Set at a relatively low altitude on the border with Tanzania, Akagera National Park could scarcely be more different in mood to the breezy cultivated hills that characterise much of Rwanda-The land of a thousand hills. Dominated by the labyrinth of swamps and lakes that follow the meandering course of the Akagera River-the most remote source of the Nile, this is magnificent African savannah landscape of tangled acacia woodland interspersed with open grassland. Unlike the rest of Rwanda, which is generally hilly and temperate, Akagera National Park is more flat and savannah-like. It is a very scenic location, with a good mix of ecosystems including riverine woodland, open grasslands and dominated by a string of lakes surrounded by papyrus swamps

The Akagera National Park in eastern Rwanda is teeming with wildlife both large and small. They range from Lions, Giraffe, Elephant and Hippopotamus to Hyena, Impala and Gazelle. There is a rich variety of bird life at Akagera as well.
Akagera is truly big game country! Herds of elephant s and buffaloes emerge from the woodland to drink at the lakes, while lucky visitors might stumble across a leopard, a spotted hyena or even a stray lion. Giraffe and zebra haunt the savannah, and more than a dozen types of antelope inhabit the park, most commonly the handsome chestnut-coated impala, but also the diminutive oribi and secretive bushbuck, as well as the ungainly tsessebe and the world's largest antelope, the statuesque Cape eland.

Camping alongside the picturesque lakes of Akagera is a truly wonderfull introduction to the wonders of the African bush. Pods of 50 hippopotami grunt and splutter throughout the day, while outsized crocodiles soak up the sun with their vast jaws menacingly agape. Fish eagles, strut their stuff as the avian monarchs of Africa's waterways. Lining the lakes are some of the continent's densest concentrations of waterbirds, while the connecting marshes are the haunt of the endangered and exquisite papyrus gonolek, and the bizarre shoebill stork - the latter perhaps the most eagerly sought after of all African birds. Other birds one can expect to see are, storks, egrets, ibises, plovers, sandpipers, kingfishers and herons.

source: rwandatourism.com