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Published: August 7th 2007
Well it is getting time to leave Rwanda. I first arrived in Rwanda from Burundi 2 weeks ago. In that time I’ve traveled around Rwanda and even into Congo. Now I’m in the capital, Kigali. In Rwanda I’ve been to Genocide memorials, met good friends, saw Colubus monkeys and seen some spectacular countryside. I like this country. It feels good and safe. Last night in Kigali we walked back from the restaurant in the dark… that never happens in Africa, but in Kigali it is safe.
Rides from Hell Here I am sitting on the side of the road outside Nyungwe Park, looking for a ride to Cyangugu. It is about 1800 and the light is fading. I get a lift in cab of the slowest Lorrie. I’m not sure how whenever I get a lift in a lorrie it is always the slowest one, but it was. That didn’t bother me. What bothered me was the conversation in the cab. The driver didn’t speak English but one of the other passengers did. He kept asking me about getting to the US and sponsoring him. I said I didn’t know, I would look when I got to the US.
Then he spent lots of time asking what I spent for everything I did. This conversation really made me nervous as we were driving through nowhere land. At one point the conversation had lagged for about 10 or 15 minutes when he blurts out, “Give us your money.” “What?” “Give us money, we need your money.” “What?” (shit, I am getting rolled, hmmm, what are my options) “You must pay us, $10.” “I will pay the driver when we get there.” “You will pay us?” “Yes, I will pay the driver… WHEN we get there.” Now silence. I’m wondering what my options are. I have a $10 bill in my bag… that is good. I need to make sure if I get out of the truck my big bag goes with me though. There is a mag light on the dash. I’m the only one that can reach it. Should I grab it or wait and see what happens.
Just outside of town, we stop and the English speaker and his friend get out. They just say by and “see you tomorrow.” I feel much better getting back in the truck now. The driver takes me to town and
asks where I’m staying him. He parks in the center of town and says wait. He actually goes and negotiates with the taxi to take me to where I need to go. When I offer him money he just smiles and says “No.” So strange.
The next day I have a 6 hour bus ride to Kibuye. I plan to go along the lake road up Lake Kivu. This is supposed to be a beautiful and not so nice road. Well it lived up to the billing. It was a spectacular, dirt road along the lake. The problem with taking public busses to get around is that they don’t stop at scenic vistas. They stop in villages where the vista is obstructed by village huts and hawkers.
Oh yeah, the road. It was rough, up, down, hairpin left, hairpin right, up, around. There were people puking all through the packed bus. Does the bus stop, no? You just keep going. Luckily, nobody puked on me or my stuff, this time.
But I was worried about my bag. It had been placed in the luggage section in the back. Normally, I don’t think about this as I figured
it would be covered with other luggage, no problem. Well about 2 hours into this ride I realized that there weren’t lots of bags of maize or rice in the luggage compartment but people. The aisles were packed two people wide standing. I wasn’t getting to my bag. I was mostly confident that it was still there, but what was in the outside pockets that someone could steal? I got up and looked, that bag was still there. Everyone in the back gave me the thumbs up. So every time we stopped I would stand up like I was stretching and look back. Not really looking for my bag just looking to make sure it wasn’t going anywhere. I figured the worst thing I could lose from my outside pockets was money.. well that wasn’t the worst.. the worst would be my address book. At one point that someone in the back said something to me. It translated to “Don’t worry, we are not robbers, we won’t take your bag.” I felt so bad, but I was still worried about roaming hands, but there wasn’t anything I could do. At the end nothing happened.
From Kibuye to Gisenyi was
going to be another “fun” road up Lake Kivu. I had actually been warned that the best way to Gisenyi was to go through Kigali. The road along the lake was long and bad. Well I wanted to see the scenery. Once again the scenery was amazing and the ride was long. I was very happy the baby sitting next to me didn’t puke, though he did pee on the floor. This time though my bag wasn’t so lucky. First, a lady sitting in the back puked. Then later someone came on with a bag full of pineapples. Which was sat on my bag. When I got my bag back, it was a mess. There were puke and pineapple pieces on the bottom and waist belt. All over the bag was fresh pineapple juice. To this day the bag still has a faint aroma of pineapple and I can’t bring myself to eat the fruit yet.
Rwanda pictures Genocide You can’t come to Rwanda without thinking about the Genocide. While the country seems very much at peace, I’ve been told by some locals that it is on the surface. Many are still struggling to hold it together and
are really just faking it. It is held together by force. I guess that makes sense and I suspect that it will take several generations to heal what happened here. But I think Rwanda will survive and is slowly healing. I don’t know but on the surface they are and that is a start.
I’ve been to several Genocide memorials. The one at Murambi outside Gikongoro is the most graphic one I’ve visited. At this not yet opened technology school, 50000 people were murdered only 6 survived. My guide’s whole family, parents, brothers and sisters, were all here. When he returned from Burundi he couldn’t identify the bodies. The memorial is 24 classrooms filled with skeletons exhumed from the mass graves.
In Kibuye there is a memorial outside the catholic church. I could only look at this one from afar as it was closed. I was told that many people hid in the church and the priest turned them in. This was not an uncommon event, another black eye for the Catholic church.
In Kigali the memorial is very touching. Once again… Holocaust museum, but I think this memorial is better done. It is heart wrenching to
walk
Sunset on Lake Kivu
From Kibuyethrough the children’s room and just see all the pictures of kids that were slaughtered.
I can’t even right about these memorials without recalling the intense feelings of regret, dread, and great sadness that one feels when visiting these places.
One omission that really stood out to me at the memorial in Kigali was there wasn’t any reference to Hotel Rwanda. They had a section mentioning some of the people that helped hide the Tutsi, but no mention of the Hotel. It turns out that there is some controversy about the movie here and the people don’t really like to talk about it. I don’t know.
I did take some pictures at some of the memorials. I felt strange taking them, but I know that many people might not ever come to Rwanda. I think they should see some of this.
I will warn you that these are somewhat graphic though, so be prepared.
There was a quote in the Genocide Memorial by Steven D. Smith of Aegis Trust that just stuck with me.
“If you must remember, remember this: The Nazi’s did not kill 6 million Jews, nor the Interahamwe kill a million Tutsis. in the genocide they killed one, then another and then another. Genocide is not a single act of murder. It is a million acts of murder.”
The genocide pictures Kigali Well, I think it is time for lunch and a swim. I’m off to Mille Colline to relax by the pool and maybe get a massage. A few more days in Kigali and then I’m headed to Jinja, Uganda and the great White Nile.
The other day I stopped by a church service, I wanted to hear the singing which was nice but in English. What struck me as intriguing though was the clapping. Not during the songs but just after the consecration of the eucharist. Everyone just clapped. Yes it was a Catholic service.
I have to say I have really enjoyed Burundi, Congo, and Rwanda… especially the food. I have a theory that the food is best in non-English settled countries. My best food has been Mozambique (Portugal), Burundi, Congo and Rwanda (Belgium). But that is just my theory.
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rich magill
non-member comment
Rwanda
Really sad - and a bit unreal to think how it happened recently, is happening now in Sudan, could happen again tomorrow somewhere else... Not many Americans would go to Rwanda yet - pretty brave! But you are seeing things the rest of us will never see.