🇷🇼 Rwanda 🇷🇼

Guest author: Mary Flott

Rob and I arrived in Kigali from Istanbul in the middle of the night on January 15 at 2:00am. When we were up and around in the morning we spent some time at the beautiful swimming pool. Kelsey and Tom arrived that afternoon from Uganda, after enduring a long, noisy bus ride. They were happy to check in to the Kigali Marriott and its wonderful amenities – gym, great rooms, laundry, wifi and computers.

Our first full day – January 16th – was spent at the Rwanda Genocide Museum. I actually did not want to visit there and in the end, of course, I was so glad I went. The Rwandans have created a poignant monument to their victims of genocide in 1994. It was a brutal, shattering experience and they have come through it with just grace and positivity. The museum is actually the gravesite for many of the victims as well as an informative display of Rwanda history leading to the massacre.

We went on to lunch from there to a wonderful restaurant, Heaven. The outdoor dining room looks out over Kigali and the hazy mountains surrounding it. After some rest and organizing time back at the hotel, we had another terrific meal. Kelsey found us a great restaurant – again – with a covered outdoor dining area, plus flowering vines and a moonlit night.

Kigali is a enticing city. Tom suggested we all move there. Our high opinion of Kigali was reinforced the next day on our tour of the Nyamirambo Women’s Centre. Kelsey arranged for us to go on a walking tour of the centre and the area it. The Centre offers these tours to enlighten visitors to the work of the Centre and the people of that community. The Centre provides education and work training – sewing and needlework – to hundreds of women who can now earn money on their own.

The highlight of the tour was our lunch. We were taken to the home of a woman from the neighborhood. She prepared a typical Rwandan meal for us – lots of vegetables, fruit and bread –comfortably served in her front room. Her home was on an unpaved road and she had no indoor plumbing. Everyone in this oldest neighborhood of Kigali, must go to the local tap and fetch their water home in large containers. However, her kitchen did contain a microwave and a refrigerator. We were all so pleased to visit someone’s home. From there we took motorcycle taxis to the Rwanda Clothing Company for some shopping.

On Saturday the 18th we were taken by car to Musanze, Rwanda’s second largest city and gateway to see the famous Mountain Gorillas. Our lodging was not quite that of the Kigali Marriott, but more in keeping with the local area. The Garden Place was a good location – walk to shops and restaurants and ATM’s.

Very early on the 19th we set off on our big Mountain Gorilla adventure. We were picked up by a driver and taken to the entrance of the park for our orientation with “Mr. D” – our chief guide. He is a botanist and has spent years learning and understanding the gorillas. He spoke of them always in the most affectionate and respectful language. We learned so much from him and our other guides and porters. Our group then drove to our trail head. Trackers go to the park early in the morning to look for the locations of the gorilla families. The gorillas rise early and feed themselves. Then the silverback – the adult male leader – may move the family. We took off on foot and hiked for about an hour or more. When we got close to the animals, the porters and most of the other guides stayed behind and the visitors went into thick jungle, the guides hacking our way through vines and brush with machetes, as there was no trail at this point.

Then we found them. It was a family of 14 gorillas including many babies or very young gorillas, only a few years old. There were lots of mothers, some pregnant. There were no other adult or teenaged males, the black backs, besides the dominant male leader, Muhosa. Mr. D told us Muhosa, 20 years old, has a very Zen personality. A chilled gorilla. We could see it. There was curiosity but no hostility. Perhaps they knew Mr. D from other visits.

We were so close to these big animals it was amazing. We were not more than a few feet from their group of lounging, playing, nursing, sleeping gorillas. The little ones were swinging from trees and vines chasing each other, the babies were with their mamas and the mamas were in no hurry to move along. We were privileged with about an hour’s visit. Of course everyone in our group of about 10 adults took dozens of videos and photos of Muhosa and his fine family.

Visiting the gorillas was an inspiring experience. These animals have 97% of our human DNA. They are such intelligent creatures with such human like behavior in so many ways. I kept wondering what they were thinking of us, because I know they were thinking something. I hope it was good. 

The following day, we took a visit to an island in Lake Ruhondo with a lovely inn where we had the best tilapia ever. Fresh from the lake, we enjoyed our lunch overlooking the water and chatting with our driver and new friend, Isaac. He was a wealth of information, and again we learned much from him. He pointed out the shoe billed stork, a sought after sighting in the area.

The next day we travelled to Lake Kivu. After about four hours of bouncing over mountains and some beautiful scenery, we arrived at our lodging. Tom and Kelsey had picked this lodge for us. It was such a wonderfully relaxing 3 nights for us all. We each had a thatched roof hut complete with hot water bathroom, balcony and a stunning view of Lake Kivu, which borders the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Fishermen on Lake Kivu were moored across a small bay from our huts. They have the most fascinating boats – three thin canoe-like boats bound together each with an enormous pole on the front and rear of the boat. The poles hold a net together underneath. These strange little boats go out morning and evening to fish. The men sing or chant as they row out into the lake, which could be heard from our huts. So charming, except that the men earn only about 10 USD per month for their hard work.

We took a boat out into the lake to visit an island with monkeys. We went ashore to see them, no monkeys. We moved on to Bat Island. And this time we found the bats. Through a short hike of jungle and hills we saw thousands of big fruit bats flapping and soaring.

When we left Lake Kivu we made our way to Akagera via Kigali. After our second lunch at Heaven we made a couple stops for supplies. Isaac was again driving us and he knew Kigali and where everything was that we needed. By the way, all the way through Rwanda it was Tom who found our way and found our transportation. He worked at it everyday and we were so grateful for his efforts. No matter where we were going Tom had already found our way there.

We left Kigali and headed for drier country, Akagera. We drove through lots of villages to get to our next lodging, the Akagera Rhino Lodge. It is an ecolodge and that can take some getting used to. We had two beautiful, detached rooms with porches over looking Lake Ihema, one of five lakes in the national park. At the lodge we were allowed one shower each per day. Young strong men carried gallons of water up the hill to our rooms and filled the hot water tank for our baths.

As we sat on our porch we could look out over the lake. I noticed the lush, small islands and remarked on them. The next day as I looked over the lake, the islands seemed to be in different locations. Must of mistaken them, I thought. No, it turns out they are floating islands and can drift as much as 50km! And they drifted back and forth the entire time we were there. The lake was a stopping place for Henry Stanley in the 1930’s and 40’s. His group used tents and the local people had never seen tents before. The name of the lake, Ihema is the local word for tent.

We visited the Akagera National Park to see the lake and look for the famed African animals. We were disappointed to miss elephants and lions. However, we did see lots of baboons, giraffes, zebras, lots of antelopes and Marabou storks. The wildest spotting was a crocodile at the edge of the lake. We were oohing and ahhing over this still-as-a-statue creature when he suddenly leaped and drove forward, mouth open and tail swishing. We all jumped and gasped. It was great sighting for us.

Akagera was our last adventure in Rwanda. After that it was back to Kigali and a late night flight back to Istanbul for Rob and I. Kelsey and Tom left a few hours later for India. So sad to say goodbye to Rwanda and its amazing culture and its precious wildlife.