Le 22 fevrier There isn’t one American who hasn’t seen Disney’s “The Lion King.” You know – the one that takes place in a vast land that is fully alive yet incredibly mysterious at the same time, swarming with animals that we’ve only seen at the zoo.
Driving into Akagera National Park in Eastern Rwanda was just like that. After stopping to push up the roof of our vehicle to turn it into a safari-ready Mwami Mobile, we drove from Rwanda into the Lion King. I was half expecting the scenery around me to turn into a cartoon and have Simba and Mufasa come strolling along the bend.
Akagera was absolutely incredible – we were able to see an afternoon game drive yesterday and morning game drive of the lakes region today. I wish I could count all the types of animals we saw – baboons, hippos, giraffes, warthogs, buffalo, impalas, zebras, monkeys… and all the birds you could ever imagine. Even without all of the majestic (and not so majestic) creatures, though, the landscape was absolutely breathtaking.
Looking out from Akagera Lodge (the sole place to lodge in the park outside of literally sleeping among the animals), we had an incredible view of the lake – and in the morning, we were able to watch the sun washing over the mirror-like water. (And we were warned, too, to keep our door closed because there’s a baboon that sometimes comes around to socialize with guests.) Around each turn driving through the park, we were taken aback by a new sight or perspective. Thank goodness for my digital camera, because there’s no way I would have been able to pick and choose which moments to document and which ones had to be kept in my mental stash.
Literally, I felt as if I’d been in Akagera before. And I did know it very well – I’ve seen the Lion King what, maybe 38 times in my life? I even felt compelled to rove the spacious terrain in our safaried-out Mwami Mobile singing “Circle of Life” at the top of my lungs. It felt like the most appropriate thing to do.
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