Akagera National Park

After a long drive on one of the better roads in Rwanda, through the capital Kigali, we arrived at the Akagera National Park gates at 7.00pm. Unfortunately, due to new rules (that had not been explained to the guides or notified to the company), we were an hour late and entry had to be denied! Our guide, Theogene was very embarrassed. He rang his boss while the gate guard rang his...they spoke then swapped their phones. They finished on their phones and continued discussion for 15 minutes. Then we were let in......an inconvenience we didn't really need in the middle of Africa, at night after a 5.30am start and 6 hours of driving. But...we are here for different experiences.

Our Akagera Lodge on the edge of Lake Ihema was really nice. Food was fantastic, a bit of Africa mixed with pasta...and other recognisable stuff. Our room was along a board walk just high enough to ensure hippos wouldn't cause interference. The restaurant second to none that we have stayed at with three courses by lamplight in the evenings and our lodgings in the tented bedroom were very comfortable.

 Up early and away into the park looking for wildlife. This park is fenced with solar electric down one side with a river and Tanzania border the east side. There are full time Rangers and fence maintenance teams along the boundary and they proudly released a pride of 7 lion last year and now have 14, of which we saw 3. Later this year they are hopeful of getting 5 rhino from South Africa and that will add to the attraction. Our guide did a great job of finding animals and we couldn't be happier with the safari in Rwanda. It seems rude to be driving past Impala, water buck and zebra in the hope of seeing a lion or an elephant. 

 

The good times have to end and after a short morning run through a small part of the park we lunched and headed back to the capital, Kigali. About 40kms of dusty road made sure that anything that was dirty is worse, and anything that was clean...isn't. We had two short stops on our 120km, 3 hour journey back into the big smoke. First to give a group of boys a soccer ball from NZ.....it was a thrill to see the smiles on their faces. They had been kicking a flax type covered roundish thing prior to our stopping....you might have thought they had just won the World Cup.....a small step closer maybe. Our second stop was to visit our guides 75 year old mother...very humbling. She lost her husband in the 1994 genocide, murdered in front of her! There is free medical care for her now but no social security or pension payment.Theogene supports her financially and his sister lives with her.

Water is a big problem in Rwanda....well getting it is. A few houses have reticulated supply but mostly the people trek to a communal well with yellow jerry cans. That could be several kms away. Bikes are used. It seemed to us that carts, donkeys or sack barrows would be a giant leap forward. Even digging more wells would surely mean way less car versus cycle accidents. I struggle keeping myself balanced on a bike...add 100 litres of water would be suicide for sure. Most of the children will carry 2 x 2litres before and after primary school and a 20 litre on their head once reaching high school status. In fact nearly every item can be balanced on a head in Rwanda.

Our last night back in Des Mille Collines Hotel, leaving tomorrow night for Johannesburg.  Tomorrow we will do a city tour, visit the genocide museum and an artisan market.

 

King Kong's homeland

We left Kamembe in the south west corner of Rwanda for a two day drive north to Kinigi, the base for gorilla tracking. The main roads are fairly impressive and the country is getting to work in developing a main arterial system within. The driving is diabolical. Mostly no white line in the centre which seems to mean you take the shortest path. Fortunately there aren't too many cars and obtaining a license is quite difficult. Having the money to buy a car is probably even more difficult.

We passed through dozens of little villages and enjoyed stopping off in one to give some local lads a football and a pump that we had bought with us from NZ. What started as 3 boys ended up with about 20 in 2 minutes. They were very excited and very polite....it was a nice experience to see them all so happy.

We did have a stop over on our way north. Distances are not great but roads are very windy and hilly so we rarely get into top gear.

Our stop over in Kibuye along the eastern edge of Lake Kivu was at a resort type place which was very relaxing spot. We had a quaint little cottage on sticks and a beautiful sunset...with a glass of rum or two. Fishing boats head out in the evenings, a sort of catamaran affair and they use nets to catch a little fish like a sardine. The fishermen sing to welcome fishes and keep their spirits up...voices carry clearly to the visitors along the edge. Local beer with dinner is a good end to the day.

We had a long drive to Kinigi but a very comfortable resort full of other white skins, mostly Americans it appears. An early start was required for our gorilla trek. About 8 groups of 8 people plus a guide need to be organised prior to departure. Groups are sorted by fitness level which was guessed at by our guide. We headed off with 6 Americans in pleasant conditions. The morning got warmer and the hill a little steeper, it took us two hours to reach our family of 15 which included the oldest silver back in Rwanda....he didn't show any excitement in seeing us! We had an hour with the gorillas, so close that two people were touched by them. Most of the time we were less than 5 metres away, just sitting, trying not to stare directly into their eyes but it was very difficult to refrain from saying "...so how's  your day been?...". 

The two hour walk in required a two hour walk out and a young American couple who had staggered a bit getting in were having difficulty getting out. They appeared to have had an overdose of calories to an extent that they now couldn't summon enough energy to burn off latent calories and they were in a continuing to grow phase. I mentioned the rescue helicopter and was astounded when the guy began considering it seriously. No one else in the group broke into a sweat ....but then we were "resting" every 30 metres! I'm sure their holiday was ruined when they discovered that there are no fast food joints in Rwanda. It is pleasing to drive through a city without seeing the big red M or old Colonel Sanders smiling at us, however the ubiquitous Coca-Cola sign is seen from time to time.

 

The following morning we visited golden monkeys which was a lot of fun. They are completely unphased about visits from humans and we could get as close as we liked. They wouldn't touch us but just carried on their chores as though we weren't there at all.     

From the monkeys we raced back to our lodge, showered, lunched and set off on a 6 hour journey to a lodge in Akagera National Park. Never a dull moment.