Anyone see an elephant?

As my time in Rwanda drew to a close, I began to review what I had accomplished and seen (and what I had not). As a sort of last-minute decision, I chose to go to Akagera National Park, Rwanda's version of a safari. As opposed to a few other excursion options, it seemed most cost- and time-efficient...

Considering the robbery, this trip had cost me far more than I had anticipated, though I imagine I could have planned and budgeted better. I had such a short time left in Rwanda and had much to do before leaving; therefore, I couldn't rationalize taking a long trip, which would of course accumulate greater expense.

So I worked to assemble a group to go with me and managed to wrangle a few to go with me - two guys friends, Austin and Cesar.

We arrived at the park perhaps an hour after it opened. I didn't think that I was that excited specifically about the park, merely glad to be participating in a specific offering of Rwanda, but I squealed with joy when I saw my first zebra (and again and again with each subsequent zebra and then my first giraffes and so forth).

Finding animals was sometimes a difficult task - and we didn't see a ton. So the "safari" was actually relatively costly, but it was still an awesome experience. Most of the animals, despite our proximity to them, seemed indifferent to our presence - they had certainly seen these curious creatures before.