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Hatari
Well it beats biking up the hills of Rwanda...Well now it's been some time since last, and I will try to recollect as best as possible. Also I will try to keep thing chronologically ordered but well see what happens and I should also tell you that you’re in for a long read...
Burundi First of after my time in Tanzania me, Johanna and Christian travelled to Burundi heading for Bujumbura. Not much to say about this country except that it's really tiny. Beautiful hills though, but even these were soon to be matched in Rwanda. However we spent two nights in Bujumbura, hanging around local markets and eating ice-cream. I also decided that it was time to get some nice tourist diarrhea before it was time to head of to Rwanda. The extremely short stay was not only because of the small country but also because they only issued transit visas for three days at the border.
Rwanda (take one) Well of we went, despite me feeling miserable, on a buss taking us to Kigali in six hours. Like I mentioned before the landscape in Burundi was nothing compared to what awaited in Rwanda. Spectacular to say the least though I found it slightly
Hotel Rwanda
Made famous for it's role during the genocide as depicted in the movie difficult to enjoy in my current condition. Arrived in Kigali and checked into the cheapest place we could find were I took some antibiotics and collapsed on the rubber mattress (another icky story...). But at least I did as the lying planet guide suggested concerning getting sick in Burundi: "GET OUT!"
Kigali Considering the state in which this current lodgment was we decided to change place the next day. We ended up quite close to the city center in a place called Auberge de caverne. Hot showers need I say more? Concerning Kigali in general some of you might have heard about the difference between Rwanda in general and the rest of east Africa. And yes it's true, the city center is very westernized, beautiful but not really Africa feeling. Also the prices are somewhat ridiculous with a cup of coffee being more expensive than at a cafe back home and the like...
Spent three days in the capital walking around and watching the city finding it as previously indicated by other travelers very neat and tidy with no garbage in the streets and very few homeless and downtrodden people. That off course changes when
Smoker
One of the memorial statues reffering to local people of Rwanda somehow you move a bit away from town center. Now during this time I also visited the Congolese embassy to acquire some information concerning getting into Congo. My plan at this time was to cross into Goma, see the volcano and then fly to Kinshasa. And from here continue onwards south towards Cape Town. They informed me that a seven day transit visa was 260 USD and took at least seven work days to obtain. Rubbish thought I and decided to wait until I got to the border and fix everything there since they also told me this was possible. But I get ahead of myself. Did the classic touristy stuff around Kigali, visiting the Genocide memorial and the Hotel de Mille Collines
The Genocide. I will keep this section concerning the atrocities in 1994 rather short since only writing about it does not do it justice. The horrific images on display in the memorial site along with photographs, clothes and exumed remains of victims create a rather difficult thing to process. Human beings are the only species that does this to themselves and the question: why? I believe will never be answered. But one thing is important and
Typical touristy stuff
Not enjoyable since it's so fake but my god I want one of those wigs that is to never forget, words also frequently used when referring to the genocide here.
This genocide was the culmination of continuous executions of Tutsi-Rwandans that begun in honest 1990. In April 1994 the massacre took on a horrific large scale efficiency previously avoided. One million Tutsi and sympathizers thereof were killed over the course of 100 days around Rwanda. The memorial site gives a very detailed story of what happened and also the total ignorance shown by the western world. Well I don't know what to make out of this but one thing is unfortunately true, it will happen again and the only way to lessen the frequency by which these thing occur is to remember the horrors. This was one of the reasons why me and Christian decided to visit two churches south of Kigali that now were turned into memorial sites due to the role they played in the genocide.
Ntarama and Natarama, two churches located only five kilometers from each other stands as a horrific reminder of the efficiency by which the genocide swept by. Both small churches served as refuge points for Tutsi during the beginning of the Genocide since thinking themselves safe
Realxing
big gorilla on a very small twig inside a house of God. This however was not the case and needles to say that with the amount of people crowded into each church the resulting massacre was... There is something very eerie about going into a church riddled with bullet holes and marked but explosions of grenades to come face to face with the remains of 8000 people who were killed in less than a day here. But now I will stop talking about this, the amount of analyzing can go on forever but needles to say there is something strange about human nature and what we are capable of doing to ourselves.
Muzanse Well moving on to happier thing me and Christian set our destination 1, 5 hours bus ride north of Kigali. Nice little town with wonderful boulangeries and amazing hot milk! But that’s not the main reason for visiting here, but rather the parc national des volcanes. A number of inactive volcanoes bordering Uganda and Congo (DR) were the last population of mountain gorillas live. Not a cheap hobby I can tell you but in retrospect it was worth every penny, and also I'm glad I did it now since from 20120601 the
Running through the group
Seven meters was our limit of proximity, but they didn't know that... raise the prices by 50%! (MISSING)Tourist attraction for rich people, not for backpackers…
The Gorillas Waking up at 6a.m. to be at the park no later than 7a.m. in hopes to see the largest family called the Susa. Also this was the primary group studied by Diane Fossey.
After one hour driving, partly on extremely bad road, and another hour walking through hilly farmlands we arrived at the edge of the forest. It was really like stepping into a dreamland, misty like suspected and relatively cold, approximately 15 degrees centigrade. One hour of walking in this forest, on ever elevating paths we meet up with the family’s guards. After a brief introduction on behavior when facing the gorillas we grabbed hour cameras and walked the last few meters to the place the gorillas were taking the lunch siesta. Remarkably unaffected by our arrival, but I guess they get used to the strange two legs who arrive almost every day with their clicking and beeping devices. However of course some of the younger members of the group find it rather interesting and need to try some borders with these newcomers. But after some grunting and sound making
The boss
And he demands respect! from the rangers these mock charges were given up, but the ruffling about with each other continued. At one point the ruffians decided to run past the group, and to try the stability of two legs they slapped some thighs and grabbed others (me included) by the leg to give them some extra thrust. Meanwhile the younglings roll around and climb over each other playing rather rough at some point, but they were amazingly cute. Al this while most adults including the enormous silverback rest in the shade.
The maximum time allowed near the gorillas is one hour and after approximately 45 minutes of hushed staring and picture taking the silverback got a bit feed up and decided that his new place of rest was on the other side of our group. Not really caring much he walked straight through and on with us moving out of the way as fast as possible. Not really a guy you'd like to pick a fight with since his punch is estimated to carry the force eight times that of a heavy weight boxer. But one hour flies by when you are with these gentle beasts. However the walk back to the
The classic volcanoe!
Well it will still be there when I go to Africa next right cars was perfectly timed since just before arriving there we got hit by a nice hail storm.
Gisenyi After Muzanse the journey took us westwards to the border of Congo and the small town called Gisenyi. Here we meet up with Johanna who had visited Kiboye instead of going to the Gorillas. After two short days they departed for Uganda while I grabbed my thinks and went to the Congolese border. However at this border, despite offers of bribes and trying to inform the officers that their own embassy said it was possible to get a transit visa at the border I got the middle finger showed my way. Rather disappointed I decided to take Johanna up on her tip and left for Kiboye.
Kiboye Three hours from Kigali, situated on the shores of Lake Kivu I found this small town to be quite as idyllic as described. And the lovely guesthouse was perfect for relaxation. Located on a small peninsula with the lake on three sides you got the most amazing views. Very quiet and with my goal set I didn’t stay long here but went back to Kigali after two days to research some
information concerning crossing into Congo. After some time I realized that there seems to be a rather stretched relationship between Rwanda and Congo and possibility to cross the border really depends on the officer on duty at the time. Went on another trip to Bukavu border crossing south of lake Kivu in hopes this place would treat me better but ended up not only with the middle finger but also spending some time explaining my way out of why I tried crossing without a valid visa. But no harm done, except to my personal pride I spent one night in Gisuma after which I took the bus back to Kigali. Here I soon decided that Rwanda was enough for now and immediately got on the bus to Uganda. Rather nervous since my previous experiences with borders about this crossing I got to the border, the guy looked at my passport, took my fingerprints and asked me for 50 dollars and I was through.
Uganda Arriving early in Kampala I waited around the bus station for the city to wake up, since my travel guide includes a map of east Africa from 1998 I needed internet in order to
Bike tour
Crater lakes with Robert find some decent place to stay. Got directions to The Backpackers some two kilometers outside of town and despite this being the dirtiest and most air polluted town I've visited so far the hostel was a surprise. Nice big yard which allowed for camping and close to the local food market. I spent four days here trying to make up my mind about what to do next. Meanwhile living on the local specialty consisting of one omelet rolled into a chapatti, thereby making it a roll with eggs. Great fun going to the market and ordering two Rolexes but they were really tasty.
However cities were never my thing so after four days I decided to travel westwards to Fort Portal and see the lakes.
Fort Portal A town that definitely need to open up Portal bar and nightclub, with a speaker outside gently saying: "Hello! Could you come over here?" Nice to be closer to the countryside with the Rawensori mountain ridge to the west and several old craters scattered through the area. On my second day I decided it was time to explore the surroundings and since I like water my destination was set, Lake
Crater lake
Near Maurence's place in Fort Portal Albert, located two hours north of Fort Portal. This became a rather interesting journey since I not only got to traverse a game reserve, which offered some nice animal watching in passing, but also got to experience a minor investigation from the local security people in Ntoroko village by the lakeshore. My plan was to go there and on site figure out if the lake was good for swimming but instead I got picked up by immigration officers who insisted that I should carry identification papers in case somebody killed me. Interesting start of a conversation, but since I had no papers with me (a bit stupid but still) I got escorted to the immigration office were I spent three hours talking to the officers. At first we tried to get to the bottom of why and what we should do now but after they realized I was not going to pay my way out of the situation the discussion continued on to everything between heaven and earth. Basically we simply sat around talking until the taxi heading back came around and they could put me in the car back to Fort Portal. Also we shared some roots I had
Rawensori mountains
We want to get higher! bought in the market, the lady saying it was good for your appetite. The officers laughed at me when I explained this an said that the appetite referred to was of the sexual kind. So another experience added to the list having tried the local Viagra. No bribes paid proving that if you have the time and patience you can talk your way out of most things even if this was nothing really serious. They even bought me a coke, nice fellows. Not quite what I planned for but still a good day.
Simply walking around a not doing much was nice, and this also led me to by chance running into Maurence Mpanga. A very nice guy running several charity projects in the area. After some talking I got interested in his family run project and decided to visit there for two days before I was due back. This turned out to be a very beautiful area a couple of kilometers north of Fort Portal and I got to like the place. Maurice is currently running both prime and secondary schools in the area as well as developing a fish farm and forest cultivation. He also asked me
Phoenix
in sparrow format... to spread the word about his place since he is in need of volunteers to help him develop and run these things. Therefore I thought it might be nice to mention it here, the volunteers get food and accommodation and are not required to pay anything provided they work in exchange. In other words the old fashioned volunteering that nowadays is rather difficult to find. If anyone reading this is interested let me know and I'll put you in contact with Maurence. At his place I got in touch with Robert who arranges bike safaris of the surrounding area, we decided to go for a ride to the crater lakes just nearby. Wonderful views, perfectly still, although Bilharzias infected, waters and generally good times. The next day we also went for a trek up one of the Rawensori Mountains which provided us with remarkable views. Quite taxing trek but rewarding since we the day before had visited "top of the world", a useless little peak compared to being up high on the mountainside. Well now my time in Uganda has come to an end and I headed back down to were I came from since I had arrangements to go
Lake Kivu
View from Home st. Jean Guesthouse, Kiboye to Goma and see the volcano...
Rwanda (take two) Back in Gisenyi I checked into the same place as last time and contacted my guide from Congo who was arranging for the trek up Nyiragongo volcano (active). However he informed me that the rebels had started fucking about in the national park and therefore the place was currently closed to tourist. Bummer thought I, especially since had I been more determined to go on my last tries I would have made it. But anyway the situation was to be reevaluated in one or two weeks. But instead of staying in Gisenyi me and Itamar, a character and very nice guy from Israel I ran into at the guesthouse decided to try out the recently created Congo-Nile trail running along the shores of Lake Kivu on the Rwandan side. His friend Ray was having some trouble with knees and decided to remain behind. So off we went.
The Congo-Nile trail First day on our walk took us past amazing vies both near and afar of the lake. Its archipelago rivaling anything I've ever seen before. Dirt road mainly, perhaps not what was expected but this trail was
Crap!
I regret to this day that I never pushed just to see what happened... marketed as being passable by car, bike or on foot. First day also provided with some hard times in the baking sun and a lot of children running after you yelling muzungu, this time quite okay up until they ask you for money at which point I got a bit upset and scared them off. Not quite nice but people need to start seeing tourist and travelers as something other than walking bags of money... After reaching the first campsite we got to enjoy an evening of a spectacular thunderstorm, or many. Quite nice to see thunder some miles of and sitting under a star clear sky.
Day two continued in much the same fashion apart from the fact that Itamar decided to rejoin with Ray in Gisenyi and thereby took a boat in the morning to get back. Well I continued through rolling hills, steep slopes and equally taxing downhill’s, I can honestly say that downhill is tougher than going up. Walking past several coffee washing stations and endless coffee plantations I arrived at campsite two just by one of the washing stations. And I can tell you one thing, the STINK!!!
Day three, rainy and incidentally
Thunder
To much light for my poor camera, you can guess that this one was visible for a while on my retina the last day walking offered an uphill of about 10 km rather steep, glad to reach the top I soon lost the trail due to insufficient trail marking. But al ways led south so I improvised. Got directions to a dead end stopping with two enormous church doors. Don't really know the purpose of this was but maybe they though that this heathen muzungu that clearly looks like a noon believer needed conversion? Not quite the right tactic though since I had been walking al day, dusk was beginning to fall and after consulting the map I realized I had another three hours walk to get to Kiboye, so I cheated and flagged down a ride from a passing truck. Arriving late I got a nice shower (hot!) and some food after which I fell asleep. As thing turned out this time I stayed three night here enjoining nice swims, sunshine and general relaxation as well as the autobiography of Julia Andrews. This choice of literature might surprise some of you but to explain I was totally out of reading material, there were no bookstores and this was the only book in English they had at the guesthouse. Also it
Kids by the road
With a quite spectacular background view should bee added it was a entertaining read giving some insight in the rather hectic life of a somewhat neurotic actress in the Broadway of the fifties and sixties.
But time came when the reevaluation might take place for the volcano so I returned once again to Gisenyi, stopping by Kigali to register for some serious pain! Despite crossing my thumbs and really hoping, since seeing lava is one of my dreams, the park remained close since the rebels were quite dug in. Sorry to get this news I returned to face my challenge of running the Kigali Peace marathon on the 27 of May and fly out the very next day.
Another arduous run... Resting well, loading up on energy and preparing to counter any aces and pains that might occur, one concern being the lack of four toenails still missing since my last run. I got to the start only to realize I forgot my knee supports. Well not much to do but pray so off I went. In summary a very boring run with four loops of the same track. First was okay, taking it easy to get the feel but then the knees
Bridge
In the rain it took some time to cross and produced rather some adrenaline, all the while with kids watching the Muzungu about to fall and laughing... started to bitch. Needles to say more this required me to dope up on painkillers since listening to my own body’s complaints never was my thing. I think that in the end I would not have felt if my arm popped of, good life! And also two more nails will leave me after this; I hope they grow back before next run… But in conclusion I made it, the results are not up as of yet but I can also say that maybe I was last or second last to finish, well see. Not my best run but anyway I made it and feel rather good about this, so now it's time to enjoy a victory cigar and a nice cup of Rwandan coffee before my flight to Johannesburg at 6a.m is due.
Soon I will have a purpose again! Don’t get me wrong I love travelling but I'm looking forward to getting some structure and purpose back in my life which is due next Friday. Enjoy the summer back home while I go for winter in South Africa...
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Östdansken
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Avis!
...som satan, du verkar ha det riktigt gött där nere. Jag var på lägenhetsvisning, och får jag den så är det bud på att jag lägger mina pengar på att åka och besöka dig nån gång i höst istället för att spara till att köpa nått.