Blogs from Rwanda, Africa - page 14

I spent a day chilling in Arusha, then took the plane from Kilimanjaro airport to Kigali in Rwanda. The rest of the afternoon I spent in the bank of Kigali trying to obtain some money for my gorilla trek. Kigali is very expensive and unremarkeable I was planning on staying for 2 nights but bailed out early and headed off to Musanze for the Gorrila Trek. There are not many whiteys in Kigali and during all my bus journeys so far I have been the only one!! Everybody in Rwanda refers to me and other whiteys as Muzungu, which is good cos at least you know when they are talking about you. However, before leaving I had to visit the Rwanda Genocide museum. During the genocide nearly 1 million Tutsi's and moderate Hutus were killed in ... read more

Hi All Thanks for all the lovely emails about the photos we posted yesterday! :-) I have now finished uploading the rest of our photos, and Keira is busy adding extra information to them as we speak. We have added the following sets to our 'Big Adventure Collection' : The Crater Lakes and Bigodi Wetlands Rwenzori Mountains Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, including Mountain Gorilla Tracking Lake Bunyonyi, including Canoe Trekking We hope you enjoy these ones too... the blog, to acc... read more

The little Kinyarwanda i picked up (spelt phonetically): Hi - muraho Good morning - Muramutse Good afternoon/evening - mwiriwe How are you? - Amakuru? I'm fine - ni mese Thank you (very much) - murakoze (khan) Milk - amata Water - amazi How much? - Angahay? Yes - yego no - Oya Give me money! - Ama faranga! White person - mzungu green - ichadse red - umootoku blue - ubururu yellow - umohondo Ok - sawa I'm getting off (bus) - davamo I'm stopping - Dasigera To get someone's attention - Umva ... read more

I arrive in Kigali mid-afternoon and have mixed feelings. Its outskirts are fairly pretty, rolling up the steep hills that characterise Rwanda's landscape like a provincial Spanish hill-town. However, the centre is rather bland and the only thing I find of interest here is the Genocide Memorial Centre. Kigali has the most expensive accommodation I've had to take so far, without much in the way of options. I feel no compulsion to hang around for a second $24 night so get packing the next morning. Before departing I do take a couple of hours to check out the Genocide Memorial. There's no denying that it makes for a macabre spectacle, particularly the horrifically graphic photos of victims and the morbid personal testimonies. I do think the modernity of the building detracts a little from the impact ... read more

Friday afternoon, we packed up the car with camping gear and another couple, and headed south to Butare. On the way, we stopped at Gatagara Pottery and had a tour of the compound. The site is a refuge for the handicapped, and a portion of the proceeds from the pottery go toward supporting them. After purchasing a casserole dish, we continued our journey. We arrived in Butare, checked into the hotel, and began a long search for the pewter factory (30 miles in the wrong direction). Eventually, we found the factory, but were too tired to care about buying anything. We drove back to Butare town and had dinner at the hotel. During dinner, a cake with fireworks was brought to one of the diners. One member from our party then told the kitchen that someone ... read more