Gaseous Lake Kivu, Rwanda

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After our fabulous experience with the gorillas, we couldn't really afford to explore more of the Parc Nationale des Volcans, as it is particularly expensive to do any hiking in the park.  Picturesque Lake

Goma, in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Kivu was next on our list, so we boarded what looked like a brand new internal city bus, for the trip down, down, down to the lake.  The views of the volcanoes were amazing, but unfortunately, we were seeing them at warp speed.  The only good thing here was that the bus seemed new, and in good shape, but why must he throw us around all the corners.  Michelle actually went up to him and told him to slow down, and that he would kill someone soon.  He said he was going the speed limit, which he might be, but he was also going the same speed around the corners.  Not 5 minutes after one of the locals on the bus told Michelle 'this is normal in Africa', and she replied 'he is going to kill somebody, and she didn't want it to be us', a small boy happened to be in the middle of the road as we sped around a corner in town.  It was very lucky that he managed to get out of the way, but we looked at the locals who had laughed at us, and we hoped that maybe they could see our argument now, and that is is so unnecessary.  5 minutes later to arrive is not worth somebody's life.  I really don't think they get it though - so typical of all of Africa!!!!

Almost as soon as we found a place to stay, Michelle started feeling ill.  We've both been quite lucky on the sickness end of things and very seldom need a day in bed, but that was what she required.  I managed to walk around town, down to the shores of Lake Kivu.  Apparently, this lake being a volcanic lake, has a large storage of methane gases deep under the water.  They are actually trying to harness some of this methane gas by some type of pump or drill rig out in the lake.  They do say at times the methane gas can raise to the surface and there have been cases of swimmers asphyxiating on the toxic gases, and dying.  You have to be careful where you swim, so as I saw no locals out in the water, I decided it was not a time to cool off in the waters.

It was not the most scenic beach, but along the shoreline, I had a close up view of Goma, the town in Congo attached to Gisenyi that we were in.  Yes, we were actually that close, and looked into the possibility of traveling into the DRC to visit the volcano Nyiragongo, that has been erupting for a number of years.  Alas, the visa at the border was going to cost $285 each, unless we had a week or so to wait.  Then it would be only $50 to head in and do a hike up to see the spraying lava.  Not enough time for us, so we settled for close-ish views of the volcano with smoke and ash pouring out the top.  When Michelle was feeling better the next day, we did take a walk to the Congo border post.  About as close as I think we will ever be, but it was cool to say we have been to within a stone's throw of the DRC.

Enjoying a Coke at Palm Gardens in Gisenyi

Day two in Gisenyi, and Michelle was back on her feet, so we did our usual walking tour of town.  Unfortunately, the rains hit when we attempted to catch a minibus around the bay, so we had almost given up hope but as luck would have it, a nice man named Vestade stopped and gave us a ride.  Turned out he was the owner of one of the hotel/restaurants we were going to see about 5km south of Gisenyi.  So, we got a personal tour of lovely Palm Gardens, and wished we had the money to stay in his little paradise.  He was also keen on mountain biking, so would have been fun to put two wheels under my feet.  But we weren't staying, and just touring for a couple of hours.  Palm Gardens had views out over Lake Kivu, and some of the scenic little islands in the bay.  Also, located at the end of this bay was the all important Primus brewery, that distributes the tasty amber nectar all over the country!

On returning back to Gisenyi, we proceeded to do something that neither of us had really planned for yet, but felt we were both ready.  We booked a flight back to England!!!  We will be continuing our journey from Rwanda, through Uganda and Kenya, but flying out of Mombasa on May 28th.  However, we were able to do a 2 week stopover in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, so our final arrival date back on English soil will be June 11th.  This signifies the end of the Africa portion of our trip, and I think we are both tired, and ready!

Michelle at Home St. Jean in Kibuye

So, with this big bombshell in the books, we all of a sudden thought we were running out of time to do all we wanted to.  Because of this, we almost skipped a trip to Kibuye, a town about midway up
Lake Kivu.  That would have been a big mistake.  Once again, the scenery in the land of a thousand hills did not disappoint, and driving down towards Kibuye were scenes of cultivated and terraced hillsides disappearing into the waters of Lake Kivu.  Rwanda is truly a beautiful country.

Our good decisions didn't stop there, as we chose to stay at Home St. Jean, a Christian owned guesthouse that was the cheapest around.  But the cheap price didn't account for the views because the house was located high up on a hill at the end of a point, with views over the little bays and inlets of the lake.  Stunning, and all for only $12 - great price for Africa!  Then we met our neighbours, Caroline and Aurele.  A Swiss couple who had been

With Caroline and Aurele at Home St. Jean

also traveling for more than a year, and were glad to finally meet some other long term travellers so they didn't feel guilty that they were not volunteering or working for an NGO like most of the other people you meet.  We really enjoyed their company, and traded traveling stories back and forth for the next 2 days.  It's nice to talk to people who really "get" what you are doing!  We were sad to see them go. although they disappeared early one morning after placing a goodbye note under our door!!

Michelle and I did manage to explore the area, by doing a 5 hour walk around the promontory we were on.  Just walking wherever the trail took us, through small villages and eventually ending up in some dense bush.  We were not lost though, but it was tough to follow any type of trail.  We also each managed to rent a moto-taxi for an hour, and got

A view from above Kibuye

our drivers to take us high up in the hills above town.  This was a fantastic choice because it was nice to be able to stop and look at the scenery instead of whizzing past the views.  All the green hills jutting out into the lake, made for quite the scene.  The moto-drivers were nice, and I think they made a decent days wage with us, so it was a win-win for all. 

Then, it was a quick stop back through Kigali, and we stayed at a little school where our friend from the gorillas, Sarah, was working.  For a small donation, we had a nice room, good company, and even some Tangueray gin for Michelle.  Thanks Sarah!  Next up, Uganda!!!   *Stub