Mantis Akagera Game Lodge

Akagera Game Lodge offers 28, en suite standard rooms, each of which has been styled in a contemporary African decor. All rooms can be booked with twin or double bed configurations, as well as an option for families to book inter-leading rooms. All Standard Rooms are located on ground level. Features include satellite television, air conditioning, an in-room safe, complimentary Wi-Fi and an under the counter convenience fridge. Other amenities include a tea/ coffee station, hair dryer, adaptors and a laundry service available to guests.

Akagera Game Lodge offers 29 en-suite balcony rooms, each of which has been styled in contemporary African decor. All rooms can be booked with twin or double bed configurations, as well as an option for families to book inter-leading rooms. All Balcony rooms are located on the upper level. Features include satellite television, air conditioning, an in-room safe, complimentary Wi-Fi and an under the counter convenience fridge. Other amenities include a tea/ coffee station, hair dryer, adaptors and a laundry service available to guests.

Styled in contemporary African décor, the spacious Balcony Suite with en-suite bathroom comes with a lounge area to relax after a full day’s activities admiring hills and valleys of the National Park. Features include satellite television, air conditioning, an in-room safe, complimentary Wi-Fi and an under the counter convenience fridge. Other amenities include a tea/ coffee station, hair dryer, adaptors and a laundry service available to guests.

The lavishly appointed Presidential Suite is a one-of-a-kind experience. It comprises 2 en-suite bedrooms accommodating a maximum of 4 guests, the main bedroom boasting its own private patio overlooking the hills and valleys of the National Park. The suite also has its own fully fitted kitchen, a beautifully appointed dining room seating up to 10 guests and a separate lounge. Features include satellite television, air conditioning, an in-room safe, complimentary Wi-Fi and an under the counter convenience fridge. Other amenities include a tea/ coffee station, hair dryer, adaptors and a laundry service available to guests.

Inzovu Restaurant makes use of fresh and seasonal, locally sourced produce with added African local twist to dishes that promise to tantalise your taste buds. Inzovu Restaurant is open for breakfast and dinner and offers a buffet and set menu options.

Akagera National Park is an inspiring conservation story being returned to its former glory and is home to the Big Five and nearly 500 bird species including the Shoebill and Papyrus Gonolek. Guests can traverse the park from the southern tip to the north over a 6-hour game drive over rolling highlands, savannah plains, and swamp fringed lakes, with night drives that can be arranged on request. Despite being a relatively small park at just 1,122 km², it is home to an impressive array of wildlife.

Mantis Akagera Game Lodge can arrange morning or evening cruises on Lake Ihema. Sharing a border with Tanzania, Lake Ihema is rich in biodiversity, said to be home to 550 bird species, hippopotamuses and crocodiles.

Game drives are available both in the morning and the afternoon at the camp, revealing the wildlife and scenery of the region in all its glory. The natural cycle of rainfall will dictate the seasonal movement of wildlife in the area which will affect what guests are able to witness during their trip.

The area is renowned as one of the best birding areas in the world and guests can view an array of wildlife.

A partnership between Mantis and Accor was formed in 2018 to address both social and environmental imbalances and find a way to work through the ongoing crisis regarding conservation. This has led to the creation of the Community Conservation Fund Africa; a project formed from a passion to protect the natural world. Adrian Gardiner is the CEO and Chairman of this fund, someone who is already a well-known conservationist and philanthropist.

‘If you take the wildlife out of Africa there will be little to no tourism’. The organisation is a non-profit organisation that focuses on both fundraising and grant giving, aiming to educate and empower local communities by implementing sustainable wildlife management systems. Mantis offers curated destinations inspired by such sustainable adventures, inviting guests to experience eco-tourism as well as luxury. The collaboration between CCFA, Accor and Mantis has seen R7.5 million invested into communities and conservation.

The fund has been able to bring together three internationally successful wildlife conservation organisations: Wilderness Foundation Africa, Africa Parks and Tusk Trust, collaborating on projects in South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Kenya and Uganda. The projects have been able to Contributed towards the alleviation of poverty, assist with personal and social transformation, change and uplift communities and address ways of creating more sustainable lifestyles while also helping to offset carbon emissions.

Mantis knows that authenticity and heritage are important parts of their business and highlights this by employing locals and doing whatever they can to support the neighbouring communities. Local indigenous designers and artists are also promoted in the process.

Mantis ensures that their properties use locally sourced food within their lodges and restaurants, using indigenous ingredients and reducing their carbon footprint in the process as air miles are not used to import food.

Mantis’ properties sells locally harvested and produced honey from their beekeeping project, an initiative that aims to preserve the bees. Over 120 beehives have been introduced as have trained local community members as beekeepers, who now harvest their own honey.

Mantis sells indigenous plants and trees, specifically the ‘Spekboom’ which is known as the most carbon-friendly plant in the world. The other plants that are sold are also edible as well as medicinal.

The design of the properties that Mantis runs aim to create buildings that are not harmful to their occupants or to the larger environment. Low-impact materials are used as are durable products to minimise waste and increase renewability.