Photo Sets » Rwanda - Geo
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After a couple of months in Uganda, it was time to see some of the rest of Africa. According to a local newspaper ad, Rwanda is *only* 10 hours away by luxury bus. Luxury means: "A/C, Movies, Toilets Aboard". None of this is true. Our bus arrives 2 hours late from Nairobi, that's fine. Then we spend an hour weaving through traffic to only find out out that two tires need to be replaced. Finally we leave Kampala only 4 hours late--Nothing like crossing the Rwanda border at night!
Rwanda is full of surprises. My expectations, in many cases, are correct. There is an aura that something has happened here; "something" obviously is an understatement. The people on the street don't smile as much as in Uganda; that is until you get talking with them. Then they really open up. So many people have been displaced that a surprising number of people have lived in Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, and the DRC. Everyone knows at least a few words of English. Almost everyone.
There is a strange sense of order to the country. It really feels safe, almost utopian-like ironically enough. You get the idea that your every move is being watched, and they are. But I'm used to being stared at, so the feeling is more comforting than disturbing. Even on our first night in Kigali we feel comfortable walking 3k downtown at 11pm...in Rwanda.
We confirm our arrangements for gorilla tracking and head to the bus "station" to buy tickets to Ruhengeri, the HQ of the national park. We say "Ruhengeri", they look at each other and say, "no". We say it again. "No". Hmmm. After many blank stares, we realize, no joke, that they think we are saying "Bulgaria". We laugh. "Hmm, funny, I could have sworn that the guidebook said to come here for the Rwanda --> Bulgaria direct bus".
We get to Ruhengeri and have a nice French meal for a couple of $, and then get to bed to get up early for our tracking experience. We wake up at 5am, no water in the bathroom, no breakfast waiting, and no packed-lunch as promised. But our driver is there. We get to the park HQ and meet our guides and guards. We take another 20k drive up the road which leads to DianFossey's original research station. We park, and then start a nice walk up the side of a volcano. It's gorgeous here, and although I've seen rainforests before, this one seems a little more inviting. The trail ends and we are scrambling, jumping, sliding, falling down a hill with the most fertile soil I've ever seen. We stop, our guide has found a gorilla. Karl and I are the only ones to see it. That one sighting was enough, but it only gets better...
We spend a little over an hour with 16 of the last 650 gorillas.
After a couple of months in Uganda, it was time to see some of the rest of Africa. According to a local newspaper ad, Rwanda is *only* 10 hours away by luxury bus. Luxury means: "A/C, Movies, Toilets Aboard". None of this is true. Our bus arrives 2 hours late from Nairobi, that's fine. Then we spend an hour weaving through traffic to only find out out that two tires need to be replaced. Finally we leave Kampala only 4 hours late--Nothing like crossing the Rwanda border at night!
Rwanda is full of surprises. My expectations, in many cases, are correct. There is an aura that something has happened here; "something" obviously is an understatement. The people on the street don't smile as much as in Uganda; that is until you get talking with them. Then they really open up. So many people have been displaced that a surprising number of people have lived in Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, and the DRC. Everyone knows at least a few words of English. Almost everyone.
There is a strange sense of order to the country. It really feels safe, almost utopian-like ironically enough. You get the idea that your every move is being watched, and they are. But I'm used to being stared at, so the feeling is more comforting than disturbing. Even on our first night in Kigali we feel comfortable walking 3k downtown at 11pm...in Rwanda.
We confirm our arrangements for gorilla tracking and head to the bus "station" to buy tickets to Ruhengeri, the HQ of the national park. We say "Ruhengeri", they look at each other and say, "no". We say it again. "No". Hmmm. After many blank stares, we realize, no joke, that they think we are saying "Bulgaria". We laugh. "Hmm, funny, I could have sworn that the guidebook said to come here for the Rwanda --> Bulgaria direct bus".
We get to Ruhengeri and have a nice French meal for a couple of $, and then get to bed to get up early for our tracking experience. We wake up at 5am, no water in the bathroom, no breakfast waiting, and no packed-lunch as promised. But our driver is there. We get to the park HQ and meet our guides and guards. We take another 20k drive up the road which leads to DianFossey's original research station. We park, and then start a nice walk up the side of a volcano. It's gorgeous here, and although I've seen rainforests before, this one seems a little more inviting. The trail ends and we are scrambling, jumping, sliding, falling down a hill with the most fertile soil I've ever seen. We stop, our guide has found a gorilla. Karl and I are the only ones to see it. That one sighting was enough, but it only gets better...
We spend a little over an hour with 16 of the last 650 gorillas.
