When people talk of the big five, they are referring to the animals that hunters used to find challenging or dangerous to hunt on foot. They are the African lion, rhinoceros, elephant, cheetah, and buffalo. Thankfully people only seek them now for the sake of seeing them, or photographing them. For the most part.

In Rwanda the place to see the Big Five is just one location: Akagera National Park. It used to be a little bigger, but after the Rwandan refugees returned to the area, they were then too numerous for the area they’d once lived in so the government shrank the park so they could build houses to give to the returning citizens.

I slept for just 4.5 hours last night, an hour more than the night before at least. It was hard work getting out of bed, and across to the main building for a 05:00 breakfast. I wasn’t that keen on some of the options so had a bread roll with mango jam, and then after the crepes appeared I had one of those too with a slice of cheese. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to take the Malarone with.

The park entrance was just a twenty minute drive away, and we got there just before they opened the gates at 06:00. Bosco seemed keen on taking us on a short loop before taking us to the visitor centre. It was almost like he knew something…

I’m sure we mentioned Jurassic Park more than once on the drive, but the roads reminded me of the Serengeti: gouged by tyres when wet which meant constant turns and swerves to keep the tyres in one piece. It’s like some of the dirt roads we’d taken over the last week, but more severe. After a while it seemed like we might not see anything, as that’s the way some game drives can be. Bosco had received a tip off from another guide though.

He then pointed out to us a group of three white rhinos in the distance, and to the right of them we could see some lions: a male and two females. We also got to see some impala. All of these were quite some distance away, so I tried using my 2x teleconverter at last. I found from a moving vehicle it was pretty much impossible whether I’d got something to rest the lens on or not. I’d not accounted for vehicle vibrations. It was nice to get more photographs of white rhinos though - maybe one of the shots would come out better than my previous ones had.

I didn’t expect Bosco to suggest we get closer to them. It took a few minutes, but we went a long way round and got ahead of them in time to see them get closer, and closer, and just kept coming towards us. They crossed the road in front of us so we had a clear, unobstructed view of these incredible animals. When they kept on moving, the driver moved to another location so we could carry on watching them. The day really was off to a great start. Two of the big five were already seen, and I now didn’t care what else we got to see today.

On our way to the visitor centre to register, something we’re meant to do before tracking, Bosco explained the blue and black flags dotted around are to help reduce tsetse fly numbers. I thought nothing of it at the time.

At the visitor centre we were told a little about the park, and what we might see, whilst Bosco registered us. I bought a Mars bar for 4000 RWF after looking around the gift shop. I had to use my debit card for this as they’re cashless in this national park. Sadly it was a disappointing, melted mess. Still, it was some sugar.

On our way out, Bosco asked if he minded us taking another guide straight to the camp that’s halfway through the park. We agreed, so he joined us for the game drive to start with. It wasn’t long before we saw several mongooses crossing the road, but the only thing our driver seemed to want to stop for was larger mammals, or at least, popular animals. Even then it had to be brief. We stopped for some baboons, and went down to one of the lakes where we could see a hippo mostly submerged.

We then didn’t stop when we saw a warthog crossing the road, and when we saw a herd of buffalos running across it later I wasn’t quick enough to photograph them. On that instance, as well as a few other times, a t-shirt sleeve had appeared quickly in the way just as I was taking the shot, and then it was missed. Ideally I needed to move quicker, but I wasn’t bothered enough to try. Part of the problem was I was now being bitten by insects, tsetse flies to be precise, according to Bosco. That was a concern, and I guess I’d have to keep an eye out for sleeping sickness symptoms over the next couple of weeks to be sure. Whatever they actually were though, their bite sure did pack a punch.

We stopped to photograph some zebras, or at least thought we had. I took a couple of photos, holding my big lens steady, but was then jolted back down into the car when Bosco decided to start driving off without checking if we were back sitting. It’d jarred my neck a little, but it was now time for our lunch stop. At 09:30. It would be a chance to recover though, and a break from the flies

The lunch had been provided by the hotel - just a toasted cheese sandwich and a bottle of water. That was fine by me though, I didn’t want too much to eat whilst we were bouncing around in a vehicle on these roads. I’d learnt my lesson on race day. It was nice to relax for a while, in the shade, with the view of Lake Ihema in front of us, and beyond that: Tanzania. We were actually that close that my phone had connected to Tanzania's mobile network!

When we got going again the flies soon returned. We stopped to take photographs of several warthogs, and Masai giraffes; but the flies were so annoying that I just wanted to leave. My hope was that they’d leave us alone after we left.

We tried one loop looking for elephants, and went down a road that had a sign saying it was closed. When the road ran out he had to turn back, and off-roaded briefly. Other guides he checked in with couldn’t find elephants either, so we gave up. I was more than okay with that, but felt sorry for the other two not getting to see them in the wild. Seeing your first wild elephant is an experience to remember.

Just before we reached the exit we did see the most unexpected sight. A hippo ran across the road in front of us! I didn’t get to photograph that either as my reactions weren’t close to being fast enough as it wasn’t something I expected to see (and was busy swatting flies), but it’s a sight I won’t forget.

We looked in the gift shop at the exit whilst Bosco put the roof back down. When we got back in, the tsetse flies were magically all gone! When we left the park around 12:40 we each gave Bosco a 40 USD tip, and thanked him for his work. He really had done a brilliant job of driving us around, and his work on making sure we saw rhinos was the best.

Sometime later, we stopped at a rest stop at Mukarange. We saw a sign saying stone baked pizza and decided that’s what we needed now. We ordered a Hawaiian pizza between us, and some drinks, then invited Bosco to join us. I also took this opportunity to buy a pastry for tomorrow’s packed breakfast.

In the gift shop I bought a painted egg for 4000 RWF. We then didn’t stop again until we reached Kigali International Airport for dropping off Adrian. On the way into the airport we had to leave the car, remove bags to be sniffed by a dog, and go through the scanner. We then said our goodbyes at the departures, but found at 17:00 he’d got a couple of hours at the cafe outside before they’d let him into the building.

The closer we got to the hotel, the busier the roads got. At one point we waited, not moving, for longer than it’d have taken to have walked there. By the time I was in my room at the Grazia Apartments Hotel it was 17:45. I got myself sorted, and then met Scott for food. As the hotel was busy with another large group, it took about forty minutes from ordering for our steaks to arrive. It tasted great though, and with a drink and tip came to only 20,000 RWF per person. The most expensive meal here, but even with the tip it was only about £10; a third of the price it’d be back home.

Sadly the much needed shower was a cold one, but it was nice to feel relatively clean again. I then sorted my bag out properly to reduce how much sorting I’d need to do in the next couple of days. From now until the finish, I'd be going solo.