Wilderness Safaris reveals Magashi tented camp
Wilderness Safaris has joined forces with the Rwanda Development Board and conservation group African Parks to create Magashi, a six-tented camp in Akagera National Park.
Following the success of the brand’s Bisate Lodge project in Volcanoes National Park, Wilderness Safaris’ new development will be situated in the north-eastern section of Akagera, overlooking Lake Rwanyakazinga. Set to open in December 2018, the intimate encampment will allow guests to view up close the park’s 500 species of birds, as well as buffalo, lions, elephants, and giraffes in their natural habitats. Funded in part by The Howard G. Buffett Foundation with the aim of contributing to the overall protection and development of the area, Magashi marks the latest addition to a park in the midst of revival.
“As we celebrate our 35th year of changing lives in 2018, we are proud to announce this exciting partnership with the Rwanda Development Board and African Parks, further demonstrating our commitment to pioneering sustainable and authentic ecotourism in Rwanda,” comments Grant Woodrow, Wilderness Safaris Chief Operations Officer. “This new classic camp will not only offer our guests an extraordinary savannah experience, but one that is strongly rooted in a core purpose – to help conserve Rwanda’s last protected savannah ecosystem and species like shoebill and black rhino.”
Having all but eliminated poaching, the 100,000-hectare park now boasts a thriving ecosystem, which saw the reintroduction of lions in 2015 after a 20-year absence, as well as endangered black rhinoceros in the same year. A focus on threatened animals and the opportunity for guests to observe increasingly rare gorillas i the wild was a factor in Bisate Lodge’s popularity, and with Akegera National Park being 75% self-financing thanks to safari tourism, Magashi will look to replicate the model.
“With the launch of Magashi, our guests will have the ideal opportunity to combine an extraordinary gorilla experience at Volcanoes National Park whilst staying at Bisate Lodge, with a spectacular savannah safari at Akagera,” Woodrow concludes. “Add to this the prospect of viewing chimps and other primates of the forests in the western side of the country and Rwanda offers a complete standalone high-end safari experience.”
