Blogs from Parc National des Volcans, Province du Nord, Rwanda, Africa - page 5

I came to Rwanda with relatively little knowledge and even less expectations about the place. I knew there had been a recent genocide, I knew there were some gorillas hanging about somewhere, and I knew very little else. But now I’m a little more educated. Rwanda is obviously synonymous with the 1994 genocide. Up to 1.5 million of their people were massacred during a few months of immense bloodshed. Since that tragic scar the nation has progressed at an unbelieveable rate. They do not pretend it never happened and openly face up to the stigma. In 1998, president Kigame took charge, following a well-trodden route to power in Africa - from child refugee to guerrilla leader to president. During his premiership Rwanda has introduced several policies and reforms that are years ahead of other African nations. ... read more

Rwanda packs a fair punch for a small country - sometimes beautiful, sometimes grim, but always fascinating. ... read more

Most people apparently have to trek for hours to see the gorillas in the Parc National des Volcans. They come back with tales of slogging uphill through ankle deep mud and stinging bushes. But when my sister and I visited, the gorillas were out visiting their relatives in town. After just 15 minutes of walking from the cars, we came across the "thirteen" group of gorillas in the terraced fields. Up gum trees, to be precise. I hope they didn't have upset stomachs after their feast. Q: Why do gorillas have big nostrils? A: Because they have big fingers. ... read more

After reluctantly leaving Zanzibar we embarked on a long journey from Dar es Salaam through Tanzania to Rwanda. Any normal and/or sensible person would have flown this journey - not us! We tortured ourselves for at least a week getting to Kigali by African public transport. At least we had Rob and Emma for company (thanks guys) to increase the Mzungu numbers. A word of advice to anyone thinking of getting a train in Tanzania - don't! We took the train from Dodoma to Mwanza on southern Lake Victoria which took 40 hours instead of 24. We knew we were off to a bad start when the train went for about 5 kms then just stopped for 8 hours! The conductor told us to secure the window at night with a piece of wood because of ... read more

Quick note - we are also composing an entry about arriving in Rwanda and our stay in Kigali which will be slotted in before this one. But there was quite a lot to say, what with genocide memorials and our first impressions of how the country is today. So we are still writing it, and we have skipped ahead to this one so we can post the gorilla pics. So after a few days in Kigali it was time for us to go and meet the relatives. Albeit distant relatives, and with a bit more hair. Well only just hairier than Adam anyway... We got the bus up to Ruhengeri which is the town nearest to Parc National des Volcans. The bus ride was beautiful, climbing through yet more of the "thousand hills" that the country ... read more