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Since I last left off here, life has picked up once again as my health has improved (thank you antibiotics!) and I'm good to go. Since then I have been doing a fair bit of moving around but also making sure to take some time for some R & R. I often forget that vacations are supposed to be restful and end up running myself ragged. That shouldn't surprise most of you though.
After Kampala I headed west towards the Congolese border and into the rainforests, crater lakes and high lands of Uganda before heading south and into Rwanda where I'm pleasantly enjoying the first cup of REAL coffee in quite some time. My first stop was in a small and sleepy town of Fort Portal where I headed up to a quaint and rather rustic campsite just outside of Kibale National Park which is famous for its high density of vervet, red tailed, blue and collobus monkeys as well as chimps and even forest elephants. Sadly, I decided that Chimp trekking is a bit out of my budget though the guide book does virtually guarantee that there is a good chance to see monkeys eating, grooming and copulating at
will. Been there, seen that.
At Lake Nkruba, just outside of Fort Portal a group of travelers hired a guide who took us through a 6 hour hike through valleys and hills that dot the landscape as well as through a remote villages and banana plantations. The hike was fantastic and took us past 6 crater lakes to a 60 foot waterfall where we indulged in an extremely frigid "power shower" in the pool below while trying not to get pinned down by the cascading falls and being swept down stream. Probably the best shower I've had yet. Showering has definitely not been a regular activity as of late but I'm getting quite well acquainted with my own stink.
After two nights at Lake Nkruba and one night at Fort Portal town, I headed south to Lake Bunyoni with a few other wanderers that I've met along the way. I have really enjoyed traveling solo and have met tons of really cool and interesting people along the way. I wasn't quite sure how or if I'd enjoy my solo journeys but it is definitely cool to meet people from all over the world. So far I've been tagging
along with various groups and currently with a British chap with whom I've travelled with for the past week and I think I might be meeting up with an American professor from Denver into Burundi and onwards to Tanzania. Along the way I've also been hanging out with Aussies and a number of other Americans. It's been a blast but after many nights at different bars in sketchy towns, I'm looking forward to a decent sleep... one of these days.
Lake Bunyoni was absolutely stunning. It is about 2000 metres in elevation so it actually got quite cold at night but still got scorching hot as the sun hovers directly above. Rather than explore the trails or take out the canoe, I spent most of the days here chilling out by the lake, reading and writing while drinking copious amounts of Club beer. mmmm.... Club Beer. I miss it already. My view out of my tent was a stunning lake (over 2.5 km deep!), lush tropical gardens and villagers fishing from rickety wooden boats. Not too shabby.
Yesterday I left Uganda for country #20 (illegal entry into Kenya last summer not counted) and entered Rwanda. I have always
had a huge fascination with this country mostly due to the plethora of books and articles that I've read about the country but mostly in a nasty and brutish context of war and genocide. Only 15 years ago nearly a million people were slaughtered here. I was quite excited but yet apprehensive. As we crossed the border we noticed an unusual number of security people on the Rwanda side of the border and not 10 minutes after we crossed the reigning (26 year long reign) President of Uganda's motorcade came through. He got out of his car and walked only a few feet away to the applause of only one mzungu. Really odd. His face adorns every office in the country and is quite a mythical character in his own right. I have very mixed feeling about him as a ruler but that is for another discussion. Still very cool to see him.
We arrived in Kigali late in the evening and bar hopped for the rest of the night before dragging our sorry selves out of bed and headed over to Amaroho Stadium which acted as one of the few fortresses that the UN controlled and at one
point housed tens of thousands of refugees in squalid conditions. It was hard to visualize it as we went to see the commemoration of the 15 year Anniversary of the liberation of Rwanda and the official end of the genocide. The exterior of the stadium was packed and it did not look like we were going to be able to get in. I kindly asked a guard when and if the gates would be opened to allow more people and he smiled and waved me in. I felt quite guilty about it as thousands of Rwandans who wanted in were being excluded from an event for them. In any event, we were being ushered by a man with a big stick and a large (huge) gun so in we went.
Getting through the gates was only the start of the voyage into the stadium. The entrance into the building itself was completely clogged up with anxious and well armed guards stopping people from going through. Every so often they would wave their baton towards the next entrance commencing a mad stampede back down the stairs and to the next entrance. My friend and I had to sprint down the
stairs and with the crowd to ensure that we would not be trampled by the masses nor get hit by the agitated guards who had to fend people off.
Eventually after getting in the stadium, we were treated to an interesting military display (lots of marching with big guns, bayonets and rocket propelled grenades) and traditional dancing and songs and topped off by speeches by former president of Tanzania Julius Nyere, and the President of Ethiopia, President of Uganda and of course the President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame. Very cool to see so many heads of state despite the day spent roasting in the hot sun.
Tomorrow I'm planning to hit up the genocide memorial museum as well as a church where it is believed that 5000 people were slaughtered. It is kept as a memorial but was left as it was with the bodies removed and is littered with clothing and blood stains. Gruesome, but I've read and studied so much about conflict and war in Rwanda that I think it will be a worthwhile (if not uncomfortable) visit. I am plotting to got to Burundi in the near future and off to Tanzania, though I'm still
considering other options through Kenya. Decisions, decisions!
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