Divine) who turned every sighting into a story. The tented camp on the lake was the highlight — hippos grunting all night, kids thrilled.
The Okafor family · Nigeria · Traveled April 2026
Sunset on Lake Ihema with fish eagles overhead and a guide who could identify every bird before I'd raised my binoculars. The conservation briefing with park staff was a genuine behind-the-scenes moment, not a tourist performance.
Ruth M. · Ireland · Traveled February 2026
The budget shared-group safari is exactly as advertised — simple camp, superb game drives. Don't expect luxury; do expect the best guiding in the east of the country.
Daniel T. · United States · Traveled November 2025
Showing recent reviews. The full review history arrives with verified post-trip reviews (Milestone 4).
