The Bahamas of Uganda?? Ssese Islands, Uganda

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Even after so many months on the road, you still make mistakes.  We arrived in Kampala after a great journey on the comfortable and half-full Posta Bus.  Walking to our desired hotel, I think we both had thoughts of 'why don't we call the place', but continued walking the km or so to New City Annex.  Only upon arrival, did we discover that all the cheap rooms were full since it was a Friday, and our usual back-up plan of having our own tent would not work as we were in the city.  Ooops.  The we called a couple of other places and they were also full or expensive.  So our decision was to keep moving on to Entebbe, and the port for the ferry to the Ssese Islands.  Our mistake cost us a few hours, because we could have been dropped off the bus at the local mini-bus stand a few hours earlier after all was said and done.   Rookie mistake for sure, but we were both tired and forgot that it was the weekend.

Entebbe was quite a quiet city, with only the major airport and a UN base seeming to keep it alive.  It was pleasant enough for a night, and we easily made the nice ferry the next day at 2PM.  It was nice to be on the water again, and this time it was the impressive and huge Lake Victoria!!!  The Ssese

Hornbill Camp in the Ssese Islands

Islands are billed as the Bahamas of Lake Victoria, but I will have to disagree with that.  A group of 84 islands, the main one was where our ferry landed near the village of Kalangala.  Expecting blue waters and white sand beaches, we were to be disappointed.  A pleasant island nonetheless, with friendly locals, but definitely NOT rivalling the Bahamas.

We stayed at the Hornbill Camp, with cabins painted in interesting artwork.  Our tent overlooked the beach and we enjoyed some nice sunsets.  The only excitement was on the first night, when the huge Great Dane named Shaka Zulu, found a local trying to break in to one of the cabins.  He was chased down, caught, and then confessed to a couple of recent thefts on the island.  What will happen to the young, homeless boy we do not know….

After a couple of quick nights, we decided we would move on as we had been to far nicer and more relaxing places than here.  So, it was the 8AM ferry back to Entebbe, and a better attempt at staying in Kampala.  It was worth seeing the islands and being on the lake, but not recommending from our experience.  *Stub

More Primates in the Explosion Crater Lakes near Lake Nkuruba, Uganda

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Close Up Encounter with a Black and White Colobus

To avoid taking a matatu, (our least favourite form of transport in Uganda just because of the bus 'conductors'), we decided to hire ourselves two boda-bodas (motorbike taxis), to take us and our backpacks to our next destination, Lake Nkuruba.  A little more expensive, but worth every Ugandan Shilling in enjoyment.  It was about an hour ride, back through the beautiful Kibale National Park rainforest (complete with baboons on the road), and local tea plantations, with all the vibrant greens across the rolling hills.  Then, taking us by surprise, they took a short cut up a dirt track crossing over a number of hills and dips, giving us a fabulous view over the entire area, complete with its dozens of crater lakes, and a backdrop of the massive Rwenzori Mountains in the distant west.  A little sketchy at times on the tiny dual track road, but they kept the bikes up and on course.  We thanked, and even tipped our boda drivers, as we arrived at the Lake Nkuruba Nature Reserve Community Camp - it was such a great ride.

The camp had a relaxed atmosphere to it, and overlooked one of the steep walled crater lakes.    But better than that, we soon found out that this was our best location on our entire trip for monkey

Vervet Mother with Baby Underneath

watching at close range.  Running around camp were families of Vervet monkeys, black and white colobus monkeys, red colobus, and red tail monkeys.  All of them not too shy about us being there, and were hanging out in the trees around us.  There were even some tiny babies, either clinging to their mothers' chests, or slowly exploring a little on their own.  We were surprised to see the baby black and white colobus, instead of having mainly black hair, it was completely white!!  We loved watching the black and white colobus, with their flowing white hair, and big white pom-pom tails!  When they jumped, the long white hair flowed behind them, almost like a cape - they looked like superheros.

We took a walk around the hills one day with a two others also staying at the camp - Tabia and Isaac.

Martin Dancing with Village kids

We walked a long way along the dirt roads, followed by village kids in usual pied-piper fashion. Our goal was to get to a certain waterfall, but we ended up discovering a great location - Ndali Lodge - perched on a ridge above a crater lake with sweeping views north and west either side of the ridge. It reminded me of an English country house not too overstated with a very cosy, welcoming feel. Unfortunately it was a little pricey for our budget at $270 (!) a night full-board, but we could just afford a coke, then sat and got our money's worth enjoying the views!  We didn't quite make it to the waterfalls, but as we were getting a little tired of being followed by people keen to guide us (and then also charge us entry fee), we were a reluctant to get there.  The long walk provided us with great views over the rolling hill scenery, with lakes dotted around the countryside, and the Rwenzori Mountains sometimes clear, sometimes cut in half by cloud, off to the West.

A Refreshment at Ndali Lodge

Another walk took us to a viewpoint called 'Top of the World' or almost.  We found out that they charge to enter the specific area, so cut off just prior to the entrance and had almost the same view from a slightly different perspective.
Alway great to meet other travellers, we were happy to meet Craig and Susen, staying at our camp lodge; we ended up swapping notes about different countries - us tips for them on Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania, and them, tips for us on Kenya and Ethiopia - our next two African destinations. We were traveling in opposite directions, but basically traveling in the same methods!

Lake Nkuruba was a great stop but it was time to move on. We decided on a place called Murchison Falls National Park. Murchison Falls is supposed to be the most powerful waterfall in the world, as the mightily Nile River flows through a gap of only 6m!!  As we headed through Fort Portal we discovered that the 30-seater bus in that direction was no longer running. We were gutted as this would mean taking a matatu (minibus) and you know how we feel about them here in Uganda So it was onto plan B.   We rode on the Post Office big bus early in the morning to Kampala, and would try to make a plan from there!  *Mush/Stub

Red Colobus Monkey

Mother and Baby Black and White Colobus

Is it Port Fortal or Fort Portal?? Uganda

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I know that you've read a few things about our trials and tribulations with local minibus taxis, but the matatu (as they are called here) drivers and conductors really are an ignorant and greedy bunch, pulling out all the stops to take extra money from you.  We experienced this first hand over the next few days, and tried to figure out how to handle our upcoming travel around the country.  They were

Kingfisher Lodge above the Rift Valley

so bad, that we had a couple of screaming matches with them upon arrival in town, after we had decided on a price and they wanted to increase it for some reason, or charge us more than other passengers!  It was not a pleasant way to arrive in new towns.  We found out that they not only cheat mzungu's but also local people.  This really put a damper on our few days, and possibly on our entire time in Uganda, which is a shame.  I could go on, but will spare you the details.

Heading North in the general direction of Fort Portal, we crossed the Great Rift Valley again, which runs from Ethiopia, right down through Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Malawi and into Mozambique.  Queen Elizabeth National Park sits in the valley, and there was an impressive view over the valley from the spectacularly perched Kingfisher Camp on the escarpment.  It felt like the

Martin at O degrees Latitude

infinity pool actually flowed over into the Rift Valley.  Too bad we couldn't afford to stay here, but instead camped at Simba, just minutes in latitude, North of the Equator.

I think for both of us, this was the first time actually crossing the Equator by land.  It was relatively exciting, but the monument itself marking the crossing was in rough shape.  You could read 'Equator', but Uganda was missing a few letters and read 'UG N A'!!  And, we were disappointed because nobody was there trying to demonstrate the Coriolis forces with a sham demonstration of water spinning down the drain in opposite directions in the North and South!!!  Oh well!  Did the obligatory photos of one leg in each of the Northern and Southern hemisphere though, while the locals looked at us strangely!!

Another disastrous couple of matatu rides in which we actually got 'sold' from one bus to another, landed us in the town of Fort Portal.  We lucked out and found a great little guesthouse called Golf

With Paul from Golf Course View GH

Course View, run by a very intelligent and well spoken man named Paul.  He really had his head screwed on right, and was doing all the right things to be successful in his business, and help out the local orphanage.  That, and he was exceptionally nice, and we enjoyed chatting with him.  He let us camp under a nice banda in the back yard for only 10000 Shillings, which was super cheap and nice since it poured with rain that night..... and we stayed dry!!

Around Fort Portal are a number of scenic locations and parks.  We avoided the expensive Kibale National Park, and instead visited the community run Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary.  Much cheaper and we were walked with our guide Ivan for more than three hours spotting some colourful birds like the Blue Turaco, but more importantly for us, we spotted 5 of the 8 types of primates in the area.  New for us were the black and white colobus monkeys, red tail monkeys, red colobus monkeys, and grey-cheeked mangabeys.  We love watching the primates, so this was a highlight for us.   The walk was relaxing and enjoyable, skirting the swamp on one side, and the local cultivated fields on the other!

Michelle in Chimp's Nest Rainforest

We stayed at a place called the Chimp's Nest, a highly recommended place in our Lonely Planet.  Unfortunately, we didn't know that they were going through major renovations (and only after being open 5 years???), so most of the cool places to hang out were under construction.  They had a private rainforest that bordered the Kibale Park, and some nice boardwalk paths through that led to a couple of very cool tree house accommodation high up in the canopy - if only we had more money sometimes.....   We did head out on a guided night walk, seeing some interesting animals like a African Palm Civet cat, and a fruit bat hanging over the path, eating some round fruit.   We moved on the next day though, because of the construction issues and nowhere to relax.   *Stub

A Blue Turaco at Bigodi Swamp

Crayfish Avocado at Byoona Amagara, Lake Bunyonyi, Uganda

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Getting to Byoona Amagara by dugout canoe

We really enjoyed Rwanda in spite of the Genocide Remembrance preoccupying the nation.  Although we'd have liked to stay and discover more of its countryside, we felt it was time to move on and to catch up on some R & R! When we had been in Musanze in the north of Rwanda, we fleetingly met another travelling couple (The Lukes from Canada) who gave us some quick tips for our next country - Uganda, and we were eager to explore their recommendations. Martin had been looking forward to Uganda, as we had heard many great things.

It was a soggy day for crossing the border, but a very happy official greeting us on the other side made for an anxiety-free experience. Another bus and a moto taxi and we were at beautiful Lake Bunyonyi. But not yet done, the final leg was a relaxing one-hour paddle in a dugout canoe to one of the 28 islands on the lake. Arriving just before

Restaurant View

sunset the water was glassy and flat, and the surrounding hills rose up from the water in a patchwork pattern of cultivated and terraced fields - brown and greens abound! It was a beautiful and peaceful  paddle - a great way to unwind from the travel day.

And what a place we arrived at!  Byoona Amagara Lodge, on Itambira Island, is a community-run place, with all proceeds going to benefit the locals in the area.  We can easily support that initiative, but even easier once we tasted some of the delicious food, and looked at the amazing accommodation - all reasonably priced!

We camped for the first four nights and then decided to treat ourselves to a Geodome. The geodome

Terraced Fields Lining Lake Bunyonyi

was a round hut constructed with local building materials of bamboo and palm grasses, but with a twist. With a  fly net over the bed to keep yukky bugs out, the front of the hut was wide open to the elements.  Very cool.  The wide deck was perfect for just sitting and looking at the beautiful scenery and bird watching: iridescent ibis, flitting weavers and dive-bombing kingfishers amongst  the lakeshore reeds.  All of the Geodomes had amazing lake views, and plenty of privacy to relax.  We even spotted three of the local lake otters from our deck.

When it rained the main restaurant area was perfect for reading or playing Carcassonne.  And eating! The food was delish. The crayfish avocado was so yummy we had it about six times each that week.

Delicious Crayfish Avocado

It was half an avocado, filled with local crayfish (like tiny lobsters) tails in a tasty tomato mayonnaise sauce.  The huge fish burritos filled with local tilapia fish, beans, onions and lots of cheese, were tasty and exceptionally filling.  There was also a steady stream of visitors staying, so we had some good social evenings chatting with other travellers or volunteers.  The staff main staff were very friendly and knowledgable.  Both Clinton and Friday, who take turns running the place, were very active in the community and had a couple of projects running to supply the villages with goats and potatoes (seeds).

Thankfully the weather was mostly dry and after a few days of absolute relaxing, we rented a canoe and visited close-by islands. We found other 'resorts' that weren't as nice and rustic, or imaginative, or

John and his Crayfish catch

even as cheap as ours! We'd walk our island and meet all sorts of characters. One, Gerard, had an irritating knack of always finding you and wanting to be your 'guide'. Another, John, a crayfish fisherman, was gentle and sweet; he was saving up to buy a cow and a goat so that he could marry his girlfriend. He showed us his crayfish traps, and his catch of the day.  We bought things from his shop and asked him to guide our canoe paddle back to the mainland when we moved on. Anything to help him. We were also sad that we would not be staying for the weekend, as one of the local babies named Kevin was being christened and they were having a party for the community.
Eventually we had to face the fact that we had to leave and we were sad to leave this perfect spot. *Mush

Our GeoDome accommodation

Interior of Geodome

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

The Most Expensive Day of our Trip, Gorillas at Parc Nationale Des Volcans, Rwanda

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Native Dance Show in the Morning of our Walk

We arrived in Africa with certain activities that we wanted to do.  Safaris of course, Victoria Falls, Kilimanjaro to name a few, but one that always stuck in our mind was visiting the endangered mountain gorillas that roam the parks on the border of Uganda, Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo.  The parks are all joined and of course, the gorillas don't need a passport to cross from one to another.  The gorilla tracking stood in our mind for another reason…… the cost.  We had known for months that the price of one single hour (and of course the time to hike to find them) with the gorillas was $500 per person.  It always was a worry - would we actually FIND them, and not waste the $500??  And find them we did indeed - making it sooooooo worth it. 

The Parc Nationale des Volcans is a small park in the North West of Rwanda.  We chose to track in Rwanda as we heard that it is more organized, therefore giving us a better chance of finding them.  And the park area was beautiful, surrounding the small town of Musanze (formerly Ruhengeri) with a string of pointy volcanoes, all visible from town.  Taking out the difficulty of finding accommodation, we met two girls on the bus who were headed up to Musanze for a day with the kids at the St. Vincent

The St. Vincent Orphans

orphanage.  They said that there was accommodation there, cheapest in town, and of course the money would go to supporting the orphans - always a good cause.

I was not ready for the greeting we got though.  It was an orphanage for disabled children, and some were in a very bad way, quite sad.  But the smiles and hugs we got on arrival was unlike any greeting we had had in a long time!!  They were just soooo happy to see us!  We spent a little time with the kids, and I even got a special, secret handshake with one of the little boys, who had braces on his legs and a huge smile!

We were both excitedly nervous on the evening before the hike - we didn't really sleep too well.  We had arranged the 4x4 transport to the park with some others, and were all unloaded at the park entrance where we met a large crowd.  It was quite the variety of people there planning on finding the

Our First Close Up Encounter

gorillas.  Some fresh in new safari gear, other teenagers in jeans and light sneakers looking totally unprepared to hike in the dense jungle, and some like ourselves, hardened travellers in worn out clothes!!  Whatever the means, they were all there for one reason, to be another of the approximately 19,000 people that try to spot the gorillas yearly in Rwanda.  We were greeted by local dancers, who put on a quick, early morning show in front of the volcanoes!

They sort you into groups of maximum 8, and with these 8 you will be guided to one single family of gorillas, whether they are 26 strong, or only a small family.  Not sure how they decide this, but we were off to see the Umubano family, with Charles the Silverback and leader of the family.  We were surprised to hear that there was now 20 families, whereas in our guide book of five years ago, they only had about 10 families.  The increase is from gorilla families making the trek from Uganda, and also, some of the families have actually split as a new Silverback comes of age and takes some females with him.  We were also very happy to hear that in 1981, there were around 250 mountain gorillas in total, and now, there are about 800.  So the dollars are working to keep this amazing species alive - at least some consolation that the money is going to the right place!

A bumpy ride to the trailhead, and a walk through local fields with our guides Fidel and Bernice, we finally crossed the buffalo wall into the park.  We then met our guard complete with rifle to protect us, and Joseph who was our machete man for cutting through the jungle.  We playfully took to calling

The Thinker??

Charles, the Silverback

him Joseph and his Amazing Teknicolor Machete!!  The jungle was dense, with plenty of vines grabbing you, and loads of painful stinging nettles.  At some time we were also in thick bamboo growths.  And after an hour and a half of slogging, we met up with two trackers, who stay with the gorillas for days on end.   That means we were very close, and the adrenaline started really flowing.  They were only about 100m away, and we WERE going to see them….WOW!

Our first glimpses were of a couple of them balanced on branches in the trees, about 30m away.  But, out of the blue, one suddenly crossed our path, not 2m away, and then sat beside us, chewing away on some foliage.  Not raising an ounce of concern that we were there. Then we found Charles…. 200kg of silverback gorilla in his home territory.  His face had wonderful features and expressions with a

This is how CLOSE we were!!!

tuft of brownish-red hair on his forehead, and once again, not a shred of concern about us.  In fact, he walked past us in touching distance, showing of the silver hairs on his back.  I really can't explain the feelings of seeing such a majestic creature at such close range, and in the wild.  The hairs rise on your back, and your stomach get's butterflies. It's truly tremendous, and the feelings almost repeat while I write this!!

Then, if I can say it, but the real stars of the show - the young and babies.  The mothers didn't mind us there, and the young ones were just playing about on the vines, almost putting on a show for us.  Often flipping upside-down, and sometimes falling from the vines into the foliage.  They were having fun, just like human kids would.  And the curious, possibly smiling faces that we were so close to…  Orangy-red striking eyes, with black nostrils flaring with each breath.  It was surreal.  We were supposed to stay about 7m from the gorillas, but the guides took us close, and the gorillas came closer at times.  One of the females actually beat her chest a few times.  Michelle thought this would only be done by males, and that this

The Youngest Baby

must be a sign of aggression or warning, but the guides told us that it is a sign she is happy.  Pretty cool though, as this was the prototypical action we think of with gorillas. 

Unfortunately, before we knew it, our 1 hour was up.  They are very strict about this, and I guess for good reason.  They don't want the gorillas to get too comfortable and so used to being around humans.  They need to stay wild.  We thanked our trackers, and hope they continue doing the good job they do, of keeping the poachers at bay.  Since Dian Fossey first started her research and protection of the gorillas, the numbers have increased because of the protection from poachers.  Unfortunately, Dian Fossey paid the ultimate price for her cause, and was apparently killed by poachers at her research station in the park, poachers who didn't like her getting in the way.  Her legacy lives on though, and her story is portrayed in the movie 'Gorillas in the Mist'. 

We returned from our trek, parting ways with our guides, guard, teknicolor machete men, and some friends we had made on our special adventure.  Tamar, Gilles, Kate and Sarah were all on Cloud Nine too after the experience. 
We met up with Tamar and Gilles later for dinner at our favourite little cafe in town, Les Paillotte, which served up some delicious pizzas for only 1500 Rwanda Francs ($2.50).  Far less than the rest of the day cost, and even better for us that we arrived in Rwanda when we did, as they are raising the cost to visit the gorillas in June to a staggering $750 per person - OUCH!!  I guess they can, because people keep coming and paying the fees - we did!!  *Stub

Learning from Their History to Build a Bright Future - Rwandan Genocide

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"Learning from our History" Sign

Now, Rwanda does not attract your average traveller/tourist in general. We suspect most people avoid it because of its recent history of bloodshed. For Martin and I, that's almost the very reason to visit, to pay respects to all the people lost in the genocide of 1994. As it happened, we arrived during Memorial Week - a sober time when the country remembers the million people that were massacred all those years ago.  For us, travelling is not all about happy, fluffy stuff, but about learning about the good, bad and the ugly. Like Auschwitz and Cambodia (Killing Fields), visiting the Kigali Memorial Centre was a difficult and disturbing experience for both of us. It's hard to describe. I felt sad, sick to my stomach, and overwhelmed by the brutality.

I'll try to be brief about the history we learned as you may know it already: the Germans were first to colonise Rwanda (and Burundi) in 1895 until 1916. Belgian troops occupied it during WWI and then Belgium was granted governance by the League of Nations (some sort of United Nations of the time?). Eventually it turned into a colonial occupation. Arguably, colonisation brings 'benefits' such as medicine, education, infrastructure. A new ID system introduced in 1932 categorizing (and segregating) the people into their tribes, Hutu or Tutsi, was not so beneficial! The next few decades brought the king's death, instability between the ruling minority Tutsi (15% of population) (who were

Kigali Memorial Centre

upheld during colonial rule) and the majority Hutu (85%). In '59 Hutus were tired of this domination and rebelled killing thousands of Tutsi. 700,000 Hutus were exiled. With independence in 1961 came the first Hutu president. In '74 it became a one-party state tightly controlled by President Habyarimana (President H). Hutu retaliation led to civil war in 1990-93, and though peace agreements were signed in '94, there was still some corrupt who were reluctant to move towards democratic governance. In April of '94 the president's plane went down (incidentally, along with the Burundian president) supposedly taken out by his own men who were planning the genocide of the Tutsis. To complicate the story further and exposed in recent years, the French (who were doing $12M arms deals with President H) may have been responsible for this instead - allegedly. Regardless, within one hour of the president's death, the pre-meditated bloodshed began. Tutsis were systematically massacred. As the hatred between the Tutsi and Hutu got out of control, in the end a million innocent people were killed, countless were injured and an estimated 2 million displaced/fled to refugee camps. All this happened over a period of 100 days! By the time the rebel Tutsi organization (Rwanda Patriotic Front led by now President Kagame) composed of fled Tutsis in Uganda, took Kigali city on July 4th the genocide was already over. By the time UN enforcements finally came it was too much too late!

250,000 Buried at Kigali Memorial Centre

A few things that struck me as poignant and worth mentioning:
* There was an informant apparently: one of the president's security guards warned the head of the UN Peace mission (present to upheld the peace agreement). Major General Romeo Dallaire told the Peace Office in New York that there was a Hutu militia plan to eliminate Tutsis. He was told to inform the French and Belgians because of their ex-pat population there. Why this warning was ignored by US and UN or why no action was taken is not clear. There are theories out there…
* A request from the same Maj. Gen. Dellaire for more UN enforcements to stop the genocide was ignored. Instead of increasing troops, the UN Security Council led by the US government - who had just lost soldiers in Somalia, reduced the force to 270 soldiers.  Dallaire figured that he could STOP the genocide with only 5000 support troops - none were issued.
* It is noteworthy that the number of French and Belgian soldiers brought in to evacuate their foreign workers would have been sufficient number to stop the violence.
* No one was spared - not women, children, or the elderly.
* Even Hutu were killing their own. Reluctant to participate in the killing of friends and neighbours, 'Moderate Hutu' as they were known, were also eliminated.
* Children witnessed their parents being brutally killed and humiliated by people they knew.
* An estimated 500,000 - half a million - women were raped before being either murdered or left to live with HIV from HIV infected soldiers (part of the wipe-out strategy)
* Playing on poverty, ignorance and old fears of Tutsi domination, broadcasts on TV and radio waged a virulent campaign incite  fear, perpetuate the hatred and justify the violence.
* Thousands of people seeking refuge were killed in churches. One story was that the priest locked the church from the outside and then allowed the soldiers to bulldoze it down. Incredible.
* One exhibit was gut-wrenching with the names and photos of a handful of children, their favourite food and pastime, and then how they were killed - bludgeoned, macheted, shot, thrown against a wall…
* In the middle of one heart-wrenching photo of a queue of boys, was one boy smiling to the camera. Where was the photo taken and did he know what was going to happen to him?
*Many people crossed borders to refugee camps which of course were gruesome. More violence and rape there. Hutu militia who had crossed along with refugees, reorganized themselves and started incursions and violence. 
* During the fleeing, and subsequent move back in 1996, families became separated. 300,000 children lost parents and family. Aid agencies and orphanages took them in. Numerous left to lead households. Only limited families have been reunited since.
* As for the perpetrators? Many are in hiding in neighbouring countries and even perpetrators who planned the whole genocide are seeking asylum in France. Approximately 125,000 genocidaires as they're called, were arrested - just a small portion of those involved. Held in prisons and makeshift jails around the country, numerous are still awaiting trial. Entire communities were involved in crimes - an overwhelming number for courts to deal with. Stepping in to help the main justice court, community courts are struggling too. And once convicted, due to lack of space, they are given community service instead. In the newspaper I read stories of how people easily escape from these; that the system is inadequate; and families feel they are not getting justice.

Photos of the Some of the Dead at Kigali Memorial Centre

Another afternoon in Kigali, still in shock, we visited a couple of churches 30km south - the Nyamata Memorial and one at Ntarama. These were horrific and perhaps more shocking and sickening because they were at the actual site of so many atrocities.  At Nyamata church the clothes of the dead killed there had been piled on the benches; in the garden a walk-in tomb with bones and skulls in an organized display, within arms reach and not behind any screen or glass. At Ntarama, set in beautiful peaceful countryside, thousands of people were killed here. Tutsi and Hutus refusing to participate in the attack against their neighbours fled to the church hoping for protection. Grenades were thrown in and anyone left alive were shot or macheted apart. Only in recent years were the skeletons (still with their clothes on)  removed. The Sunday School room was lined with low benches in rows and in the corner a wall was stained with the blood of the children thrown against it. Awful! This

Ntarama Church Interior

horror was replicated in churches all over Rwanda.

It was hard to hold back the tears. Indeed we witnessed a number of locals visiting the Memorial Centre who were beside themselves with grief. It's hard to grasp that this happened so recently. Eighteen years is not that long ago. How do people recover from this kind of brutality? How do they come back from this huge tragedy? Everyone has a story. Anyone 18 years or older has seen too much! Almost everyone knows someone who was killed by their neighbours, friends, even family! Worse, probably someone who killed someone! Martin and I wondered how they go on living together after all this? It's still so raw for them. But somehow, they seem to. Our American friend Peter said that as someone who lives here, he can definitely feel

Bones at Ntarama Church

that there is still some tension. How could there not? They are reminded daily of the genocide in the school curriculum, in the ongoing justice court trials, in the papers. Even memorial week!   Maybe it's too much remembering, and some of them just want to move on.

They of course don't want it to happen again. You see signs on graves and memorials saying "Never Again". The billboards and banners around the country remind them… Well, I sincerely hope they continue to 'Learn from their History to Build a Bright Future'. *Mush

Africa Lite, Rwanda

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Pinch me, I don't think we are in Africa anymore…..  Arriving in Kigali, there were some serious differences to anywhere we had been in the previous year, except possibly Cape Town.

Kigali as Viewed from Smart Hotel

Pulling into town, we found that the bus from Burundi was not going to the downtown area, so we got out with a plan of catching another up to town.  Well, we soon found out that things on the buses work differently here: if there are 16 seats, that means 16 people, not 30!!!  For the life of us, we couldn't get a bus to take us, and not because they didn't have room, they just did not have room for our bags unbelievably.  It seems we have become Africanized! In any other country in Africa they would easily have squeezed us in with our bags in the aisle along with lumber, chickens, a goat and 7 sacks of rice or maize meal.  But not here. The buses that went by were 'full'. It appeared that even our bags needed to have their own seat (if one were available). We thought of catching a taxi, but none passed.  So even though it would be challenging with our big and little bags, we approached some motos (motorbike taxis), and then,

With Peter and Moses at Mr. Chips

no-one seemed to know where we wanted to go! Apparently place-names have changed! Although there's little difference between Place de L'independance and Boulevard de L'independance, they still didn't know where it was and even the hotel we were aiming for in the city, was beyond them. Frustrated, we decided to walk the 3km uphill to town. It wasn't much fun I can tell you in the heat. Searching for a hotel was exhausting and I was glad when we settled into one that was cheap - but that was still $25 (not good for the budget)! Over the next few days we found ourselves moving twice more: 'closed' for Memorial week, we camped at a friend of a friend's hostel (with cool bowling alley) for free which was too refuse of course! And then our luck got even better: while Martin sat waiting for me to return with glue after a flip-flop blow-out, an American guy pulled up in his car and started chatting. Having worked all over the world and now Rwanda, Peter was quite a character with lots of interesting funny

Hotel des Milles Collines - The Real Hotel Rwand

stories, and took us under his wing, drove us around and even put us up in his spare room for the next couple of days! Nice!

In spite of our initial rough entry into the capital, we couldn't help notice how cared-for, modern, and clean a city it was, and scenically sprawled over a number of rolling hills. In fact, Rwanda is known as the Land of a Thousand Hills, and its scenery is amazing (with even bigger hills than Burundi's similar picturesque countryside). Rwanda is 26,000 sq km and is the most densely populated country in Africa.  Unlike Burundi though, every little patch of land, if not built on, is tilled and farmed and with healthy looking crops probably due to its copious rainfall. Even the countryside is clean and 'tidy'. We wonder whether it is because Rwanda has laws
about litter. For instance, they don't allow use of plastic bags in the country, but use paper bags

Brochettes with Peter at Hotel des Milles Collines

instead (another story in terms of environmental impact of course). In fact, when we came through the Burindi-Rwanda border we were questioned about our big strong bin-liners that we use to keep our things dry!

In Kigali the people are dressed smartly and drive big fancy cars (we even saw quite a number of Infinities - our car). But as much as Rwanda and Kigali seem to be civilized, clean and very organized, every once in a while we'd see someone turning right from the lefthand lane, or someone carrying a basket of bananas or flour on their head, or perhaps get a whiff of pungent body odour. And we'd be reminded that, yes, this maybe be 'Africa-Lite', but it's still Africa! * Mush

Birds of Lac Oiseaux, Kirundo, Burundi

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Moto Taxi Ride

The town of Kirundo was nothing special and was typical of many towns we'd seen complete with stares from the locals, but our reason for being here was the close-by scenic Lac aux Oiseaux (Bird Lake) - a place that many people had told us to visit. It's now called Lake Rwihinda Nature Reserve and covers a large area famous for many different bird species. Sadly, due to increased agriculture and fishing, and a decreased water level, some species don't migrate here anymore. We took a moto each (motorbike taxi) to get to the park along the 8km dirt track passing through villages and waving at tons of people on their way from/to church (it was Easter Sunday). Because the area is a protected nature reserve we were expecting a Park office of some sort, or at least a booth to buy an entrance ticket. Instead, we arrived at a widened muddy beach at the edge of the lake with scruffy kids

Banana Tree Raft (note the ibishinga top right)

hanging around playing in the water!

A canoe approached the bank within seconds which meant somebody must have called somebody to tell somebody that white people were on their way! We negotiated a price for the canoe to take us to the island. The hour trip was beautiful, and it was super peaceful being out on the water.  Not only famous for its birds, the lake also has compact floating islands called ‘Ibishinga’. Some are just black muddy earth clods without any plants that move around with the wind, and others have tufts of vegetation and are immobile. Both are perfect for local and migratory birds for nesting and feeding.

There were also a lot of lilac coloured water-lillies scattered on the surface of the still water which made a cool sound as the boat drifted through them. We did see plenty of birds, thankfully, including a huge

With our Driver Ben

African Fish Eagle perched in the palm trees, pied kingfishers, pelicans, herons, egrets, ibis, and lots more. Our 'driver' who we nicknamed 'Ben' because we couldn't pronounce his name, paddled us around the island and then landed on it. A quick walk soon revealed that the edge of the island was way more lush and tropical than the dull, brambled interior which surprised us.

Our picnic lunch and walk at the edge of the lake was tranquil when we weren't watching the kids playing in their ingenious rafts made of banana tree trunks, or swimming in the fairly murky-looking water. A pleasant day at the lake, and then back on our moto (our guys remembered to come and pick us up!) to buy a bus ticket for Rwanda next day. *Mush

Egret Taking Flight

African Fish Eagle at the Island

Landing on the Island

Lake Fisherman