Wilderness Magashi

Wilderness Magashi is built for travellers pairing a Rwanda gorilla trek with a proper savanna safari, on the shores of Lake Rwanyakazinga in the remote north-east of Akagera National Park. Eight canvas-tented suites stand on raised boardwalks above the lakeshore, each with its own deck facing water that holds one of Africa's highest densities of hippo. Akagera is Rwanda's only Big Five park, rebuilt from near-collapse after lion were reintroduced in 2015 and eastern black rhino in 2017, a partnership between Wilderness, African Parks and the Rwanda Development Board.

Magashi sits in Akagera's only exclusive-use concession, reached by no other camp. Guides, several of them among the first Rwandans to earn FGASA qualification, lead game drives after lion, leopard and the reintroduced rhino, along with more than 500 recorded bird species including the shoebill stork in the surrounding papyrus swamp. Boat trips on the lake add close-up views of hippo pods and Nile crocodile. A conservation levy on every stay funds Akagera's predator monitoring and invasive-plant clearance programmes. Evenings end with sundowners on the deck, the lake turning gold as hippos surface for air.