Akagera Safari by Night

Akagera also has two campgrounds.   The more northern one is a bit harder (read,  rougher roads) to get to,  and apparently isn't used very often.    It has a nice pavillion area,   pit toilets,  and firepit area.    This was probably one of the neatest nights of camping I've ever had.  

The campground is up near the top of a hill,  with views on three sides looking over the valley and into Tanzania.   Our group of 6 were the only people there. 

As we were setting up we saw topi (larger antelope types of animals) and tiny gazelles watching us.     Through the joys of car camping,  we also could bring along creature comforts.....   including wine.  :-)

After dinner we got a campfire going.    Playing around with long exposures on the camera,  we spelled out "Rwanda" in headlamps....

The stars were incredible:   we couldn't see a light source anywhere on the horizon.     A few other camera shots on long exposure:   (45 seconds or so!)....

After sitting around the campfire for a while,  we started hearing snorting sounds coming from the tent area.     We walked over there and could see A LOT of eyes reflecting back at us.        I may have mentioned before that there aren't big cats here so at least we didn't worry about lions,  but there are still hyenas and baboons which can be a bit of a problem....   but, we knew we had the cars to sleep in if needed....    We set up another long exposure on the camera,  and could see a small herd of topi (large antelope animals) were the eyes reflecting back at us!

This was sooooooo cool!  After a bit more star-gazing, we all settled in for a nice sleep for the night,  unbothered by any animals and lulled to sleep by the gentle winds flapping on our tents.  :-) 

Akagera Safari

On the eastern side of Rwanda is Akagera National Park.     This is the safari destination of Rwanda.   From it's hills you can see into Tanzania and towards the Serengeti.

One of the really cool things about Akagera is that it isn't as strictly regulated as other safari areas we'd been to in 2006.  You have to check in and out and get a permit,  so if you have car trouble hopefully they'd come looking for you,  but then you can go on your own without a guide.   We rented a pop-top Land Cruiser, and we (actually, Scott) could drive ourselves around whereever we wanted.   

 
You can also get out of the car whereever you want (but not recommended by the hippos!).     There aren't any "big cats" (lions, cheetahs, etc) here,  but the freedom to drive and walk around are well worth the trade!  :-)    Here's a lunch break with Scott and Jill,  and two of their friends in Rwanda, Joe and Sophie;    you can barely see the zebras and giraffes in the background:

 Akagera has a lot of varieties of antelope,  water buffalo, giraffes, zebras,  hippos, and elephants that weren't in an area we could see,  and a reported rhino.    

I love the flopsy ear on this baby zebra: