We were up for another long day of travel. The day started with a nice breakfast at the hotel in Musanze. After breakfast I set about photographing the local birdlife including the black kites (above) circling on the thermals across the road from the hotel & the weever birds in the hotel gardens.
Sharing the garden with the weever birds were regal sunbirds (below).
We packed our gear into the car & spent half an hour or so checking out the local markets that had just about every type of produce you can find in the area along with other goods like hand bags, shoes, clothing and many other household items. 
The next couple of hours were spent driving back to Kigali. We took in the scenery on the way which mainly looked a lot like the farmland pictured above & below. Its tough terrain, but the locals find ways to overcome the difficulties. Most of the trees are Australian Eucalypts that grow rapidly in the warm climate. They're used for everything from firewood to bridges.
We eventually reached Kigali. Robert gave us a more detailed tour of the city this time. What I noticed was the wide range of housing. At one extreme was the mud houses built side by side & at the other end of the spectrum, the massive gated mansions of the foreign diplomats & some of the politicians. In the middle, the government is busy building a huge number of mid range houses.After another nice lunch Robert dropped us off at the airport. We said our good-byes & went through security. Kigali Airport isn't what you'd call a big airport but we were able to sit & watch tv until we boarded the flight. A clear example of the recovering economy of Rwanda is the shiny relatively new Canadian built jets own by RwandAir (below). Our plane even had a Canadian captain.
The flight took us East over the rolling hills then flood plains of Rwanda before flying over Lake Victoria. I knew Lake Victoria was big, but until we'd flown over it I had no idea quite how big. It was getting dark by the time we landed in Nairobi (and it gets dark very quickly near the equator). The taxi ride to the hotel was interesting. It became abundantly clear that Nairobi was a busy city. Even in the seemingly endless traffic jam there were locals coming up to the car trying to sell us things.
The flight took us East over the rolling hills then flood plains of Rwanda before flying over Lake Victoria. I knew Lake Victoria was big, but until we'd flown over it I had no idea quite how big. It was getting dark by the time we landed in Nairobi (and it gets dark very quickly near the equator). The taxi ride to the hotel was interesting. It became abundantly clear that Nairobi was a busy city. Even in the seemingly endless traffic jam there were locals coming up to the car trying to sell us things.We were glad to finally arrive at the hotel. We cleaned up & had dinner at the hotel. We spent the rest of the evening washing our clothes in the room. It would be our last opportunity for the rest of the trip.
Kerri had been building up for this day for months. The main reason she wanted to go to Africa was to see the mountain gorillas. I can't say I was as excited, but I was still amped up for the experience. A 5.30am start and early breakfast allowed us to get to the park HQ on time. Along the way we were able to get a better look at the row of five extinct volcanoes that form the boundary with the Rebublic of Congo (Mt. Sabyinyo above).
At the park HQ we were given the run down about the lay of the land, how we are expected to behave around the gorillas & were introduced to the family we would visit (our family was the family called Sabyinyo).
When we'd asked for a short hike if posible, we didn't think a 10 minute wander across farmland before hopping over the wall into the jungle (above) was what they mean by a short hike. None the less, that was our hike & we weren't complaining. We've since heard horror stories about 3 hr hikes followed by an hour of hacking through stinging, thorny jungle. We had to bush bash for a couple of minutes to find the animals. 
We could hear the gorillas even from the wall & could see evidence of both buffalo & gorillas on the ground (and nearly stepped in it a few times). Then there he was, Guhonda (above & below), the big silverback. He's the biggest gorilla in the park & the guides said he weighs 250kg. I find it hard to believe (maybe they mean pounds), be he's a big boy for sure.
As we set ourselves & were quiet, we became aware of other members of the family rustling around in the vegetation. GiIhishamwotsi (or maybe it's Shirimpumu) was up in a tree eating leaves (below).
Ishejabben (nicknamed Big Ben) is an odd one. He is easy to spot thanks to his bald head.
Kampanga (above) has a new baby of only a few weeks. This family not only has the biggest gorilla in the park, but also the smallest (below). Cute little guy isn't he? Some say he looks like Elvis.
Most of the family settled down for a sleep with Guhonda the protector of the group with one eye open for trouble.
Meet Gukunda (above & below), the Prince. He's Guhonda's son & a silverback in training. Apparently Guhonda knows that he's getting old & his reign will be over soon. He lets Gukunda take some privileges with the females that in normal circumstances he would not. Gukunda's quite a big boy like his father. Apparently he eats a lot & chooses the plants that ferment in his stomach the most. Consequently he is drunk much of the time. We could see he was a bit grumpy & a bit unsteady.
The other members of the group were quite elusive. They were either in really dark places where the camera couldn't see them or in the thickets where we couldn't see them.
Back at the park HQ, we were all given certificates to prove we were there (because the photos aren't proof enough).
Robert drove us to a lodge on a ridge nestled between two nearby lakes. We had lunch and watched a storm cross the lake & past us. It was all very civilized.
The local birdlife wasn't too fussed even if one of the white necked ravens did look a bit bedraggled. 
That night was more of the same as far as dinner & power failures. We turned in for the night still buzzing from the experience.
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.
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.
