May 11, 2011
Africa forever
I have spent two and a half months here, getting to know people, trying to collect information for my magazine. It has been a very learning experience, with lots of ups and downs and many frustrating moments. Not sure whether I can say I’m in love with this country, it certainly doesn’t give me the same feeling as South-Africa did, but nevertheless it’s a beautiful country with lots of potential. Not all the people are corrupt and bad, I met so many heartwarming children, men and women. I’ve seen extreme poverty and misery, happiness and joy. I’ve touched history during Genocide Memorial week and witnessed hope in the young generation.
People here work hard, very hard, and they have a very tough life. At home we often say ‘oh, things are not so bad, think about those poor people in Africa’. We do, for about two seconds and then we go back to feeling miserable. Overhere, you’re confronted with this misery every second of the day, putting things back into perspective. I’m scared to go home, to head back to that narrowminded mentality, that moaning and complaining about the most unimportant things. I’ve always been a bit frustrating in our small town country, but I know for a fact that this experience will make me even more upset with the general attitude of people back home. I always hope my stories and pictures are an eyeopener for many, and an inspiration to others who are tempted to explore themselves.
Before I forget, here are a couple of misunderstandings about Rwanda;
1. There is a war in Rwanda > It ended in 1994 and there has been peace for 17 years now.
2. Rwanda is the most criminal country on the whole continent > there is zero tolerance towards violence and it’s probably the safest African country you can visit.
3. Africans are lazy > the majority works extremely hard under very rough conditions, even children are supposed to help out to get all the work done and they work from sunrise to sunset.
4. People have no food and tourists lose weight > Most tourists gain weight as there is a lot of food, especially starchy foods such as fries, ries, potatoes, plantains (bananas), beans, peas and cassava.
5. Water is limited and precious > Rwanda is extremely green due to the amount of rains falling down. Children love playing around with water and they can even maintain a garden or rinse their washing three times because there’s plenty of water available.
6. Kagame is a dicatator > Well, he’s probably not a saint, but not more of a criminal than our own ministers. He has realized a lot in a fairly short time, making Rwanda a stable, safe, clean and developing country, creating environmental, health and educational awareness, while trying to move forward and rejoining Rwandans as one people after the tragic events of 1994.
7. People live in huts > Huts and shacks have all been replaced by either brick or mud houses, having a steel or tiled roof instead of grass thatched ones. That’s been determined in the Vision2020 plan and the UN Millenium Development Goals for Africa.
8. People wear skirts made of dried banana leaves > People are actually very proud and well dressed. Farmers obviously don’t wear a suit, but most people dress up to go to work or walk around.
9. Africans are slow > not in traffic they are! Always in a rush, doing their own thing, not respecting any rules or any other driver or pedestrian. And don’t make them wait for too long, they’re impatient and will honk until you move out of the way.
10. Africans discriminate whites now > Apart from the eventually annoying ‘muzungu’ now and then, black people are much more tolerant towards whites than the other way around. I would expect a deceiving attitude towards whites after our quite dominant history on this continent, but if things had been the other way around, blacks would never have put whites into slavery.
No matter how you twist and turn it, Africa is one of the most – if not the most - interesting continents on earth. With a variety on cultures, history, traditions, languages, people and beautiful, breathtaking nature, no wonder Mother Earth chose this spot as the birthplace of mankind. Once you visited this magnificent place, it captures you, takes you in and never ever lets you go again…
February 26th - May 12th, Rwanda
The Final Countdown
On Monday morning I surprised Brittany with a little birthday present and a small cake. Afterall, everyone likes a little bit of attention on his or her birthday, especially when you’re far from home. And in her case, after a somewhat disappointing but undoubtedly adventurous weekend, she deserved it more than anyone.
Last interview
I was supposed to meet up with a Belgian architect in Butare, who’s the head of a team constructing an Environtmental Museum in Kibuye. Hence the daytrip last week, to get an impression of the area and the construction site.
As with everything here in Africa, plans change all the time and you need to be quite flexible to adapt to these rapid changes. So did my guest’s plans and he called me, regretting he had to cancel our interview. It was one of those stories I was looking forward to, but by now I got used to be cancelled upon. Still, it was something very new and interesting to put in my magazine, so obviously I was very disappointed. Also, I wonder what’s left for me to write now. Luckily not everything’s lost, I’ll probably give him a ring in the next few days to get some of the much needed information. Fingers crossed!
Jangwe Lodge
So here I am now, in Shyogwe- Gitarama, at Jangwe Lodge. It was my very first visit when I just arrived here in Rwanda and it’ll be my last as well. Lydie’s husband is with their children in Belgium for a while, but she stayed to take care of guests at the lodge. So she invited me to spent my last two days with her. Very tempting, knowing they have a refreshing swimmingpool, a very remote and peaceful location and Lydie’s fantastic cooking skills. Their place feels like home and I hope one day to have a home like this, perhaps somewhere in Africa. Having no internet access or callcredit, these last two days will give me time to reflect and relax before the final goodbye.
Monday May 9th - Thursday May 12th, Gitarama 21 degrees
Last interview
I was supposed to meet up with a Belgian architect in Butare, who’s the head of a team constructing an Environtmental Museum in Kibuye. Hence the daytrip last week, to get an impression of the area and the construction site.
As with everything here in Africa, plans change all the time and you need to be quite flexible to adapt to these rapid changes. So did my guest’s plans and he called me, regretting he had to cancel our interview. It was one of those stories I was looking forward to, but by now I got used to be cancelled upon. Still, it was something very new and interesting to put in my magazine, so obviously I was very disappointed. Also, I wonder what’s left for me to write now. Luckily not everything’s lost, I’ll probably give him a ring in the next few days to get some of the much needed information. Fingers crossed!
Jangwe Lodge
So here I am now, in Shyogwe- Gitarama, at Jangwe Lodge. It was my very first visit when I just arrived here in Rwanda and it’ll be my last as well. Lydie’s husband is with their children in Belgium for a while, but she stayed to take care of guests at the lodge. So she invited me to spent my last two days with her. Very tempting, knowing they have a refreshing swimmingpool, a very remote and peaceful location and Lydie’s fantastic cooking skills. Their place feels like home and I hope one day to have a home like this, perhaps somewhere in Africa. Having no internet access or callcredit, these last two days will give me time to reflect and relax before the final goodbye.
Monday May 9th - Thursday May 12th, Gitarama 21 degrees
Murambi Genocide Memorial
We spent our last night at the Gisakura Lodge, confirmed our bus with the local manager and headed out after breakfast. We had been told to be outside at 7.30am sharp to catch the bus to Butare. The manager actually sat next to us the entire time in the breakfast room and while we were already outside waiting, he slowly came up to us saying we had missed our bus. Not quite getting it, he said the bus had passed, but left with two empty seats as we were late. Both him and the boss had confirmed a time of 7.30am to stand outside for the bus. We had booked the 7am bus from Cyangugu which would take about an hour to get to Gisakura. So instead of being late, we were actually early. The management changed their story and things got worse: we were supposed to pay for those lost tickets and pay double for new ones. I had made the reservation through the office but the boss said we were supposed to pay the driver directly. Now they claimed they’d paid for us and we had to pay them back.
I got so angry that I took my bags and walked out, refusing to pay. Brittany was very upset and broke out in tears, saying she was sick of people messing up and us having to pay for it all the time. She was more than right. People here think all muzungus are rich, they charge you tons of money for crap service and make you pay for every mistake they make. I refused to pay, but she did give some money. The young manager who said he was going to help us just took the money and left. So much for help.
Hitchhiking to Butare
Not really knowing what I was doing or where I was going with two very heavy bags, I started walking towards the forest. Whatever truck came along, cattle or no cattle, I was on it to Butare. I always go for a walk when I’m frustrated, just to get some air and calm down. Brittany soon came running after me and just as we passed the tea estate, a jeep came towards us. A couple of army guys were driving a pick-up towards Butare and although they were heavy loaded with luggage, boxes, bananas and other stuff, they left us on. So there we were once again, hitching a ride, but now all the way to Butare. It was actually more comfortable than the bus. Of course, once again we had everybody staring at us in disbelief.
After four hours, we reached Butare where we were dropped off and enjoyed a very nice lunch at Ibis Hotel. It must be one of the oldest Ibis Hotels in the world, guessing from the almost vintage certificate on the wall. We checked-in at the Mont Huye Motel around the corner and bought a busticket to Gikongoro, 29km from Butare.
Murambi Genocide Memorial
In Gikongoro we visited the Murambi Genocide Memorial, which is allegedly the most overwhelming memorial in Rwanda. It has 1800 preserved bodies from people who were massacred during the genocide, ranging from adults to young children and babies. The bodies were exhumed from a massgrave and already decomposing, but the once at the bottom of the massgrave were better preserved. The government officials decided to preserve some of these bodies to remind people events like these can never happen again. That is how far I get the idea behind all this, but quite frankly, I was not so much impressed by the bodies.
At Murambi, there are around 14 chambers with bodies lying on wooden beds. To stop the decomposition process, they used limestone to preserve the bodies. Still there was an aweful smell hanging around, assuming the bodies were still decomposing somehow. By showing these real bodies, they wanted to show the impact of weapons used and how people tried to protect themselves from the blows by holding up their arms. Unfortunately we didn’t even get the time to stroll around at our own pace and try to take it all in. The guide wanted to rush us through the museum, which used to be a technical school. We got to see six of the chambers but weren’t allowed to go into the others ‘as they’re all the same anyway’. Well, excuse me Mr Guide, but for us, this is already beyond comprehension and these bodies are definitely not the same. It’s very hard to believe that these mummies were once real people, running around, talking and laughing, making jokes, holding their babies, doing their hair… Each and everyone of them had a story, but we weren’t allowed to actually try to put this puzzle together.
The bodies were taken out of their context and put ‘asleep’ next to eachother, clothes had been taken off and the damage done to their bodies was probably not from the actual massacre but from the weight of all other bodies on top of them in the grave and the later actual exhumination. I actually didn’t need to see the bodies to know what had happened to these people. Seeing the bullet holes and blood stains at Camp Kigali or Nyamata Church had more impact on me than a couple of unreal mummies lined up. Not to be disrespectful towards these people, moreover, I feel they deserve a proper burial as I wouldn’t want to be laid out like that after such a cruel death.
After visiting the chambers, we went to a field behind the school where thousands of Tutsis were dumped in three big massgraves after being killed. Those people had actually been told by district officials to gather at the school in order to be safe. They would get military support and protection, but in fact they were locked up and slaughtered during a four day raid. According to the CNLG-guide, the French government was highly involved and actually participated in the genocide. Their vote in the UN-council made the UN unable to take action and actually withdraw their troops from this region. Not only did they safeguard the Congolose border to let Rwandan officials escape, they also tool Tutsi prisoners, tied them up and threw them from helicopters above Nyungwe Forest. Out here in the field, they build a volleyball pitch over the massgraves, clearly not interested or caring at all.
I have heard a lot about the French involvement, but haven’t read anything upon it yet. I definitely didn’t know. So after visiting this memorial, I sort of left with a bad taste in my mouth, not sure what to think of it. I think the Gisozi Memorial in Kigali is much more interesting and has a bigger impact, since it portrays the dead people how they used to be: with a picture, a name, their family history and even favourite colour or meal. Not sure about the latter part, but still, it says more than a mummyfied body.
We headed back to Butare and reflected a bit upon this, but not for too long. Brittany’s birthday was coming up and had invited me, Charles and Andie – whom we met in Nyungwe – for a birthday dinner at a chinese restaurant called ‘The Chinese Restaurant’.
Sunday, May 8th – Butare
I got so angry that I took my bags and walked out, refusing to pay. Brittany was very upset and broke out in tears, saying she was sick of people messing up and us having to pay for it all the time. She was more than right. People here think all muzungus are rich, they charge you tons of money for crap service and make you pay for every mistake they make. I refused to pay, but she did give some money. The young manager who said he was going to help us just took the money and left. So much for help.
Hitchhiking to Butare
Not really knowing what I was doing or where I was going with two very heavy bags, I started walking towards the forest. Whatever truck came along, cattle or no cattle, I was on it to Butare. I always go for a walk when I’m frustrated, just to get some air and calm down. Brittany soon came running after me and just as we passed the tea estate, a jeep came towards us. A couple of army guys were driving a pick-up towards Butare and although they were heavy loaded with luggage, boxes, bananas and other stuff, they left us on. So there we were once again, hitching a ride, but now all the way to Butare. It was actually more comfortable than the bus. Of course, once again we had everybody staring at us in disbelief.
After four hours, we reached Butare where we were dropped off and enjoyed a very nice lunch at Ibis Hotel. It must be one of the oldest Ibis Hotels in the world, guessing from the almost vintage certificate on the wall. We checked-in at the Mont Huye Motel around the corner and bought a busticket to Gikongoro, 29km from Butare.
Murambi Genocide Memorial
In Gikongoro we visited the Murambi Genocide Memorial, which is allegedly the most overwhelming memorial in Rwanda. It has 1800 preserved bodies from people who were massacred during the genocide, ranging from adults to young children and babies. The bodies were exhumed from a massgrave and already decomposing, but the once at the bottom of the massgrave were better preserved. The government officials decided to preserve some of these bodies to remind people events like these can never happen again. That is how far I get the idea behind all this, but quite frankly, I was not so much impressed by the bodies.
At Murambi, there are around 14 chambers with bodies lying on wooden beds. To stop the decomposition process, they used limestone to preserve the bodies. Still there was an aweful smell hanging around, assuming the bodies were still decomposing somehow. By showing these real bodies, they wanted to show the impact of weapons used and how people tried to protect themselves from the blows by holding up their arms. Unfortunately we didn’t even get the time to stroll around at our own pace and try to take it all in. The guide wanted to rush us through the museum, which used to be a technical school. We got to see six of the chambers but weren’t allowed to go into the others ‘as they’re all the same anyway’. Well, excuse me Mr Guide, but for us, this is already beyond comprehension and these bodies are definitely not the same. It’s very hard to believe that these mummies were once real people, running around, talking and laughing, making jokes, holding their babies, doing their hair… Each and everyone of them had a story, but we weren’t allowed to actually try to put this puzzle together.
The bodies were taken out of their context and put ‘asleep’ next to eachother, clothes had been taken off and the damage done to their bodies was probably not from the actual massacre but from the weight of all other bodies on top of them in the grave and the later actual exhumination. I actually didn’t need to see the bodies to know what had happened to these people. Seeing the bullet holes and blood stains at Camp Kigali or Nyamata Church had more impact on me than a couple of unreal mummies lined up. Not to be disrespectful towards these people, moreover, I feel they deserve a proper burial as I wouldn’t want to be laid out like that after such a cruel death.
After visiting the chambers, we went to a field behind the school where thousands of Tutsis were dumped in three big massgraves after being killed. Those people had actually been told by district officials to gather at the school in order to be safe. They would get military support and protection, but in fact they were locked up and slaughtered during a four day raid. According to the CNLG-guide, the French government was highly involved and actually participated in the genocide. Their vote in the UN-council made the UN unable to take action and actually withdraw their troops from this region. Not only did they safeguard the Congolose border to let Rwandan officials escape, they also tool Tutsi prisoners, tied them up and threw them from helicopters above Nyungwe Forest. Out here in the field, they build a volleyball pitch over the massgraves, clearly not interested or caring at all.
I have heard a lot about the French involvement, but haven’t read anything upon it yet. I definitely didn’t know. So after visiting this memorial, I sort of left with a bad taste in my mouth, not sure what to think of it. I think the Gisozi Memorial in Kigali is much more interesting and has a bigger impact, since it portrays the dead people how they used to be: with a picture, a name, their family history and even favourite colour or meal. Not sure about the latter part, but still, it says more than a mummyfied body.
We headed back to Butare and reflected a bit upon this, but not for too long. Brittany’s birthday was coming up and had invited me, Charles and Andie – whom we met in Nyungwe – for a birthday dinner at a chinese restaurant called ‘The Chinese Restaurant’.
Sunday, May 8th – Butare
Jurassic Park
(Almost) last but not least! Brittany joined me on my last trip in Rwanda: hiking in Nyungwe Forest. This National Park lies in the south of Rwanda, adjacent to Burundi in the south and DRC in the west. It’s also the passage to Cyangugu, the third town on Lake Kivu after Gisenyi and Kibuye and the furthest away in the whole of Rwanda. As Goma is the next big town across the border in the north, so is Bukavu in the south. Thinking the trails would be quite the adventure, we actually had the biggest adventure in our lives starting from the busride from Kigali to getting back to Butare.
A non-existing guesthouse
After a chaotic morning of packing, last goodbyes here and there and grocery shopping we left around 3pm on the last bus to Nyunge. Passing Gitarama and Butare as last big town, it took us another 3,5 hours through the forest to reach Gisakura on the other side. The bus dropped us off at 9.30pm in front of the Gisakura Tea Estate, where we had booked our accommodation. While getting off, a nice guy on a motobike pulled over and asked us what we were doing out there. Explaining him we were heading towards our lodge, he bluntly said that the guesthouse there didn’t exist anymore and closed down two years ago. So there we were, in the middle of nowhere in Africa, no clue where we were or where to go to, in the pitch dark and close to midnight. Lucky for us, this happened in Rwanda, the safest country on the continent and not in any other African country where we would’ve been mugged, raped and even killed within five minutes.
A bug’s life
Strangely enough, when I called up, a woman took the reservation and was expecting us that night. The man who found us out there worked for RDB in the National Park and phoned her to double check. According to this woman, the guesthouse had moved to the village a bit further. We walked half an hour to town and ended up in a place nothing like a guesthouse, but still advertising hot showers and charging a lot of money for it. The rooms were moulded and infested with bugs, the shower looked more like a veal pen, the toilet was a hole in the ground without any toiletpaper or water to rinse. At first we were just staring at our room, with mouths wide open. But as soon as we had to go to the toilet, we were laughing so hard about the madness in which we got there and then the hell where we ended up in. Brittany suddenly ran out of the toilet shack, after seeing millions of little bugs and flies, covering the walls. We ended up going in our ‘shower’ out of pure misery.
Run baby run
To keep costs as low as possible we shared a double bed and while Brittany was reading something I settled in bed until I saw a big ugly spider crawling up inside our mosquito net. We both jumped out and that was it, we weren’t going to sleep in this place. So around 11.30pm, we packed our bags, stole four bananas and sneaked out, running downhill, no clue where we were going, back to the village. We panicked for a second when two – possibly rabid – dogs roamed around the street and then three, well camouflaged military men, scared the hell out of us. We were able to contact another lodge in town, owned by the RDB tourism board. Three men came looking for us in the village and gave us a nice room with all basic amenities available. Just around midnight, we fell asleep in comfortable beds, under a mosquito net without spiders or bugs on the inside.
Waterfall Trail
After a delicious breakfast and a hot shower that morning, we set off on a dayhike, towards the biggest waterfall in the forest. We walked through a huge teaplantation which provides the leaves for the famous Rwandan Mountain tea. Apart from teaplantations there is little cultivation in the national park. Nyungwe is in fact what’s left of the original jungle that once covered the entire Central-African region. The rest has been cut down to make space for agriculture. It reminded me a bit of the jungle in Costa Rica, with similar vegetation.
Once we’d entered the jungle, we got stuck in a heavy thunderstorrn which lasted until noon. We were soaking wet by the time we reached the waterfall, but as we got moving the entire time, it wasn’t cold. In the end, it’s just water and it definitely didn’t stop us from going any further. The terrain wasn’t as slippery as in Volcanoes, apart from some rocks and steep slopes here and there. Around noon we reached the waterfall, which was beautiful and very powerful. We got very close to it and had a picnic nearby, with steep slopes behind us. Some of the trees had come down already. Suddenly we heard a loud crack and big rocks were falling down from above us. We shrieked and I ran for my life, trying to avoid one cracking my head open. At that point, I didn’t really care anymore about slippery rocks, I just ran as fast as I could. That was a pretty scary moment, but in terns of ‘fight or flight respons’ my reaction was pretty good.
It took us about six hours to complete the trail, which we had enjoyed very much. RDB was back in the good books after providing us with a very knowledgeble guide and excellent service. We hoped our next trail would be as pleasant as this one.
Cup of Tea?
On Saturday morning we tried to figure out a way how to get to Uwinka Visitor Center, the RDB office in the middle of the park. It was about 18km from the Gisakura estate and was the starting point of most trails. Because we didn’t have private transport, we decided to visit the Gisakura Tea Estate first and then sort out how to get there.
At the Gisakura Tea Estate, we got welcomed by manager Eric and head of teaproduction Robert. The factory was owned by the government, but got taken over by Indians two years ago who privatised it. Hence the fact we couldn’t find our lodge the other night. Still they were very willing to show us around in the factory. Robert took us through the many production levels, starting from fresh plucked tea leaves to quality control and transport of tea. It was a very interesting morning and a learning experience.
Canopy Walk
After the tea visit we started walking, hoping we could catch a ride with someone passing by. Since that could take ages, I said we’d hitchhike with the first truck or jeep that came along. And thus we did… The first truck to come along was a cattle truck, luckily without cattle but with the cowshit all over. We got a lift, sitting on a big tyre for more than half an hour. Of course we were the talk of town that day, passing all these roadworkers who had never ever seen two muzungus in the back of a cattletruck before. They all stopped to watch us go by and waived afterwards, still with their mouths wide open.
The ride left us with a soar bum, but we got to where we needed to be: Uwinka. I did ask our RDB fellow that morning whether we were all set for that day cause we had paid a three-day pass, and I got mine for free. They even said ‘oh, as a journalist, you should’ve had gorillas and all the parks for free, cause you’ve got a research permit’. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing and I didn’t even want to think too much about it or I would start screaming. The most important thing was that we wouldn’t have to come back to Gisakura for any stupid paper or form. Once there, our hopes of having the same service vanished right away after speaking to some other retard at reception. (Why do they always put retards behind the reception desk??) We paid 70USD which gave us access to three nature walks between 5-10km. We did one the day before and wanted to do a short one on the second day, adding a canopy walk to it. ‘No problem,’ is what they said. That’s what they always say, but once they’ve cashed your money, you’re on your own and stories change every five seconds.
We were told that – eventhough we paid for two extra long trails, trying to replace them by one short one – we had to pay an extra 60USD for the canopy. There’s actually a trail between 0-5km which has a canopy en route. The trail is nothing special, but the canopy is the main activity. ‘Not possible,’ they said, unless we paid 60USD on top. They even showed a pricelist, but the canopy wasn’t even mentioned on there, so I guess they said whatever, as long as they had some extra pocketmoney. I was able to do it for free, Britt had to stand by and watch us going. Very upsetting! Even when we asked a refund for the other two trails, we couldn’t even get that. That’s how it always goes around here. I did do the canopy and honestly, it wasn’t even worth 60USD. They tell you it’s a 200m bridge, it’s about 60m high above the trees and it takes 20min to cross. Nothing like that at all, you can easily do it under 10minutes and all together it’s probably not more than 130m long.The trail wasn’t that cool either, we did see some monkeys and big birds, but our waterfall trail the other day was ten times as cool.
We decided to do our own sort of hike back towards the hostel. It was too far to complete, but maybe halfway down we could catch a ride with someone. After a few meters outside of the park we got picked up already by two nice guys who dropped us off at our place. We didn’t feel like going back again on Sunday for another hike and decided to head back to Butare instead.
Thursday May 5th – Saturday May 7th, Nyungwe
A non-existing guesthouse
After a chaotic morning of packing, last goodbyes here and there and grocery shopping we left around 3pm on the last bus to Nyunge. Passing Gitarama and Butare as last big town, it took us another 3,5 hours through the forest to reach Gisakura on the other side. The bus dropped us off at 9.30pm in front of the Gisakura Tea Estate, where we had booked our accommodation. While getting off, a nice guy on a motobike pulled over and asked us what we were doing out there. Explaining him we were heading towards our lodge, he bluntly said that the guesthouse there didn’t exist anymore and closed down two years ago. So there we were, in the middle of nowhere in Africa, no clue where we were or where to go to, in the pitch dark and close to midnight. Lucky for us, this happened in Rwanda, the safest country on the continent and not in any other African country where we would’ve been mugged, raped and even killed within five minutes.
A bug’s life
Strangely enough, when I called up, a woman took the reservation and was expecting us that night. The man who found us out there worked for RDB in the National Park and phoned her to double check. According to this woman, the guesthouse had moved to the village a bit further. We walked half an hour to town and ended up in a place nothing like a guesthouse, but still advertising hot showers and charging a lot of money for it. The rooms were moulded and infested with bugs, the shower looked more like a veal pen, the toilet was a hole in the ground without any toiletpaper or water to rinse. At first we were just staring at our room, with mouths wide open. But as soon as we had to go to the toilet, we were laughing so hard about the madness in which we got there and then the hell where we ended up in. Brittany suddenly ran out of the toilet shack, after seeing millions of little bugs and flies, covering the walls. We ended up going in our ‘shower’ out of pure misery.
Run baby run
To keep costs as low as possible we shared a double bed and while Brittany was reading something I settled in bed until I saw a big ugly spider crawling up inside our mosquito net. We both jumped out and that was it, we weren’t going to sleep in this place. So around 11.30pm, we packed our bags, stole four bananas and sneaked out, running downhill, no clue where we were going, back to the village. We panicked for a second when two – possibly rabid – dogs roamed around the street and then three, well camouflaged military men, scared the hell out of us. We were able to contact another lodge in town, owned by the RDB tourism board. Three men came looking for us in the village and gave us a nice room with all basic amenities available. Just around midnight, we fell asleep in comfortable beds, under a mosquito net without spiders or bugs on the inside.
Waterfall Trail
After a delicious breakfast and a hot shower that morning, we set off on a dayhike, towards the biggest waterfall in the forest. We walked through a huge teaplantation which provides the leaves for the famous Rwandan Mountain tea. Apart from teaplantations there is little cultivation in the national park. Nyungwe is in fact what’s left of the original jungle that once covered the entire Central-African region. The rest has been cut down to make space for agriculture. It reminded me a bit of the jungle in Costa Rica, with similar vegetation.
Once we’d entered the jungle, we got stuck in a heavy thunderstorrn which lasted until noon. We were soaking wet by the time we reached the waterfall, but as we got moving the entire time, it wasn’t cold. In the end, it’s just water and it definitely didn’t stop us from going any further. The terrain wasn’t as slippery as in Volcanoes, apart from some rocks and steep slopes here and there. Around noon we reached the waterfall, which was beautiful and very powerful. We got very close to it and had a picnic nearby, with steep slopes behind us. Some of the trees had come down already. Suddenly we heard a loud crack and big rocks were falling down from above us. We shrieked and I ran for my life, trying to avoid one cracking my head open. At that point, I didn’t really care anymore about slippery rocks, I just ran as fast as I could. That was a pretty scary moment, but in terns of ‘fight or flight respons’ my reaction was pretty good.
It took us about six hours to complete the trail, which we had enjoyed very much. RDB was back in the good books after providing us with a very knowledgeble guide and excellent service. We hoped our next trail would be as pleasant as this one.
Cup of Tea?
On Saturday morning we tried to figure out a way how to get to Uwinka Visitor Center, the RDB office in the middle of the park. It was about 18km from the Gisakura estate and was the starting point of most trails. Because we didn’t have private transport, we decided to visit the Gisakura Tea Estate first and then sort out how to get there.
At the Gisakura Tea Estate, we got welcomed by manager Eric and head of teaproduction Robert. The factory was owned by the government, but got taken over by Indians two years ago who privatised it. Hence the fact we couldn’t find our lodge the other night. Still they were very willing to show us around in the factory. Robert took us through the many production levels, starting from fresh plucked tea leaves to quality control and transport of tea. It was a very interesting morning and a learning experience.
Canopy Walk
After the tea visit we started walking, hoping we could catch a ride with someone passing by. Since that could take ages, I said we’d hitchhike with the first truck or jeep that came along. And thus we did… The first truck to come along was a cattle truck, luckily without cattle but with the cowshit all over. We got a lift, sitting on a big tyre for more than half an hour. Of course we were the talk of town that day, passing all these roadworkers who had never ever seen two muzungus in the back of a cattletruck before. They all stopped to watch us go by and waived afterwards, still with their mouths wide open.
The ride left us with a soar bum, but we got to where we needed to be: Uwinka. I did ask our RDB fellow that morning whether we were all set for that day cause we had paid a three-day pass, and I got mine for free. They even said ‘oh, as a journalist, you should’ve had gorillas and all the parks for free, cause you’ve got a research permit’. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing and I didn’t even want to think too much about it or I would start screaming. The most important thing was that we wouldn’t have to come back to Gisakura for any stupid paper or form. Once there, our hopes of having the same service vanished right away after speaking to some other retard at reception. (Why do they always put retards behind the reception desk??) We paid 70USD which gave us access to three nature walks between 5-10km. We did one the day before and wanted to do a short one on the second day, adding a canopy walk to it. ‘No problem,’ is what they said. That’s what they always say, but once they’ve cashed your money, you’re on your own and stories change every five seconds.
We were told that – eventhough we paid for two extra long trails, trying to replace them by one short one – we had to pay an extra 60USD for the canopy. There’s actually a trail between 0-5km which has a canopy en route. The trail is nothing special, but the canopy is the main activity. ‘Not possible,’ they said, unless we paid 60USD on top. They even showed a pricelist, but the canopy wasn’t even mentioned on there, so I guess they said whatever, as long as they had some extra pocketmoney. I was able to do it for free, Britt had to stand by and watch us going. Very upsetting! Even when we asked a refund for the other two trails, we couldn’t even get that. That’s how it always goes around here. I did do the canopy and honestly, it wasn’t even worth 60USD. They tell you it’s a 200m bridge, it’s about 60m high above the trees and it takes 20min to cross. Nothing like that at all, you can easily do it under 10minutes and all together it’s probably not more than 130m long.The trail wasn’t that cool either, we did see some monkeys and big birds, but our waterfall trail the other day was ten times as cool.
We decided to do our own sort of hike back towards the hostel. It was too far to complete, but maybe halfway down we could catch a ride with someone. After a few meters outside of the park we got picked up already by two nice guys who dropped us off at our place. We didn’t feel like going back again on Sunday for another hike and decided to head back to Butare instead.
Thursday May 5th – Saturday May 7th, Nyungwe
May 09, 2011
Daytrip Kibuye
The last ten days will be full of excursions, quick visits and a last search for information before heading home on the 12th. Two and a half months passed in the blink of an eye. In fact I could easily fill up another month with catching up on cancelled tours, interviews and research, but there’s simply no time (and surely no money) left. A few more days to put a last effort in.
Daytrip Kibuye
One of those last excursions was one to Kibuye, 90km south of Gisenyi and about 140km from Kigali on Tuesday. I planned a daytrip to this small town on Lake Kivu and got there after a three-hour busride. There are few tourists in this area, but nevertheless they have some fine lodges there and in fact all the assests to accommodate tourists. Most of their visitors are rich Rwandese who come and relax during the weekend. It’s less chaotic than Gisenyi but perhaps even more beautiful than any town on Lake Kivu.
There’s a loop around town, which is an easy walk that can be done in a few hours time. On the way I stopped in Centre Bethanie, another Presbyterian church lodge with a superb location at the waterfront. I had a very tasteful lunch of fresh Tilapia accompanied by a glass of white wine and enjoyed views on the many small islands scattered around. One of those islands was Napoleon Island, named after the shape of the general’s hat. As like many organisations, churches, restaurants, companies and mountains, one of these islands was also named Amahoro (‘Peace’) Island.
Environmental Museum
After a terrific lunch I walked towards the foundations of the future Environmental Museum. The Belgian architect has designed many other museums in Rwanda before, starting with the National Museum in Butare in the early eighties. This museum will focus on sustainable energy and give more information about the importance of renewable energy, protection of the environment and other things. I’ve scheduled and interview with the architect to find out more about this, but the museum is due to open March 2012.
I am sailing
Just across the contruction site I took a motorboat for a tour around the islands. Halfway down Lake Kivu there’s Ijwe Island, the biggest of all. It’s Congolese territory. We sailed to Napoleon Island where we climbed uphill to see certain ‘oiseaux’ (birds). I didn’t get it at first, but as soon as the guide started clapping his hands, we saw a huge colony of bats escaping from the trees and bushes around us. Thousands of bats flew out and circled the island. After observing them for a while we went back to the boat and sailed towards Amahoro Islands, back towards Kibuye.
Genocide
Right before heading back to the bus I made a quick stop at the local church. There’s a genocide memorial in front of the church which is a massgrave in which thousands of Tutsi victims were buried. During the 100-day massacres, Kibuye was severly hit: 9 out of 10 Tutsis were killed in this town.
It was a long and exhausting day, but nevertheless worthwile. Back in Kigali, I checked my updated tan and went to bed as the next few days wouldn’t be relaxing either. Brittany and I are going to Nyungwe forest for the weekend, which will be my last big adventure in Rwanda.
Tuesday May 3rd – Kibuye 28 degrees
Daytrip Kibuye
One of those last excursions was one to Kibuye, 90km south of Gisenyi and about 140km from Kigali on Tuesday. I planned a daytrip to this small town on Lake Kivu and got there after a three-hour busride. There are few tourists in this area, but nevertheless they have some fine lodges there and in fact all the assests to accommodate tourists. Most of their visitors are rich Rwandese who come and relax during the weekend. It’s less chaotic than Gisenyi but perhaps even more beautiful than any town on Lake Kivu.
There’s a loop around town, which is an easy walk that can be done in a few hours time. On the way I stopped in Centre Bethanie, another Presbyterian church lodge with a superb location at the waterfront. I had a very tasteful lunch of fresh Tilapia accompanied by a glass of white wine and enjoyed views on the many small islands scattered around. One of those islands was Napoleon Island, named after the shape of the general’s hat. As like many organisations, churches, restaurants, companies and mountains, one of these islands was also named Amahoro (‘Peace’) Island.
Environmental Museum
After a terrific lunch I walked towards the foundations of the future Environmental Museum. The Belgian architect has designed many other museums in Rwanda before, starting with the National Museum in Butare in the early eighties. This museum will focus on sustainable energy and give more information about the importance of renewable energy, protection of the environment and other things. I’ve scheduled and interview with the architect to find out more about this, but the museum is due to open March 2012.
I am sailing
Just across the contruction site I took a motorboat for a tour around the islands. Halfway down Lake Kivu there’s Ijwe Island, the biggest of all. It’s Congolese territory. We sailed to Napoleon Island where we climbed uphill to see certain ‘oiseaux’ (birds). I didn’t get it at first, but as soon as the guide started clapping his hands, we saw a huge colony of bats escaping from the trees and bushes around us. Thousands of bats flew out and circled the island. After observing them for a while we went back to the boat and sailed towards Amahoro Islands, back towards Kibuye.
Genocide
Right before heading back to the bus I made a quick stop at the local church. There’s a genocide memorial in front of the church which is a massgrave in which thousands of Tutsi victims were buried. During the 100-day massacres, Kibuye was severly hit: 9 out of 10 Tutsis were killed in this town.
It was a long and exhausting day, but nevertheless worthwile. Back in Kigali, I checked my updated tan and went to bed as the next few days wouldn’t be relaxing either. Brittany and I are going to Nyungwe forest for the weekend, which will be my last big adventure in Rwanda.
Tuesday May 3rd – Kibuye 28 degrees
May 06, 2011
Lake Kivu - part two
The week after Easter was a bit calm but hectic at the same time. On Monday we all left Musanze together to go back to Gisenyi, where I had planned a third attempt to visit the Bralirwa brewery and a coffee tour on one of the nearby islands. The tours were organised by New Dawn Associates, but at that time I hadn’t heard from them yet. Before we got on the bus, I took Charlotte, Sue and Brittany to the Ubushobozi girls, whom I’d met the week before. Again, we had the most warming welcome, the girls were over the moon to see us all and were very proud to show off their bags and dancing skills. “Oh this would be lovely for little Margaret,” Charlotte said. It would mean the start of a whole different adventure.
We took the bus back to Gisenyi where Brittany cooked us a lovely homemade dinner. I think she hated me for the fact I bought too many mushrooms and celery – LOL – but the food was excellent. It was the end of a very moving day, but the beginning of another delightful week together.
New Dawn needs to wake up
On Wednesday I was supposed to be picked up by the New Dawn Associates guide who’d take a small group to a nearby coffee picking island. The tour ‘from crop to cup’ shows you the entire coffee making process. With coffee being one of the foremost export products, I thought this would be rather interesting for my magazine. The guide was one hour late when I got a phonecall from the NDA office in Kigali that they’d forgotten about me and it was too late to turn back. Honestly, I wasn’t very unhappy with this because hadn’t I called up the day before I wouldn’t have been informed about the tour at all, and then secondly we make all arrangements to be forgotten in the end. What a crap service!
You’ll never believe it, but on Thursday morning, NDA phoned me back saying the brewery tour had also been cancelled. Brewery vs Val: 3-0! Apparently ‘all of a sudden’ they had a group of military guys visiting the brewery so other visitors had to stay out. Yeah right, as if they didn’t know that a few days in advance. So in the end I was very disappointed in the NDA’s service. With two tours cancelled in two days, I wasn’t very keen on getting involved with them again. That evening I received another phonecall, saying they coincidentally had another tour on Friday, but I wasn’t going to take the risk of being set up again and decided to let the offer go. Thanks, but no thanks!
Amy and the beads
On Tuesday, our little family welcomed a fifth member: Amy from the UK. About a year ago, Amy came to Rwanda as a volunteer but during her stay she met a couple of inspiring women that warmed her heart and thus she decided to do something for them. Instead of founding a charity, she started her own fairtrade webbased company which sells handmade bags, pens, beads and jewerelly, made by various women cooperatives in Rwanda. Profits will go back to these women so they can invest in more professional materials and gain a sustainable income.
Whilst my brewery tour was cancelled, I decided to join her to Murara clinic to visit the Isangano Association. It’s the same clinic I visited many weeks ago to hand out the orphanage goodies and met some of these women. The group consists out of 30 women who are all HIV-positive or already suffering from aids. The association was founded by Christine, who met the other women during her many checkups at the clinic and decided to do something together. They started by making soap but soon turned towards making beads from paper.
Amy donated a couple of professional bead making sets to the women to deliver higher-quality jewellery. The beads are made from paper cuttings, then glued together and varnished. It sounds so silly and easy, but it’s very creative and literally handmade. Meanwhile they’ve got thousands of beads in every colour imaginable that turn out in the most beautiful necklaces, bracelets and earrings. The women sell these products to volunteers or people like Amy.
Profits are shared amongst all the women or serve to purchase healthcards or medicine they might need. Through the project, the women also become more self-concious, while making a living. Amy hopes to sell these products through her website on a regular base so she can continue to keep on supporting these women on a long term basis. Her business officially launched in April 2011 and if she succeeds, she will be able to support at least 75 families. For more information, please visit www.kigali-crafts.co.uk and have a look for yourself.
Uboshobozi’s newest member
On Friday Amy and I headed back to Kigali, but we weren’t alone. Jane from the Faith Victory Association (who place the many foreign volunteers around Rwanda) and Margaret with baby Eric joined us towards Musanze. During our short but overwhelming and wonderful meeting with the Ubushobozi girls on Monday, Charlotte and Sue discussed Margaret’s situation with Laura. You remember Margaret from a few weeks ago when I visited the Murara Clinic for the first time and met a fifteen year old who’s leg was amputated. Being all vulnerable, Magaret was then raped and inpregnated by some asshole. About five months ago, she gave birth to little Eric whom she loves very much, despite the horrible event that created him. Living on the streets, begging for money, there wasn’t much future for Margaret and Eric.
Laura and the girls were very anxious on meeting her and thus Charlotte, Susan and Brittany took Margaret to Musanze earlier that week. They also met up with two Italian guys who had founded a shelterhome for homeless streetchildren. Them too were very keen on meeting Margaret and taking her in. In the end, the women returned with some very good news: Margaret was accepted to Ubushobozi as ninth member, where she’ll be taught English, ICT class, sewing lessons and dance class. All other Ubushobozi girls were very happy to take her in and teach her all they know. Even little Eric has a new friend, Jeanine’s baby Tresor has the same age. Next to some tutoring, Margaret will also get two hot meals per day, one in Ubushobozi, the other one in the shelterhome. I think all five of us were very touched and a bit emotional after all this good news. For the first time in my life, I felt as if I really made a difference for someone. Margaret and Eric were given a second chance in life.
Saying our goodbyes
Later that evening, all five of us checked in with the sisters, which was obviously good fun. We went out for dinner to a nice Indian place and of course we couldn’t stop talking all that had happened in the past few weeks, especially the news about Margaret having found a new home. It was our final night together as Amy was flying back to the UK and my moms Charlotte and Sue were heading to Kenya for another two weeks. We had such an incredible time together, shared so many stories and moments which none of us will ever forget. It’s strange how you often relate so much more to total strangers than to friends you’ve known all your life. I think overhere, we’re all on the same line, having the same mindset and goals in life.
On Saturday morning we spoiled ourselves with a European-priced breakfast buffet at Serena hotel around the corner. Honestly, we didn’t have any other option as it was Umuganda again, the monthly holiday on which everyone has to participate in community work. So with everything being closed and no traffic racing down the streets we were forced to go to Serena. I never had a bigger breakfast in my entire life, but it was definitely worth it. After breakfast, it was really time to say goodbye. But the fact we were staying at the sisters’place amused these women so much that they kept on singing the Sound of Music tune. So in the end, they forced us to join in, do a little dance and it was all recorded. I hope that video will be deleted somehow someday. Charlotte and Sue left for the airport, Amy and Brittany went to the market and I took a stroll to downtown where I met up with Mr.K. again.
Swimmingpool & Spa
Later that afternoon, Amy, Brittany and I met up again and went back to Serena to enjoy the rest of the day at the swimmingpool. Only ten minutes after we got there, rain started pouring down and we hadn’t even got to proper swimming yet. Brittany used all her charm to ask the poolguy if we could go to the Spa instead and five minutes later, we found ourselves down at the spa center, with access to jacuzzi, sauna, hot showers with shampoo, conditioner, body lotion and everything else you can imagine. We felt cleaned and steamed after a few hours in there and it had only cost us 10USD. It’s worth considering doing this again before flying back home. After our little treat we went for dinner and said our goodbyes to Amy who was bound to fly back to the UK that night. Brittany and I, we slept like roses…
Monday April 25th - Saturday April 30th, Musanze/Gisenyi/Kigali
We took the bus back to Gisenyi where Brittany cooked us a lovely homemade dinner. I think she hated me for the fact I bought too many mushrooms and celery – LOL – but the food was excellent. It was the end of a very moving day, but the beginning of another delightful week together.
New Dawn needs to wake up
On Wednesday I was supposed to be picked up by the New Dawn Associates guide who’d take a small group to a nearby coffee picking island. The tour ‘from crop to cup’ shows you the entire coffee making process. With coffee being one of the foremost export products, I thought this would be rather interesting for my magazine. The guide was one hour late when I got a phonecall from the NDA office in Kigali that they’d forgotten about me and it was too late to turn back. Honestly, I wasn’t very unhappy with this because hadn’t I called up the day before I wouldn’t have been informed about the tour at all, and then secondly we make all arrangements to be forgotten in the end. What a crap service!
You’ll never believe it, but on Thursday morning, NDA phoned me back saying the brewery tour had also been cancelled. Brewery vs Val: 3-0! Apparently ‘all of a sudden’ they had a group of military guys visiting the brewery so other visitors had to stay out. Yeah right, as if they didn’t know that a few days in advance. So in the end I was very disappointed in the NDA’s service. With two tours cancelled in two days, I wasn’t very keen on getting involved with them again. That evening I received another phonecall, saying they coincidentally had another tour on Friday, but I wasn’t going to take the risk of being set up again and decided to let the offer go. Thanks, but no thanks!
Amy and the beads
On Tuesday, our little family welcomed a fifth member: Amy from the UK. About a year ago, Amy came to Rwanda as a volunteer but during her stay she met a couple of inspiring women that warmed her heart and thus she decided to do something for them. Instead of founding a charity, she started her own fairtrade webbased company which sells handmade bags, pens, beads and jewerelly, made by various women cooperatives in Rwanda. Profits will go back to these women so they can invest in more professional materials and gain a sustainable income.
Whilst my brewery tour was cancelled, I decided to join her to Murara clinic to visit the Isangano Association. It’s the same clinic I visited many weeks ago to hand out the orphanage goodies and met some of these women. The group consists out of 30 women who are all HIV-positive or already suffering from aids. The association was founded by Christine, who met the other women during her many checkups at the clinic and decided to do something together. They started by making soap but soon turned towards making beads from paper.
Amy donated a couple of professional bead making sets to the women to deliver higher-quality jewellery. The beads are made from paper cuttings, then glued together and varnished. It sounds so silly and easy, but it’s very creative and literally handmade. Meanwhile they’ve got thousands of beads in every colour imaginable that turn out in the most beautiful necklaces, bracelets and earrings. The women sell these products to volunteers or people like Amy.
Profits are shared amongst all the women or serve to purchase healthcards or medicine they might need. Through the project, the women also become more self-concious, while making a living. Amy hopes to sell these products through her website on a regular base so she can continue to keep on supporting these women on a long term basis. Her business officially launched in April 2011 and if she succeeds, she will be able to support at least 75 families. For more information, please visit www.kigali-crafts.co.uk and have a look for yourself.
Uboshobozi’s newest member
On Friday Amy and I headed back to Kigali, but we weren’t alone. Jane from the Faith Victory Association (who place the many foreign volunteers around Rwanda) and Margaret with baby Eric joined us towards Musanze. During our short but overwhelming and wonderful meeting with the Ubushobozi girls on Monday, Charlotte and Sue discussed Margaret’s situation with Laura. You remember Margaret from a few weeks ago when I visited the Murara Clinic for the first time and met a fifteen year old who’s leg was amputated. Being all vulnerable, Magaret was then raped and inpregnated by some asshole. About five months ago, she gave birth to little Eric whom she loves very much, despite the horrible event that created him. Living on the streets, begging for money, there wasn’t much future for Margaret and Eric.
Laura and the girls were very anxious on meeting her and thus Charlotte, Susan and Brittany took Margaret to Musanze earlier that week. They also met up with two Italian guys who had founded a shelterhome for homeless streetchildren. Them too were very keen on meeting Margaret and taking her in. In the end, the women returned with some very good news: Margaret was accepted to Ubushobozi as ninth member, where she’ll be taught English, ICT class, sewing lessons and dance class. All other Ubushobozi girls were very happy to take her in and teach her all they know. Even little Eric has a new friend, Jeanine’s baby Tresor has the same age. Next to some tutoring, Margaret will also get two hot meals per day, one in Ubushobozi, the other one in the shelterhome. I think all five of us were very touched and a bit emotional after all this good news. For the first time in my life, I felt as if I really made a difference for someone. Margaret and Eric were given a second chance in life.
Saying our goodbyes
Later that evening, all five of us checked in with the sisters, which was obviously good fun. We went out for dinner to a nice Indian place and of course we couldn’t stop talking all that had happened in the past few weeks, especially the news about Margaret having found a new home. It was our final night together as Amy was flying back to the UK and my moms Charlotte and Sue were heading to Kenya for another two weeks. We had such an incredible time together, shared so many stories and moments which none of us will ever forget. It’s strange how you often relate so much more to total strangers than to friends you’ve known all your life. I think overhere, we’re all on the same line, having the same mindset and goals in life.
On Saturday morning we spoiled ourselves with a European-priced breakfast buffet at Serena hotel around the corner. Honestly, we didn’t have any other option as it was Umuganda again, the monthly holiday on which everyone has to participate in community work. So with everything being closed and no traffic racing down the streets we were forced to go to Serena. I never had a bigger breakfast in my entire life, but it was definitely worth it. After breakfast, it was really time to say goodbye. But the fact we were staying at the sisters’place amused these women so much that they kept on singing the Sound of Music tune. So in the end, they forced us to join in, do a little dance and it was all recorded. I hope that video will be deleted somehow someday. Charlotte and Sue left for the airport, Amy and Brittany went to the market and I took a stroll to downtown where I met up with Mr.K. again.
Swimmingpool & Spa
Later that afternoon, Amy, Brittany and I met up again and went back to Serena to enjoy the rest of the day at the swimmingpool. Only ten minutes after we got there, rain started pouring down and we hadn’t even got to proper swimming yet. Brittany used all her charm to ask the poolguy if we could go to the Spa instead and five minutes later, we found ourselves down at the spa center, with access to jacuzzi, sauna, hot showers with shampoo, conditioner, body lotion and everything else you can imagine. We felt cleaned and steamed after a few hours in there and it had only cost us 10USD. It’s worth considering doing this again before flying back home. After our little treat we went for dinner and said our goodbyes to Amy who was bound to fly back to the UK that night. Brittany and I, we slept like roses…
Monday April 25th - Saturday April 30th, Musanze/Gisenyi/Kigali
May 04, 2011
Gorillas in the mist
Saturday, April 23rd was a day we’d all been looking forward to! Our new international family would be reunited once again, having a fully integrated Brittany as fourth member. We had been planning this weekend for weeks as Charlotte, Sue and I wanted to go to the gorillas all together. An Eastergorilla instead of an Easterbunny would do the job on Sunday!
Amahoro guesthouse
Saturday and Sunday night we spent in the lovely Amahoro-guesthouse, which is run by the Amahoro-tours agency I dealt with that same week. I had been invited by the owner who was curious to hear my opinion about it and the others had read it in our – still highly valued – travel bible ‘the Bradt guide’. So everybody happy, we checked in at the guesthouse and left for Volcanoes lounge where we had Pizza With A View, having Mount Muhabura right in front of us.
Volcanoes – part two
After a banana & bread breakfast we were once again picked up at 6.30am to head down to Volcanoes National Park where we all were going to see gorillas; Charlotte and Sue the living ones, Brittany and I the dead ones at Dian Fossey’s tomb and gorilla cemetary.
Earlier that week it turned out I wasn’t going to see any gorillas during my time in Rwanda. I even got an angry phonecall from the RDB guy who said ‘I’m asking too many questions and bothering too many people and they’d been so nice to me.’ I replied in the same way, saying that his colleagues in both RDB (Rwanda Development Board – Tourism Dept) and ORTPN (Rwanda Tourism Office) had sent me from one person to another, making me call different people and then setting me up with a lousy research permit that had cost me 80USD for absolutely nothing. It was a total scam, ‘grab-money-and-go’ kind of thing and I was furious about it! I said I was going to file a complaint and ask for a full refund of the money I paid for a shitty piece of paper. In the end, I never heard back from any of them.
After Charlotte and Sue were settled in a nice group, Brittany and I were going to book our hike. I had warned her about the lousy service and staff that had absolutely no clue what they were doing but on Sunday it was even worse. It was so ridiculous it wasn’t even funny anymore. The manager had troubles counting 500+500+300+300 USD for four people (two residents and two non-residents) that he had to do it over and over again, running the bills through a small counting device to end up saying ‘it is not correct’ while it was, and had to start from scratch again and ended up saying ‘oh, so two residents and two tourists’. When he said those magical words, those people were close to dragging him over the counter. Then there were two Japanese girls working for the UN so he had to copy their passports and visas. It took ages for him to read the – fairly simple and limited – information on their visas and workdocuments. We were about eight left and all got a bit sarcastic with him, which was a bit rude I guess. At some point I couldn’t stop laughing at this stupidity cause it was plainly ridiculous, but this guy being a manager was a joke.
When the Japanese girls took off we were the only ones left. By that time it had come close to 8.30am, knowing that briefing is at 7am and the last departures are at 8am. At that point, they simply told us we couldn’t go to Dian Fossey cause it was too muddy on the trail. Never taking no for an answer, we were quite frank (ok, I was) with the boss cause he went chasing these four people who just bought their gorilla ticket, asking if they were the ones interested in Dian Fossey. They thought they had ended up with a wrong ticket after the 300+300+500+500 hassle and it just made everything more confusing. After witnessing all this I was so fed up and I yelled at this guy over the parking lot with everyone standing around us ‘dude, WE are the ones who want to go to Dian Fossey. Are you interested in our money or not, cause we’re getting very pissed off right now.’ The other group started laughing, wished us good luck and all of a sudden, Dian Fossey was not a problem anymore and we had our ticket within ten minutes. You know what they say, good girls go to heaven, bad girls go everywhere. Again, there’s a reaon why they put a retard in such a position, but more on that when I write my overall conclusion on tourism.
Dian Fossey trail
The trail to Dian Fossey’s old research center, tomb and gorilla cemetary was for 60% the exact same hike we did on Monday when climbing Mount Bisoke. The start is very strenguous and a hell of a workout. Unfortunately we had the same guard as the other day and as soon as he saw my face he started laughing. I said ‘yep, I’m back and I’m still slow and definitely taking my time to enjoy this.’ He didn’t say much and ran up the mountain. We lost track of him most of the time cause nobody could keep up. The good thing was that Brittany and I were the only ones in the group so we set the pace, or I did… keeping everyone waiting all the time. I didn’t care, I wanted to take pictures of the beautiful scenery, ,listen to the sounds of nature and enjoy the hike in this oase of tranquility. They wanted to go faster fearing it would soon start to rain. Well, to be honest, we were once again up to our knees in the mud, wet and dirty so I didn’t give a f*ck about rain coming. It wouldn’t make me walk faster anyway and with rainjackets and boots on, we were well equipped for it. But the locals here don’t like getting wet at all.
Halfway up we met the two Japanese girls who were fighting the mud. At the reception, nobody had told them the trail up Bisoke was very muddy. At the park headquarters they actually rent out boots, but they didn’t know. Their guides didn’t want to take them further up as they’d never make it to the top of the volcano. We all came together at the resting point and they were very upset about it. I told them they’d paid for it so the guides should do their job and if they decided to continue, they couldn’t refuse you, unless there were risks or dangers. Our guide replied that it was not the park organisation’s job to inform about the condition of the trails! All four of us bursted into the discussion once again, that it is exactly their job to inform visitors about this and give clothing advise, calling this on our planet 'customer service'. Then it was the girls’ responsability to either do something with the information and hire boots or do nothing at all and then end up like this. Now they didn’t have a choice, they paid lots of money for a trail and then were forced to head back to headquarters. They asked if they could join us perhaps as it wasn’t as tough, but then the whole bureaucratic bullshit came back into discussion and once again there was no flexibility.
Brittany and I continued on our trail, wondering why the heck Dian went so far to build a camp, but once we got there we understood exactly why. A secret hidaway under Mount Bisoke, amidst of beautiful vegetation and with a river running nearby, it was a wonderful place to be. There was an old restaurant lying in ruins, but other buildings or cabins had been destroyed during the ’94 genocide. Small signposts told us what used to be there and apart from some stones you couldn’t see much. The ruins of the restaurant were taken over by nature, being all green with trees growing through them. Dian Fossey was killed in December ’85 with a machete that cut her throat (even heard she was decapitated) probably by poachers who didn’t appreciate her severe action against them. It had always been her wish to be buried up there, next to her favourite gorilla digit who was also killed by poachers. She couldn’t have chose a better spot as last resting place.
Not even allowed to sit down or wander around on our own for a little bit, we turned straight around to head back to where we came from. Exhausted after a rather rapid decent, we met up with our gorilla ladies again to hear the funniest stories. Everyone had loved his climb and so did I – all happy I actually finished it - but I won’t be coming back to Volcanoes any time soon, that’s for sure.
Easter Sunday April 24th - Kinigi
Amahoro guesthouse
Saturday and Sunday night we spent in the lovely Amahoro-guesthouse, which is run by the Amahoro-tours agency I dealt with that same week. I had been invited by the owner who was curious to hear my opinion about it and the others had read it in our – still highly valued – travel bible ‘the Bradt guide’. So everybody happy, we checked in at the guesthouse and left for Volcanoes lounge where we had Pizza With A View, having Mount Muhabura right in front of us.
Volcanoes – part two
After a banana & bread breakfast we were once again picked up at 6.30am to head down to Volcanoes National Park where we all were going to see gorillas; Charlotte and Sue the living ones, Brittany and I the dead ones at Dian Fossey’s tomb and gorilla cemetary.
Earlier that week it turned out I wasn’t going to see any gorillas during my time in Rwanda. I even got an angry phonecall from the RDB guy who said ‘I’m asking too many questions and bothering too many people and they’d been so nice to me.’ I replied in the same way, saying that his colleagues in both RDB (Rwanda Development Board – Tourism Dept) and ORTPN (Rwanda Tourism Office) had sent me from one person to another, making me call different people and then setting me up with a lousy research permit that had cost me 80USD for absolutely nothing. It was a total scam, ‘grab-money-and-go’ kind of thing and I was furious about it! I said I was going to file a complaint and ask for a full refund of the money I paid for a shitty piece of paper. In the end, I never heard back from any of them.
After Charlotte and Sue were settled in a nice group, Brittany and I were going to book our hike. I had warned her about the lousy service and staff that had absolutely no clue what they were doing but on Sunday it was even worse. It was so ridiculous it wasn’t even funny anymore. The manager had troubles counting 500+500+300+300 USD for four people (two residents and two non-residents) that he had to do it over and over again, running the bills through a small counting device to end up saying ‘it is not correct’ while it was, and had to start from scratch again and ended up saying ‘oh, so two residents and two tourists’. When he said those magical words, those people were close to dragging him over the counter. Then there were two Japanese girls working for the UN so he had to copy their passports and visas. It took ages for him to read the – fairly simple and limited – information on their visas and workdocuments. We were about eight left and all got a bit sarcastic with him, which was a bit rude I guess. At some point I couldn’t stop laughing at this stupidity cause it was plainly ridiculous, but this guy being a manager was a joke.
When the Japanese girls took off we were the only ones left. By that time it had come close to 8.30am, knowing that briefing is at 7am and the last departures are at 8am. At that point, they simply told us we couldn’t go to Dian Fossey cause it was too muddy on the trail. Never taking no for an answer, we were quite frank (ok, I was) with the boss cause he went chasing these four people who just bought their gorilla ticket, asking if they were the ones interested in Dian Fossey. They thought they had ended up with a wrong ticket after the 300+300+500+500 hassle and it just made everything more confusing. After witnessing all this I was so fed up and I yelled at this guy over the parking lot with everyone standing around us ‘dude, WE are the ones who want to go to Dian Fossey. Are you interested in our money or not, cause we’re getting very pissed off right now.’ The other group started laughing, wished us good luck and all of a sudden, Dian Fossey was not a problem anymore and we had our ticket within ten minutes. You know what they say, good girls go to heaven, bad girls go everywhere. Again, there’s a reaon why they put a retard in such a position, but more on that when I write my overall conclusion on tourism.
Dian Fossey trail
The trail to Dian Fossey’s old research center, tomb and gorilla cemetary was for 60% the exact same hike we did on Monday when climbing Mount Bisoke. The start is very strenguous and a hell of a workout. Unfortunately we had the same guard as the other day and as soon as he saw my face he started laughing. I said ‘yep, I’m back and I’m still slow and definitely taking my time to enjoy this.’ He didn’t say much and ran up the mountain. We lost track of him most of the time cause nobody could keep up. The good thing was that Brittany and I were the only ones in the group so we set the pace, or I did… keeping everyone waiting all the time. I didn’t care, I wanted to take pictures of the beautiful scenery, ,listen to the sounds of nature and enjoy the hike in this oase of tranquility. They wanted to go faster fearing it would soon start to rain. Well, to be honest, we were once again up to our knees in the mud, wet and dirty so I didn’t give a f*ck about rain coming. It wouldn’t make me walk faster anyway and with rainjackets and boots on, we were well equipped for it. But the locals here don’t like getting wet at all.
Halfway up we met the two Japanese girls who were fighting the mud. At the reception, nobody had told them the trail up Bisoke was very muddy. At the park headquarters they actually rent out boots, but they didn’t know. Their guides didn’t want to take them further up as they’d never make it to the top of the volcano. We all came together at the resting point and they were very upset about it. I told them they’d paid for it so the guides should do their job and if they decided to continue, they couldn’t refuse you, unless there were risks or dangers. Our guide replied that it was not the park organisation’s job to inform about the condition of the trails! All four of us bursted into the discussion once again, that it is exactly their job to inform visitors about this and give clothing advise, calling this on our planet 'customer service'. Then it was the girls’ responsability to either do something with the information and hire boots or do nothing at all and then end up like this. Now they didn’t have a choice, they paid lots of money for a trail and then were forced to head back to headquarters. They asked if they could join us perhaps as it wasn’t as tough, but then the whole bureaucratic bullshit came back into discussion and once again there was no flexibility.
Brittany and I continued on our trail, wondering why the heck Dian went so far to build a camp, but once we got there we understood exactly why. A secret hidaway under Mount Bisoke, amidst of beautiful vegetation and with a river running nearby, it was a wonderful place to be. There was an old restaurant lying in ruins, but other buildings or cabins had been destroyed during the ’94 genocide. Small signposts told us what used to be there and apart from some stones you couldn’t see much. The ruins of the restaurant were taken over by nature, being all green with trees growing through them. Dian Fossey was killed in December ’85 with a machete that cut her throat (even heard she was decapitated) probably by poachers who didn’t appreciate her severe action against them. It had always been her wish to be buried up there, next to her favourite gorilla digit who was also killed by poachers. She couldn’t have chose a better spot as last resting place.
Not even allowed to sit down or wander around on our own for a little bit, we turned straight around to head back to where we came from. Exhausted after a rather rapid decent, we met up with our gorilla ladies again to hear the funniest stories. Everyone had loved his climb and so did I – all happy I actually finished it - but I won’t be coming back to Volcanoes any time soon, that’s for sure.
Easter Sunday April 24th - Kinigi
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