Blogs from Rwanda, Africa - page 4

On May 30th, I began a two week trip that took me through Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda. It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. I don't have the patience right now to type up blog entries that could do it justice so for now I'll just post a fraction of the pictures that I actually took while there. Hope you enjoy!... read more

What are the food customs in Rwanda, Africa? http://www.everyculture.com/No-Sa/Rwanda.html In the article "Culture of Rwanda", it reveals a variety of customs that the country does. It also talks about the Rwanda's religion, beliefs, social classes, trade, the food they eat, and their government. There are examples of what cultural traditions they do and the way they eat there meals or they way they eat on special occasions compare to other countries. Moreover, the article states facts from the gender roles in families to the different and limited foods the Rwandan people eat on a daily basis. Some customs in Rwanda are very unusual compared to American customs. In Rwanda for special occasions they have a ceremonial consumption of alcohol and food. F... read more

"At my signal, unleash Hell" On April 6 1994 Rwandan president Juvénal Habyarimana and Burundian president Cyprien Ntaryamira were assassinated when the plane they flew in was shot down while approaching Kigali Airport. That event was the signal that started the Rwandan Genocide. Over a period of only 100 days, from April 6 to mid July, between 500,000 and 1,000,000 Rwandans, mostly of the "ethnic group" Tutsis, were systematically murdered. In recent years the Rwandans have started to call the genocide "the Genocide Against the Tutsis". This change of name clearly points out the Tutsis as the victims and consequently the Hutus accept the responsibility for the mass murder. The reason we write "ethnic group" in quotation marks is that Hutus and Tutsis aren't separate ethnic groups at all. It was the colonial rulers in the ... read more

Geo: -1.5379, 29.5532We did 2 days of hiking into the Virgunga Volcano mountain range that borders Rwanda, Uganda, and the Republic of Congo. The first day, we followed a gorilla family of 17 members. It included 3 silverbacks (male, 12 years and older), 1 blackback (male, 8-12 years old), and the rest are females, young males, and babies. The trackers follow the family, radio to our guides, and then we hike to the trackers through some very thick jungle. Then, we get 1 hour to sit amongst the gorillas and watch their behavior. The gorillas seem to be indifferent to having us around. Although, the head silverback definitely keeps watch over the family and makes sure the humans know who is in charge. There were a couple episodes of beating his chest....which sounds more like knocking ... read more

We bet Sigourney Weaver never fell on her butt when she checked out gorillas Volcanoes National Park in northern Rwanda is the home of the country's claim of fame, the mountain gorillas. The Volcanoes National Park covers a mountainous area where there are several volcanoes. The rugged slopes of these mountains, slopes covered with dense vegetation, is the environment the gorillas like to call home. They move around in large family groups spending most of the time eating it seemed like to us. The gorillas have no natural enemies so they can devout all their time to eating and relaxing. We suppose they could consider taking up a hobby or do sports as well but we haven't heard that any gorillas have done that yet. From what we understand they eat and then they eat more ... read more