To DRC or not to DRC?

"Good luck...I would tell you to be safe but that seems pointless being that you are in the middle of Africa heading toward (instead of away) from rebel fighting and war.... " - Big Sturms, via email

I have made my way now from Kigali in central Rwanda over way west to the town of Gisenyi. Gisenyi is rather nondescript and sits on the Rwanda/Democratic Republic of Congo border at the northernmost part of Lake Kivu, opposite the border from its DRC counterpart, the village of Goma which serves as the UN base for the war in the Congo. I come to Gisenyi for closer to the heart updates on the security situation in the DRC in order to weigh my possibilities of entering the DRC via Goma.

Rwanda outside of Kigali is better than Rwanda in Kigali. This country is called the "Land of a Thousand Hills" and now I see why. Mountains, hills, rolling earth as far as your eyes can see. Big ones, small ones, all beautiful the same. The mountains and hillsides shrouded in mist are heavily cultivated and frame deep valleys resembling patchwork quilts in all shades of green. The greenery, the vegetation is astounding, the trees are varied and beautiful. Set in deep green, middle green shades of backgrounds, vibrant flowers grow along the roads and all through the fields where locals are gathering their produce. Children run alongside the buses and wave, smile, and chase after your empty water bottles like crazy females chase the bouquet at weddings. I venture to say this is the most beautiful scenery in Africa I have yet encountered. It is absolutely breathtaking.

The 3-hour bus ride from Kigali was surprisingly comfortable on African standards. The Atraco Express buses running Kigali-Gisenyi-Goma are in good condition, high ceilings, not overbooked, and have fake leather seats. The driver drives safely, waves at the other buses, blasts joyful reggae tunes, and is not entirely crazy. The windshield doesn't have a crack in it and I don't see any rust on any of the metal parts. Likely a direct result of our American guilt money to Rwanda...

Along the way we pass a UN convoy of about 8 vehicles in transit heading back to Kigali. 20 minutes later we pass another UN convoy stopped at a small village. In Africa, it is true, African soldiers touting AK47's walking the streets is no novel concept no matter in which African country yet. This however is the first time in Africa that I see camouflaged and armed white people. I ask the man sitting to my left in broken French why there are still UN troops in Rwanda as Rwanda is rather peaceful now. He tells me the UN convoys are heading back to Kigali from their base in Goma as the nearest international airport is in Kigali (as opposed to Kinshasa on the complete west side of DRC.) I also now discover that the Congolese man sitting to my right speaks broken Chinese.

In Gisenyi I have checked myself into yet another cagey hotel room at the Auberge de Gisenyi. Options for food are extremely limited as I am over eating the local African fare of rice, pap, and beans unless absolutely necessary. I am now subsiding solely on pains de le Boulangerie de Gisenyi, Nouvelle Vache (another version of Le Vache qui Ris?), a pot of chocolate spread, and avacado. I try to buy a papaya or mango every day. Meat is out of the question. I have to watch my money though as Rwanda has no international ATMs and I am here in Gisenyi on less than 300USD in cash. My shower is cold and it leaks into my room, my bed area sort of looks like a small island in puddles of water. I have pushed the little garbage bin (which stupidly I throw the fruit peels and seeds into) now attracting quite a few gnats into the far corner of my cage. The bar next door plays maximum base dance music starting at 7 in the morning.

I have yet to see another non-black here in Gisenyi, which really is kind of surprising to me (goes without saying that I am still pretty lonely in Rwanda.) I only saw two white people in Kigali in three days (both at the Memorial), but I know there must have been more in Kigali, I just didn't know where! At least the locals here don't call me "Japonaise" but rather a more accurate "Chinoise!" They are used to seeing Chinese in this part of Africa, either because of the heavy influences in resource mining or alternatively because (surprising to me) China has some rather large peace-keeping forces in the Congo. After hearing that locals don't particularly like peace-keeping forces, I always reply back "Je ne suis pas chinoise, je suis americaine." I don't know which of the two nationalities it is better to be, but perhaps I should find out and use it to my advantage.

Judging from what I have heard ever since Kampala, the situation in Goma is precarious but still accessible for now. Rebel activity has flared up again in east Congo in the last three weeks, as close as 30 km outside of Goma, but Goma itself if tense, is OK... for now... To be honest even west Rwanda apparently isn't the safest place due to spillover from the border and also don't forget that the war in Congo is a war between the Congolese and Rwandan groups themselves. The Rwandan rebel group FDLR - Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda is largely responsible for some of the main differences between the two countries. The real danger, according to four different people that I have spoken to either from Goma or who have been in the last week, is how volatile the security there is currently. I could go into further detail now and here, but as I don't feel like being lectured or giving my mother a heart attack just yet, perhaps that will come upon my return from DRC or after I have decided to not go.

I will mill around and dig some more before crossing over. If I decide not to cross into Goma by tomorrow, I will either head down to the southernmost tip of Lake Kivu to the other crossing into DRC at Bukavu, or head back to Kigali where things are safe and boring.

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