Carbon footprint calculator

How much CO₂ does a safari produce?

Most of it is the flight — not the safari. This calculator breaks down the carbon footprint of your Akagera trip by flight, transfers, game drives and lodge, using real route distances and DEFRA 2023 emissions factors. Every number has a source.

Flying from

Safari type

Itinerary

1 day Day trip

2 days 1 night

3 days 2 nights

4 days Immersive

5 days Full park

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Where you sleep

Camping 4 kg/nt

Karenge 7 kg/nt

Ruzizi 10 kg/nt

Game Lodge 38 kg/nt

Magashi 55 kg/nt

Passengers
More = lower per person

Your footprint

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kg CO₂ equivalent · total safari footprint

Calculating your footprint…

What does that mean in real terms?

Your safari		—
This return flight		—
One year of driving		1,800 kg
One month electricity		70 kg

—

cups of coffee
(0.28 kg CO₂ each)

—

smartphone charges
(0.005 kg CO₂ each)

—

days of EU home
electricity use

Flight

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Transfer

—

Game drives

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Lodge

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Cost to offset your footprint

Gold Standard verified carbon credits · $18 per tonne CO₂e · 2024 voluntary market rate

Share your result

Methodology. Flight emissions use DEFRA 2023 economy class factors (0.195 kg CO₂e/km long-haul, 0.255 short-haul, radiative forcing included, applied return). Vehicle: DEFRA 2023 diesel 4×4 at 0.27 kg CO₂e/km, divided by passenger count. Transfer: Kigali → Akagera South Gate 110 km one way (verified road distance). In-park game drive distances derived from GPS-verified landmark coordinates (South Gate −1.958°/30.602°, North Gate −1.495°/30.648°, Karenge −1.437°/30.571°, and 12 further verified points). Lodge emissions derived from operational data: Karenge and Ruzizi are 100% solar (sources: Ukuri, Expert Africa, Safari Frank); Akagera Game Lodge: Mantis, 60 rooms, full AC, grid-connected; Magashi: Wilderness Safaris, 8 suites, generator backup; camping: solar lights, bucket showers only. No published kg/night exists for these properties — figures are the authors' best assessment against Green Key/DEFRA benchmarks. Offset at Gold Standard voluntary rate $18/tonne (2024). All figures per person.

Calculator by Akagera Safari / New Dawn Associates Ltd, Kigali, Rwanda.

Our commitment · Every booking

We contribute to permanent carbon removal on every safari we sell.

Through Stripe Climate, 0.5% of every Akagera Safari booking funds frontier carbon removal technologies — direct air capture, enhanced weathering, and ocean-based removal. Not tree offsets. Permanent removal. The contribution happens automatically at checkout, before the money reaches us.

0.5%

Lodge emissions transparency

Where you sleep matters — but less than you think.

Most safari operators don't publish lodge emissions data. We do, because the difference between sleeping at Karenge and sleeping at the Game Lodge is real — and you deserve to know it before you book.

These figures are derived from each property's energy source, building type, and published operational data. No exact kg/night figures are published by any of these properties. These are our best assessments against DEFRA and Green Key benchmarks.

Lodge	Energy source	kg CO₂/night
CampingEco	Solar lights only	~4
Karenge Bush CampEco	100% solar	~7
Ruzizi Tented LodgeEco	100% solar	~10
Akagera Game Lodge	Grid + generator	~38
Magashi Camp	Generator backup	~55

20+

Years running community-based tourism in Rwanda

0.5%

Of every booking to permanent carbon removal via Stripe Climate

Verified offset partners across Rwanda and East Africa

What we actually do about it

Responsible tourism isn't a badge. It's a set of daily decisions.

New Dawn Associates has operated community-based tourism in Rwanda since 2006. That includes the Millennium Village Tour in Mayange — a reconciliation village where survivors and perpetrators of the 1994 genocide live side by side. We didn't build that programme for a sustainability report. It exists because we were asked to.

On the wildlife side, Akagera National Park's story is inseparable from Rwanda's recovery. The park was nearly lost in the years following the genocide. African Parks took over management in 2010. Lions were reintroduced in 2015. Black rhino followed. The park is not just a safari destination — it is evidence that ecological and human recovery can happen in parallel.

We route our shared game drives south-to-north along the most efficient corridor, share vehicles across groups to reduce per-person emissions, and prioritise lodges with solar infrastructure. None of this makes flying here carbon-neutral. But it means the part we control, we take seriously.

Where your offset goes

We only recommend organisations whose work we can verify.

The calculator above gives you a Gold Standard offset cost as a reference. These are the specific organisations we direct contributions to — and would recommend to guests who want to act on their footprint beyond our automatic 0.5% contribution.

African Parks — Akagera

The organisation that restored Akagera to what it is today. Contributions fund ongoing conservation operations, ranger salaries, and community benefit programmes inside the park boundary.

africanparks.org/donate →

Tusk Trust

UK-registered charity that has supported Akagera specifically since 2014, including the black rhino translocation programme. Strong accountability and European donor credibility.

tusk.org →

Sacred Seedlings — Eastern Rwanda

Active reforestation projects in Nyagatare and Gatsibo districts, directly bordering Akagera. Small organisation, verifiable planting, geographic relevance to the safari you just took.

sacredseedlings.org →

Stripe Climate — Permanent Removal

Already funded by 0.5% of your booking. Supports direct air capture and enhanced weathering — removal that can be measured, not just promised. This is where our automatic contribution goes.

climate.stripe.com →

Most of your safari's carbon footprint is not the safari.