A couple of days ago, David Attenborough turned 100.
What a milestone. And yes — I’m one of those people who genuinely loves him. Romeo does too. His documentaries have been part of our home for years, and the work he did in the Virunga back in the 70s — across what is now Rwanda and Uganda — has always stayed with me. Not just because it’s iconic, but because it taught a whole generation how to look at wildlife with respect, not entitlement.
So of course, in the back of my mind, there was the dream: gorillas.
In the dream version of this trip, we would have gone to see them. In the real version, Romeo needs to be at least 15, and gorilla trekking can easily cost thousands of pounds per person once you add everything up (most packages start at £15,000…). So we did what real life requires: we chose what made sense, what we could afford, and what would still feel meaningful.
Which brings me to Akagera National Park
Akagera National Park
Choosing a safari is not romantic (especially with a child)
People talk about “doing a safari” like it’s a single activity you book and move on from. In reality, it’s a whole decision-making process: logistics, money, safety, energy levels, and the kind of experience you actually want your child to have.
I’ve done a few safaris before. Romeo hadn’t. This was his first.
And I didn’t want it to be a tick-box day where we wake up at 2am, drive for hours, spend the whole day in a car, and crawl back exhausted. I would do that alone if I had to. With a child? No.
I wanted Romeo to feel the countryside. To sleep properly. To wake up somewhere quiet. To understand that a national park isn’t a “tour” — it’s land. It’s people living around it. It’s an ecosystem that doesn’t exist for us.
So instead of rushing in and out, we stayed by Akagera National Park before and after the game drive.
And honestly? That decision changed everything.
Akagera Park Inn: the quiet, the pool, and the feeling of being out there
We stayed at Akagera Park Inn ([akageraparkinn.com] and it was one of my favourite experiences in Rwanda — not because it was flashy, but because it was the opposite of Kigali.
Kigali is busy. It’s intense. It’s a capital city with weight and movement and noise.
Akagera Park Inn was where my nervous system finally exhaled.
In our beautiful room
It was quiet in a way you don’t get in normal life. The kind of quiet where you start noticing small things again: the air changing at sunset, the sounds at night, the way the sky looks when there aren’t streetlights fighting it.
We spent time just being there — relaxing, slowing down, sitting by the pool, swimming, feeling connected to nature instead of constantly “doing” something. And it wasn’t eerie at all. It was peaceful. Safe. Serene.
It also matters to me that it’s a community-led project — there’s a school, gardening, and a real sense that staying there supports something bigger than a tourist experience. You’re not in a bubble. You’re in a place that feels rooted.
The night the electricity went out (and why it became weirdly perfect)
One evening, right before dinner, the electricity went down.
And that’s normal out there.
At first it felt strange — no light apart from our phone torches and the moon — and my first thought was annoyingly practical: my phone battery was low, we were about to sleep, and we were waking up at 4am for a full-day game drive. I wanted my phone charged because I wanted photos. I wanted to remember it properly.
But then it became one of those moments that travel gives you when you stop trying to control everything.
The sky was incredible. The moon was doing all the work. The darkness felt like real darkness — not city darkness. And huge credit to the chef because dinner still arrived and it was genuinely good, even without lights.
Romeo thought it was “pretty cool.”
Candlelight Dinner
The safari day: one full day, and the kind of wild that makes you quiet
We did one full game drive — up at 5am, out all day, back late afternoon.
And yes, we saw a lot: buffaloes, giraffes, baboons, zebras, hippos, elephants, loads of birds.
Akagera isn’t the biggest park, and I’m not going to pretend it has the same density as every other safari I’ve done — it felt different. But it still gave us moments that made my whole body go quiet.
My favourite was the elephants.
A family crossing the road, slowly, like they owned time. Another family drinking water — that calm, grounded presence that makes you feel like you’re watching something ancient and completely uninterested in your existence.
Romeo loved the elephants too. He loved the size of them, the way they moved, the fact that they were just… there. Real. Not behind a fence. Not in a zoo. Not performing.
The elephants
And one thing that was genuinely interesting about Akagera: there were a couple of places where you can actually get out of the car — little café-type stops, viewpoints by the lake. That’s not something I’ve experienced in other parks. Usually, you stay in the vehicle. Full stop.
So being out of the car was this weird mix of exciting and slightly terrifying. You’re walking around thinking, this is cool, and also thinking, we are literally outside the car… in the wild… what exactly are we doing?
Romeo, of course, was completely unbothered.
By the lake, outside the car!!!
Romeo’s Safari Interview (Akagera, first safari, age 6)
Romeo’s favourite part wasn’t even just the animals — it was the feeling of being in the safari car. He wanted to be in the front passenger seat next to the driver, with the best view, like he was part of the team. At one point he was basically pretending he was driving the safari car himself — fully in his element.
On the front seat
And when I asked him about the experience, this is what he said:
What did you think a safari would be like before we went?
“My expectations that I would find a lion, but I knew it was going to be very difficult…”
Anything else you really wanted to see?
“Hyenas.”
What was the first animal you saw?
“The first animal that I saw was a lot of buffalo.”
(And yes: “The buffaloes are the easiest to find.”)
Were the buffaloes special?
“Yeah, they are basically gigantic cows. They are pretty cool and they are vegan.”
Favourite animal from the ones you saw?
“The giraffes, they are so cool.”
Funniest animal?
“The baboons, there was so many and they are so funny .”
At night in the lodge, were you scared animals would come?
“No.”,, “I won’t even escape.”
How did you feel when the electricity went off at dinner?
“Yeah, yeah. It was pretty cool.”
What did you like most about that dinner in the dark?
“I liked the dinner a lot, it was so yummy.”
“It was like pasta and tomato sauce but so tasty. That was so good. Actually all the food at the lodge was so amazing, I really liked the breakfast too, especially the porridge.”
When we got out of the car by the lake, were you scared?
“I was comfortable. That was nothing.”
“I was not even scared if I fell into the water plus I also drove the car once we went back to the safari jeep… just kidding, I was just pretending to drive.”
(Which is where I had to remind him that hippos are one of the most dangerous animals in Africa and the water is not a joke.)
Look mummy, I am driving!!!
What did you learn from seeing animals in the wild?
“I learned that they have to be left alone.”
“And if you’re vegan, that’s the most special thing, because I think they sense you are not going to hurt them and they feel safe with you.”
Would you recommend safari to other kids?
“Yeah, sure, sure, sure, sure.”
“It was incredible, fantastic.”
“I was very curious. I had curiosity.”
“I was curious because of the lions and hyenas, but I didn’t see them, but I still had the best time as all the animals were special, and hope to do another one again”
Any final safari wisdom?
“The easy animals are the buffaloes. Buffaloes and baboons.”
“Zebras, I saw a few, and giraffes. Those are the medium ones to find.”
“But sometimes they’re very, very far away. And elephants are so amazing”
Living his best life channeling Attenborough
The point (for me, and for him)
Safari isn’t just about seeing animals.
It’s about remembering you’re not the centre of the world.
It’s about learning respect — for wildlife, for land, for boundaries — and understanding that these animals don’t exist for our entertainment.
And if you’re going to do it, do it in a way that supports the places you’re visiting — the people, the land, the local economy — not just your own photos.
Akagera National Park gave Romeo his first safari. But staying near the park — in the quiet, in the countryside, connected to a community project — gave us something else: time, calm, and that rare feeling of being somewhere truly close to nature.
After Kigali, it was exactly what we needed.
Love & Light,
Emma
Visit Rwanda