Impressive Rwanda

• Sunday, 24^th of August, Lake Bunyonyi in Uganda to Kigali in Rwanda

Kirsty’s laundry is still wet on the line so we have breakfast at the campsite’s restaurant and leave a bit later that morning. In Kabale we hit once more the internet café and then head to the Rwandan border only some 17 km away! The border formalities go very smoothly and I even manage to have me stamped out of Uganda in my second passport to hopefully avoid paying for another visa when entering back into Kenya (one is allowed to enter Uganda and re-enter into Kenya on the same visa, but once one goes outside Uganda, a new visa which means shelling out another $50 would be necessary to enter Kenya). Luckily German citizens don’t need a visa entering Uganda, being Australian Kirsty had to fork out $60 to obtain one!

Just by driving the stretch between the border and the capital Kigali we can feel that Rwanda is different and driving all of a sudden on the right side of the road alone (no warning signs whatsoever!) gives the impression (unlike many other countries we have entered) of being in a completely separate territory. Even our clocks have to be turned back an hour!

Dealing with the Rwandan receptionist Claude at the guesthouse Auberge la Caverne even proves that the locals have adopted not only French names but also their sarcasm and French attitude! We enquire about the breakfast which is included in the price for the room but hear that it consists only of toast and jam with egg in any form attracting additional costs. ‘So how much is a room without breakfast?’ we negotiate. The answer from Claude is: ‘You deserve to have breakfast! And anyway, it will be the same price without it…’ ‘Not even a Spanish omelet included?’ I ask. ‘Well, you can get the Spanish omelet without the egg if you’d like!’ comes the answer!

The only room available is in a different building 100 m up the road and it seems all too much effort for Claude to take us there so we can have a look. (One of my dad’s favorite proverbs towards his kind of attitude would have been: ‘Kunde droht mit Auftrag!’ which roughly translates to: ‘Client is threatening with purchase!) ‘Camping in the courtyard? Only if the last room has been taken by somebody else!’ so we decide to go out and come back to check later.

We have drinks at the posh Hotel des Milles Collines, where it looks like Rwandan well-to-do businessmen hang out with their families around the swimming pool on Sunday afternoons and later (after standing in front of closed gates at the Genocide Memorial which opens 8-4) head out for dinner. In Claude’s defense we must admit that the Indian restaurant he has recommended to us for dinner is really exceptional and we have an amazing meal there under the lofty and cozy tiled roof, open to all four sides and supported by massive wooden columns. Checking in later on at the Auberge we have to take the unappealing room since it’s still available, but nevertheless pitch our tent in the courtyard, overlooking the back hills of Kigali, only using the room’s toilet and shower.

• Monday, 25^th of August, Kigali

After treating ourselves to coffee and croissants at the Milles Collines Hotel top floor breakfast area and visiting the fancy Nakumatt shopping center I feel almost inadequate visiting the Genocide Memorial. It is an intense experience. Not only are the roots of the 1994 Genocide and the sequence of events explained in detail and illustrated by survivors’ testimonies but there is also a heartbreaking display dedicated to thousands of children who lost their lives in the most appalling ways, depicting photos and details about life and death of each of them. For me one of the most disturbing ones has been:

A huge photo of the cutest little girl and underneath a plaque:

Fillette Uwase

Age: 2,

Favorite toy: Doll

Favorite food: Rice and chips

Best friend: Her dad

Behavior: A good girl

Cause of death: Smashed against a wall.

The memorial also houses mass graves and a display of other Genocides that took place in the world, leaving me pondering how humans can be brainwashed to such an extent, developing a kind of hatred towards each other that makes them capable of these brutalities!? Kirsty and I leave the memorial shocked, touched, reflecting.

We spend the night at ‘One Love’, a center to help disabled people that also offers rooms, cottages and soon even camping (the latter being really rare in Rwanda). Again, we prefer sleeping in our rooftop tent on the parking lot and cook up a heap of pasta on the porch outside our room. We meet two German guys residing next door to us, one of whom telling us about his experience trying to adopt a Rwandan child.

• Tuesday, 26^th of August, Kigali to Rubona near Gisenyi on Lake Kivu

As Kirsty intends to fly out of Kigali we head to numerous travel agents at Nakumatt shopping center to find her a ticket to Europe, which proves to be more difficult than we imagined. After numerous unsuccessful tries to fly direct out of Kigali, the helpful travel agent eventually finds her a flight leaving at 13:55 today via Nairobi to London, so we hurry repacking her stuff right there at the Nakumatt parking lot and rush to the airport where I bid her farewell and then make my way on the windy road to Lake Kivu.

The perched away place Paradis Malahide which was recommended to me by my dear Cape Town friends Kevin and Philippa, is not easy to find but is definitely a great find! Despite the real inviting cottages I choose the cheaper camping option and join a bunch of British and American folks for dinner, yummy char grilled Tilapia fish from the lake. It turns out to be quite a funny evening with everybody having way too many locally brewed (the brewery is only 500 m away!) Primus’s and Mützig’s.

• Wednesday, 27^th of August, Rubona on Lake Kivu

In the morning I take in the tranquil atmosphere of the little fishing village Rubona and listen to the happy chants of the returning fishermen in their distinctive spider-like fishing boats which consist of three big dugout canoes held together by poles. Later I learn from the lodge’s manager Fidel, that each of the three canoes are named according to their duties: ‘Ishaba’ (which means ‘luck’ is the one on the right holding the net and being responsible for the income-creating catch), ‘Itara’ (the one in the middle translating to ‘light’ or ‘lantern’, in charge of attracting the fish with its gas lamps and ‘Igiza’ (the one on the left meaning ‘darkness’).

I go for an exploring run past the Bralirwa Brewery along the shores of Rubona Bay past some steaming hot springs onto a perfectly round shaped hill forming a tiny peninsula where I learn from the locals that the dregs coming from the brewery are not only used for fish bait but also as fodder for the healthy looking cows!

After a swim in Lake Kivu and an awesome breakfast, displaying Paradis Malahide’s unique wooden cutlery and crockery as well as beautifully made clay coffee pots, heavy rain starts setting in and I make use of the airy but roofed sitting area overlooking the lake to write my diary, my feet being warmed by a mini clay oven which is stacked with hot coal by the attentive staff. One of those days where having a beer at 10:30 in the morning is just the most perfect thing to do ;-) !

It clears later on and together with the Anglo-American crowd who turn out to be working for a NGO (Non Governmental Organization) in Kigali, we go to the newly built lodge next door for a sundowner.

• Thursdy, 28^th of August, Rubona on Lake Kivu to Imbabazi Orphanage north of Gisenyi

Intrigued by the returning spider-like fishing boats, I ask one of the fishermen during my morning run if it was possible to join them for a night out fishing. The fishermen are more than willing to let me on board of their boat, but the problem seems to be more the local Navy which patrols the lake and is apparently quite strict with what’s happening on their waters, specifically when it comes to tourists. So after leaving Paradis Malahide and a failed attempt to get a ‘Primus’ T-shirt from the Bralirwa Brewery (would have made the perfect souvenir!), I head to the Gisenyi Navy base in order to get a permission allowing me onto one of the fishing boats. Through the armed guard posts is as far as I get! Then I have to talk on one of the guard’s cell phone to the Colonel in charge who explains to me that permission like that lies outside his responsibilities and that I would have to apply for it at the Minister of Environmental Affairs! I leave it at that and get back on my way again, at least I tried!

After getting onto the Internet in Gisenyi I head north again and pick up a boy in a village who shows me the way to the Imbabazi Orphanage (www.imbabazi.org), which I had read about in my Bradt guide book. Founded after the Genocide by the then 82 year old American lady Rosamond Halsey Carr, it is now still home of 102 children. The director Emmanuel shows me around the orphanage and takes me to Mrs Halsey Carr’s grave which is situated right next to her house with an impeccably kept flower garden from which they still supply flowers to the community for any occasion. He also gives me an insight into Mrs Halsey Carr’s work by showing me a DVD. The orphanage is run purely through donations since the government doesn’t like to support orphanages but rather encourages orphaned children to be adopted and integrated by local families. After having supper with Emmanuel I get into my tent for the night, surrounded by curious kids watching my every move.