The first day in Africa started in style. We had a nice breakfast at the hotel overlooking a forested valley. We were close to the equator, but it wasn't hot. Kigali is 1500m above sea level and that takes the edge off the temperature.
Robert picked us up around 9 & took us for a drive around Kigali. The thing that became apparent quite quickly was the hills. The whole city is built on a series of ridges & valleys. The city centre (above) is located on top of a hill. It isn't what I'd call a big city, but there are a lot of people living there. The slums (below) are scattered across the city but are being replaced with new housing built by the government & partially paid for by foreign aid.
Unfortunately Rwanda is most famous for its bloody past, particularly the genocide of 1994 when 850,000 people were killed. Robert took us to two of the churches where some of the atrocities were carried out on defenceless people who were sheltering there. They're disturbing legacies preserved to remind locals & visitors alike not to ever let it occur again.
After lunch in a westernised cafe' we visited the genocide memorial (above). The audio tour & displays in this purpose built facility tell the story of the centuries of turmoil in the country leading up to the events of 1994. You shouldn't visit Rwanda without coming to the memorial.The outdoor gardens are a peaceful way to collect your thoughts.
We started the long twisty drive to Musanze, the township close to Volcanoes National park & the border with the Congo. The terrain quickly became even more rugged. The roads weren't in good shape & the drivers were just as crazy as the South Americans. Workplace Health & Safety clearly hasn't arrived yet (below). I guess if you can avoid riding up the steep hills, you take the free hitch.
The thing that is most apparent in Rwanda is there are people everywhere & every square inch of land is farmed. Nowhere I have ever been before has I seen a place completely overrun by people. It's a problem the world over.
The thing that is most apparent in Rwanda is there are people everywhere & every square inch of land is farmed. Nowhere I have ever been before has I seen a place completely overrun by people. It's a problem the world over.Finally we reached the outskirts of Musanze where we caught our first glimpse of the towering volcanoes of the national park and the home of the Mountain Gorillas.
There isn't much to do in Musanze. It's very much a farming trade hub and isn't tourist friendly. I wouldn't say it was dangerous (or Rwanda generally), there just isn't much to do so we hung about at the hotel for the afternoon. Dinner was interesting. The food was good, but we battled with power outages that plunged the whole town into darkness. It appears that the infrastructure destroyed in 1994 hasn't quite been fully restored.
There isn't much to do in Musanze. It's very much a farming trade hub and isn't tourist friendly. I wouldn't say it was dangerous (or Rwanda generally), there just isn't much to do so we hung about at the hotel for the afternoon. Dinner was interesting. The food was good, but we battled with power outages that plunged the whole town into darkness. It appears that the infrastructure destroyed in 1994 hasn't quite been fully restored.
We flew with Brussels Airlines (Rwanda is a former Belgian colony) but it meant we had to transit through Brussels. We had two things against us. The hour & a half flight from London on the Avro RJ85 (above) was delayed & the airport in Brussels is a mess with the terminal splintered and connected only by bus. We even had to get on a bus from the first aircrat to the terminal. It was a major (and sometimes confusing) scramble but we made it onto the A330 (apologies for the blurred photo below) bound for Africa. The airline attendants are really nice and the service good on Brussels Airlines, but there's no entertainment system in the head rest in front of you. The scenery was clouds over Europe & Egypt & the Sudan were a featureless brown desert from the air. The long flight was very, very long. It was 9.30pm local time when we touched down in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda.
We were met at the airport by our personal guide, Robert (below). He was recommended by one of Kerri's work friends who had been over there with a medical team. Robert takes the team on safaris every year when they visit.
