Blogs from Parc National des Volcans, Province du Nord, Rwanda, Africa

A couple of the emails said, “Rwanda . . . huh”. The skepticism was palpable. The messages plainly implied that this decision was significant in so far as it indicated deteriorating mental capacities and an alarming uptick in questionable decision making. Oprava’s email was more blunt: “Christmas in Rwanda sounds like, well, hell, but what does the white man know.” Precisely. What does the white man know? The media’s business is infotainment. It breathlessly recounts the horrific apocalyptic flavor of the moment for riveted audiences before rushing on to the next catastrophe in the heart of darkness. The news’ steady diet of natural disaster, civil war, famine, disease, and public uprising liberally indulges the schadenfreude of the fickle observer. Consequently, the Rwanda of public imagination is, and perhaps forever will be, rooted in the undeniably hellish ... read more

Sun shining, bags in the back of the ute, we jump in and off we go heading to see the Mountain Gorilla in the Parc Des Volcans. After a very early start and hoping to get a lift to see any of the Gorilla families we were very lucky to be offered a lift to see the Susa family which we were hoping to see and which is the largest, but also the most difficult to reach. It is very strange when you arrive at the head quarters for the morning check in and finding out that we need to organize our own transport as well as for the guide. We asked around the forty of so people and finally found a group of young travelers and we all stuck together. For each family only eight ... read more

Lake Bunyonyi was as beautiful as promised! We spent a day exploring the area using a dugout canoe for transport. We stumbled on and into an extremely vibrant and lively village church service and enjoyed the enthusiastic singing, clapping and dancing. There was definitely a lot of spirit and joy in the room.  We also visited a traditional healer who showed us a selection of plants and herbs used for various "medicinal" purposes, including treating colds, stomach upsets and malaria. Although not sure Celina will be prescribing any of his treatments to her patients when she's back home..! The last stop of the day was to learn some basket making skills from a family of craftmakers. We chose the simplest option of making bracelets, which was a lot tougher than it looked. Although we won't be ... read more

With only one month left in Rwanda, we finally went to see the gorillas. Our trip began with a three hour drive to Volcanoes National Park. Along the way, Alex had a speaking engagement on behalf of the US Embassy, recognizing a local NGO for their conservation efforts and education awareness programs in the area. Courtesy of Jenn’s mother, Dorothy, we stayed at a very nice lodge with individual cabins and excellent meals. The following morning, we got up super early to head to the park headquarters where we were assigned to trek the Hirwa group (meaning “lucky” in Kinyarwanda due to the birth of twins). Unfortunately for us, the group was very active in the morning, resulting in a three hour hike up, down, and around the mountain in very slippery and humid conditions. With ... read more

Even when 220kg of gorilla muscle is standing in front of you they look cuddly and shy. Being so close to them is surprisingly not intimidating at all. The only time intimidation can happen is that moment when the biggest silverback is coming right for you! My initial plan was to have a very private experience in Congo DR but with my failed effort to enter the country (explained earlier) I went to Rwanda’s Parc National Des Volcans. Booking a long time in advance was not needed and I booked in Kigali to go the following day. I went to Musanze the closest major town and stayed overnight. The cost to see the gorilla spectacle is $500, which is about the maximum it should be I feel. Rumours are that as of 2011 it is going ... read more