Rwanda

All set for tourism!!

Lizzie and I just got back from our first R&R and we decided to go to Rwanda and why not? Lizzie’s cousin is currently working out there so it seemed like a great opportunity to visit them and see a new country. Personally I was very excited to get into the Southern Hemisphere for the first time; a whole new half of the planet to visit!! Which after some disappointing research on the exact line, it appears I have been to the S Hemisphere before when I was in Nairobi and did not realise!

We began our journey via 2 small aircraft over two days and flew into Goma on the N Western corner of Rwanda. The views from the plane were amazing on the way into Goma, as you have to fly past an active volcano on the way to landing and you can see the plume and lava trails from past eruptions. And more disturbing is the large amount of aircraft “parked” at the side of the runway. Goma itself is built on volcanic rock and so there is a whole industry built around chipping rocks into smaller ones and as a result the roads look like the surface of the moon. The main street is actually a lava flow with the houses being sunk below the street level; halfway down the road you go down a ramp (the end of the lava) and you are back onto the normal height.

Rwanda by contrast is completely different; as soon as you cross the border you hit tarmac roads and nice grass verges. The “Land of a Thousand Hills” lives up to its reputation and with stunning views of volcanoes and hills we wound our way down towards Kigali to meet up with Lizzie’s cousin.

"Hotel Rwanda"

Some famous Rwandan Dancing

We spent our time in Kigali relaxing and re-charging the batteries thanks to Ben and Laura’s kind hospitality. It is amazing what a hot shower and a washing machine can do.

No holiday is complete without a game of keepy-uppy with a giant beach ball!

Question is, "Who looks better in a rubber ring?" - very manly!

Pub quiz night in Kigali

Lizzie and I decided we wanted to go and see the National Park in the East (Akagera) so we hired a car in Kigali and set out eastwards. It is not too difficult to self drive in Rwanda, the roads are good and there are few turn-offs that you can take. The National Park itself is fairly small as a result of lots of people returning from Uganda after the genocide and being re-homed there.

The Baboon that woke us up at 0500hrs trying to get into our room! We could hear the guard chasing him down the corridor.

There are not as many animals as the big parks in East Africa, but as you are allowed to just turn up in a vehicle and enter the park (for the nominal fee) it is without doubt one of the best 4x4 experiences going. Lizzie and I spent 2 days bombing around the park; and with 2 blown tyres and a close incident with a Water Buffalo herd in the dark, we headed back to the lights of Kigali and the Royal Wedding.

The Topi like to stand on abandoned termite mounds and keep look out.

Zebra keeping an eye out fo each other by looking in opposite directions and resting their heads

Lizzie and I stood by the hippos and crocs, wandering around the lake was probably not the best idea.

Two Fish Eagles

A very tired baboon at the end of the day. I felt the same as we drove past.

Another Baboon

Getting the tyres fixed again, £2 - bargain!

The wedding itself was as expected, but with the added highlight of getting to celebrate at the British High Commissioner’s residence in the evening for Pimms and cocktails.

We then headed out to the West with Lizzie’s cousin et al. All the way to Lake Kivu at Kibuye, this is absolutely stunning here and on par with Lake Como for its beauty. We spent our time swimming in the lake and enjoying a nice cold drink in the bar/ restaurant.

Too much lunch for Lizzie?

Some traditional fishing boats we discovered whilst lost in the bush!

Napoleon's Hat or "Bat" Island

Someone lose at connect four again?

After this we spent a few days heading back up to the border and stayed in Gisenyi for a night before crossing the border for a last evening and meal in Goma. The place we went to was NGO night, so Lizzie and I expecting saw dust on the floor and lots of khaki tipped up a little underdressed as it was quite posh and everyone had their own security detail!! The pizza and bottle of red were lush though.

It is with a small aircraft that we returned back to work. First thing on the agenda was the elections for staff representative, which are still ongoing as democracy here is a process filled with procedures and various challenges – say no more.

The elections were very interesting apparently

Two options here:

1. Ram pen in to back of throat to get out of the rest of the meeting.

2. Alternatively decide on the text Lizzie just sent, "Should we defrost some chicken for dinner?" and grin and bear the rest of the meeting.

Speak soon to all

Pete

Truckers

 A couple a weeks ago we had the job of purchasing and loading 10 tonnes worth of construction materials onto a lorry to be transported to another project base. After agreeing a price for the transport and then inspecting the lorry to confirm it was suitable and road worthy for the roads of the Congolese jungle (a task which I have clearly a large amount of experience in!!!!!) we spent a long day loading the materials from our warehouse and then driving around the town picking up other items which had been pre-bought. You can see our friend and work-mate Isabelle in the lorry getting involved with some cement!

The materials were all for the construction of sanitary facilities (or toilets!) and wells. This photo was taken at 7am, the start of a very long day.

The people helping us load the lorry are local workers who wait in the town centre at the main roundabout for work to become available. There are lots of trucks around due to the large market so there is normally quite alot of work for them. They were all very good humoured and we had quite a good laugh!

 Not posed at all! Ticking things off the packing list...

 Me with the driver at the truck, Athy. 

One of the logisticiens Hubert who I work with day to day, he is a bit of a star.

 

In the local market picking up some supplies. It is normally quite busy and people are friendly. We stand out a bit as there are not many other NGOs in the area, in fact we are probably the only one from overseas apart from one German organisation. There is also the UN but they are mainly a peacekeeping force. Saying that, it is a very stable area (helped I guess by their presence and the presence of the national army) and has been in the past as well - even during the period of fighting in the north-east a few years ago.

People often carry items on their heads, to help you can buy a ring made from twine which sits on top of your head under the item. In the photo below you can see them hanging up from the ceiling ready for sale.

With Isabelle, who is from France, sitting on planks of wood to be loaded onto the truck. Perhaps we should shift ourselves and start shifting them!

 

 We spent quite alot of the day waiting around for materials to be ready and hence a few random photos coming up! We spotted this beautiful, white bunny at the side of road. I am not sure if is a native species or has been lost by a magician!

Years of practice of parrot-bite-avoidence have led to this moment! This bird was very sweet and didn`t try to dag me at all! We saw some wild in the trees the other day as well which was very nice to see - they have the most lovely sounding call and very loud too. I really wanted to set this one free but may have to sneak back in the night to do this!

Preparing vegetables

Local children who were very excited to see their photo on the camera...(I have finally upgraded from using film only cameras!)

 One of the roads in the town. There are huge gutters for drainage during the rainy season which runs from April/May to November. It tends to rain everyday quite heavily for an hour or so and can be very impressive. Sometimes it rains all through the night as well, although in the morning there is almost no evidence of it as the ground is still so dry. The pet ducks we have at the house love standing out in it as you can imagine, as they normally rely on water in an old biscuit tin to drink and attempt to swim in (which I put out for them, a throw back to The Old Rectory!).

We were still loading the truck into the evening and this is the last item going on....so happy!

 

 The truck finally pulling off....horay!...to 100metres down the  road ready for an early morning departure the next day... 

That is all for now, thank you for reading. Pete has some photos to add (which feature him as well!)...coming soon.