After a long drive back to Kigali from our race base, we'll bring you to your hotel for a relaxed night, and maybe an extra long shower. Your guide will meet you in the evening to brief you on the days ahead. Sleep well — the plains can wait until morning.

Leave the city behind and head east through banana plantations and terraced hillsides, watching the landscape flatten and open as you go. It's a short drive by African safari standards — around three hours — and you'll be through the park gates by early afternoon.

Your first game drive begins the moment you enter, winding down towards the lakes as the light softens and the animals come out to drink. Tonight you sleep under canvas on the shore of Lake Ihema, with hippos grunting in the shallows and not a lot else between you and the park.

Out early, when the plains are cold and the predators are still moving. Today you head north into the open savannah that Akagera is famous for — the best country in the park for lion, and where the reintroduced rhinos now range. Your guide will read the ground and follow whatever the morning gives you.

After lunch and the heat of the day, swap the vehicle for a boat and head out onto Lake Ihema. Hippos surface close enough to startle you, crocodiles line the banks, and the birdlife here is extraordinary even if you've never given birds a second thought. Back at camp for sundowners over the water, and stories about what you saw.

One last drive as the sun comes up, taking a slow route towards the gate and giving the park a final chance to surprise you. Then the easy run back to Kigali — around three hours — arriving in the city with the afternoon still ahead of you.

Time for a proper coffee, a last look at the hills, and a flight home that doesn't have to be rushed.