I was impressed with our room. We had a table, two chairs, a double bed, bedside table, and a bathroom complete with shower *sometimes hot water* We were in a block of rooms for couples and shared a water heater with the neighbors. If we planned our showers correctly (made sure no one else was showering/flushing) we had good hot water and reasonable water pressure. If we timed it badly, we had no hot water and / or no water pressure. The water pressure usually dropped when we were in full lather from head to toe. Because of the water issues, I showered later than I'd have liked to most nights. One morning when I woke up really early I was able to take a shower with full pressure and plenty of hot water. Our daughter was in a suite of three two-bed units that shared a common living room and bathroom. Several people gathered there in the evenings for games and cards. She shared her room with another teenage girl and the other rooms each had a single woman from our group in them. One room I saw had around 4 bunkbeds in it. I'm assuming that was for groups of singles. The room keys were on large wooden disks and the only way to insure your room got cleaned was to drop it off at the desk in the morning. Several of us kept our keys for days because we weren't too sure about the cleaning staff. My daughter was there sick one day and someone tried to open her bedroom door. Since she had the 'master' key to the suite, I'm not sure who was trying to get into her room but it probably wasn't the manager. Also, security and cleaning personnel were frequently found using her suite to take breaks, charge phones, and peek in on sleeping mzungus who didn't lock their individual bedroom doors. Management insisted no one had a master key except the on-site manager. Cleaning staff tends to take dirty clothes and wash them. It's a wonderful thing to leave in the morning with a pile of dirty clothes in the corner of your room and come back to a pile of nicely folded clean clothes on your table. Charges for pants and shirts were 250 rf (approx $0.45 US). Socks and underwear were less. The most we paid was around 2500 rf for a huge pile. I tipped an extra 100 to 300, depending on the amount of clothes. Thick cotton socks didn't tend to dry completely. We found only one pillow on our bed. My husband and I packed pillows for our trip but since our luggage was lost at Kigali (another blog), we didn't have them for one week. I borrowed off one of the ladies in our group who was sleeping single in a double room. Large towels were provided but no hand or wash towels. I recommend taking your own and a pillow. Be prepared to host ghekos and misc. insects in your room. The mosquito nets on the beds are necessary. I'm not afraid of ghekos or most of the bugs that crawl around in Gisenyi but I did remove one 5" millipede from my daughter's room. According to Lonely Planet's 'East Africa' book, there is a restaurant on site. I don't know about that because all of our meals were taken care of by the church that was hosting our visit. Note: Turn your toilet valve to the 'off' position if you're leaving your room. Three of the toilets in our group had issues of overflowing from the tank for no reason. Thankfully ours did it when we were in the room so no damage was done. The other two flooded when no one was around and the water came to within inches of luggage. A shop across the parking lot offers locally made crafts by Rwandan women. It is sponsored by the church. Prices are fantastic and bartering is not cool. You'll pay very little for wonderful work. Our entire group shopped there and we got great bargains. Some who bought fabric in the market (one block away) were able to have it sewn into garments by some of the women at the shop. Prices were very reasonable. Less than $8.00 US for an authentic blouse and skirt for one of the women in our group. The fabric cost her around $18.00 so for less than $22.00 she has a beautiful outfit. On the topic of noise: Some things are very loud; Ibis, drums, singing and chanting church goers, Muslim mosques, car horns, avocados hitting metal roofs, portable radios, loud conversations. All of these things will be heard at and around the Guesthouse. Some go all night while others start up early in the mornings. The ibis that hang out in the trees are one of the top 5 loudest animals in Africa....believe it! They announce themselves at 5 am religiously. My husband packed earplugs. I wish I'd done the same.

My daughter, Amber, a friend, Molly, and two young men we ran into outside an internet cafe, all walked past the Catholic school to Lake Kivu. The part of the beach we were at that day was located just south of the Hotel Serena (I think that's what it's called). It is a nice beach. I don't know if the water can be trusted but a lot of locals were swimming and playing in it. Manicured lawns and beautiful shade trees grow along the beach which goes north to Goma and south to around 100 miles away. There's very little traffic on the street that parallels the beach. As I walked south towards a pier, I could hear the sounds of bats in the trees. My curiosity got the better of me and I hurried toward the sound. There were hundreds, maybe more all hanging out in different trees. Some were in groups, all elbowing each other and wiggling, squeeking in protest. Others were alone on a branch. One of the young men with us, Anoc, said they eat fish but I wonder. They are the size of seagulls and fly around the beach at night. I was amazed and wish I'd been able to get a picture of them. With brown backs and yellow bellies, they are the prettiest bats I've ever seen. There was also a family of hawks nesting in a palm tree near the beach. I love that! I watched the parents bring the babies food and watched the kids hop around the tree in preparation for flight. I was there at the right time! By now they're gone. As I left the beach I was followed by a very annoying drum salesman who ended up selling me two drums for 500 rf. I think I got a good deal but he was really annoying so I earned it. The same man was there a couple of nights later when I went to the hotel for dessert and iced water (different blog). By then a lot of us were really craving ice. Of all the things to miss when you leave home, ice was something I didn't consider. Be aware of the annoying salesman outside hotels that cater to European and American visitors. They start high and eventually go very low in price. One offered a carved boat for $40,000 rf that I could have bought for $4000 rf at the shop across the parking lot from our hostel. I wish I'd remembered to buy one! If you're a white woman, expect to be noticed, talked to, and maybe asked for your email address after a short conversation. It's best to keep your head down, answer question in 'yes' and 'no' answers, and wear a cheap ring. I left my wedding ring at home and didn't hang out with my husband much because we were usually on differend work crews. I appeared to be single. Just so you all know, the young men we ran into outside the internet cafe were from the church we were working at and we already knew one of them quite well. I would not have wandered off with my daughter and another young girl with two men I had no idea about.

This hotel, owned by the Catholic Church, is more than just a lodging place. The grounds had a seminary, a church, office buildings, gift shop, restaurant, and an internet cafe. The latter of that list was what interested me the most, but soon found out that I had to use their computers and, once again, the speed was slooooooooow. However, my internet experience shaped up quite nicely. We later discovered that at night time and in the early morning we could pick up high speed wireless from the cafe on our own laptops. I was totally flabbergasted to have this technology here in the mountains of northern Rwanda! And to think that prior to arriving, I wasn't sure if we'd have running water. Turns out, though, the internet was a lot faster than the running water in our showers. Although there is a lot of mission orientated visitors who stay here, it is also one of the more popular hotels in the area for people visiting the Silverback Gorillas which is only a few short miles away to the Gorilla park entrance. Price range: 30-40USD per night.

We were here for 30 days.  It was fun.  We slept in a terminal that had all the window blown out of it.  Everytime a C5 came in, it would shake the whole building.  Rick and I would ride out bikes all over the flightline catching ACFT.  We were even in Stars and Stripes.

her kommer noget tekst

her kommer noget tekst

I went travelling around Lake Victoria in East Africa one main site on this tour would be to see gorillas in Rwanda. My knowledge of the country before hand was very limited - basically I knew it used to be a Belgian colony in the old days but mainly what I knew was about the genocide in the mid 90th. This is also what everybody else knows about the country, hence most my friends thought going there were slightly mad. But that kind of details never stops me from going anywhere.

We got to Rwanda on the 30th. December and coming there was a bit of a surprise the country got better roads than almost anywhere else in East Africa - apparently a lot of European countries feel a bit guilty about what happened in the 90th. and put a lot of development help in there. The countryside was very green and fertile because of a lot of volcanic soil all over the place. So the drive through the country was very scenic compared to parts of Uganda and Kenya.

We were staying at a mission in what I thought would be a small village Ruhegeri apparently it was actually quit big and when we arrived there were an election for head of the local church going on. Staying at a mission in East Africa during a church election is not something I can recommend it involves the mission being fully booked - hence instead of staying in a room with a bed and lights we ended up camping. Ok we were on a camping tour so this was not really uncommon for us and equipped with swag and a mossy net it seem an attractive option.

But the election of the head of a church in Rwanda can not really be compared with an election for the Church's of Denmark. Those elections is actually only held in about 10 percent in the parishes in the rest the seats are allocated without elections and in those parish which actually are having an election only 10 to 20 percent go out and vote. In Rwanda the process is a bit different it involves 5000 people coming to getter with drums being play at knight. This seem really interesting at first - of course having to get up at 5 the next morning to go gorilla hiking you would want some sleep but the drums went on for quite a while.

Finally the drumming stop for the night and we all went to sleep supposedly until 5 the next morning. But the next morning the drumming started again - at 4 - no more sleep that night. After another hour of turning and twisting and being annoyed with drums it was time to get up and have breakfast and go to the national park to see the gorillas.

The trip there went on some off the roads in Rwanda which had not yet received any development aid and where quiet bumpy. At the visitor centre you could choose between different groups of gorillas you wanted to visit. I join those going to the high group of gorillas which is the biggest of the gorilla families and the group Dian Fossy originally observed.

The trek up there involved a very quick trip up hill through some potato fields. The local guides were very fit and used to the trip - for the rest of us who in the last 2 weeks were not quite as fit - most of us had only had drinking as our main physical activity during those 2 weeks. With the addition of a bit of altitude (2500 meters) all of us struggled getting up the hill. I desperately needed a rest but would not be the one to call for it - luckily we had a smoker in the group and he finally had to stop and rest - the rest of us were pleased with that so we could catch our breath again. The guides on the other hand wanted to push on because the gorillas would be getting further away while we had our rest.

Hence we pushed on leaving the potato fields and entering the forest. After getting to the forest we could relax a bit. The forest was so dense that our guide could not keep up the pace.

That forest were noting like anything else I have ever seen. Its not jungle and there are not a lot of tall trees but a lot of 2-3 meters really dense vegetation. Walking along through the forest is a special experience given you can feel your feeds are not really touching the ground they are somewhat lifted away on scrubs that has been trampled down by the ones in front of you. We walked through the forest for about an hour being completely disorientated in process. The guides were starting to talk with two trekkers we apparently had in front of us. We had to be getting close to the gorillas - but still no sight of them.

Then finally in the distance there they were 2 gorillas up in a tree - the reason I had come all the way to Rwanda.

Already exited it was time to get closer - in the begging the gorillas were on the move and we could not get really close.  But then they started to settle down - the grownups eating and relaxing the youngsters playing around. Then we could get closer - the rule is you are not aloud to get closer than 7 meters from the gorillas. Off course none of us had a measuring tape so we could not tell for sure whether or not we got closer than seven meters - but an arms length - that's about 7 meters I guess.

Finally we got really close. Standing less than 2 meters from the big silverback leader of the entire group off 39 gorillas - that was amazing. Definitely my favoured animal moment ever. Just seeing him lying down with his offspring playing around on top of him that was worth the entire days trek - and made the whole trip just seem unforgettable.

After one hour we were supposed to return - but our guide were not really in a hurry so we stayed a bit longer. Still it felt way to short when we had to leave the gorillas to return down the hill and drive back to the mission.

At the mission it was time to relax we were supposed to have rooms available for the night - but the cleaners were working on African times hence the rooms were not ready hence there would be no afternoon nap after the trek. We had to stay up chatting and enjoying a couple of cold beers before diner.

When it was time for diner everybody could feel it had been a long day and people started to fall halfway asleep on top of there diner plates. At 8.30 in the evening the first had to surrender and go to bed. But the rest of us were determined after all it was New Years Eve we could simply not go to bed before midnight.

It was about time to get to the only nightclub in town. We arrived at paid an extraordinary entrance fee of no less than 1000 about 2$ and beers 870ml. cost no less than 4$, The place were virtually empty when we arrived but in the next couple of hours the local started to arrive - being very friendly chatting to the strange foreigners. One big surprise of the place where a complete ban of smoking inside - you had to step outside to smoke. I would not have expected an African country to be that progressive on smoking laws but they were.

As time passed on the music were playing out loud and the Africans - were starting to hit the dance floor going absolutely mad out there. We were taken part and watching from the sideline falling asleep which when you think about it is somewhat of an achievement considering the volume of the music - but after getting up at 4 and going gorilla hiking during the day everybody were mentally and physically drain. The party just kept going in the club and suddenly we looked at the watch and each other - it was 10 minutes past 12 - The New Year had come without anything happening. We all which each other happy new year had the rest of our beers and then it was a mutual understanding it was time to get back to the mission and go to bed. Back at the mission we all went straight to bed and it took only seconds before I fell asleep. This was a very different new years eve but perhaps also the most memorable New Year I have ever had - not for the usual parties but for the general experience of the day.

Here is a link to my blog about my travels in rwanda.  The link will take you to the last page (first post) of the trip, and you can click newer to move forward in time.

http://tomicles.com/wordpress/category/travels/rwanda/page/5/

http://pink-lightning.blogspot.com

"...So this time next week I'll be back in Munich. Strange feeling. Just now I started getting to know my way around and speak a couple of words of Kinyarwanda and am totally out of the flow from 'European' life... :-(

Whats my conclusion? what have I learnt? Whats my niew over it all? I could say a zillion things to it all...but here's one thing for starters: Life goes on.

Life goes on. More so here than anywhere I've ever been. I walk down streets and into stores; hotels; houses and restaurants where 12 years ago people were butchered and slaughtered to death. And life goes on. Whereever I go I am surrounded by people who have lost family and friends and seen their parents and children being chopped up with machetes in front of their own eyes. And life goes on. I stood on the border to Congo where a few kilometers further people are still being harassed, attacked, abused, raped and murdered. And life goes on. Everywhere I go there are police, military police and the military armed to the teeth big biiig weapons...and life goes on. The World Food Program, World Health Organisation, the GTZ, DED, BTW, Medecins sans frontiers, advocats sans frontiers, UNICEF, CARE International, World Vision and the Catholic Relief Service (only to name very few) are all here...doing the big business of international aid. And life goes on. Street children sniff glue and ask for money. And life goes on.

This list could go on forever. And guess what: Life Goes On..."

 I was deeply marked by this trip, due to two facts: The genocide in 1994 and the gorillas.

Ok, so we are now visiting ELEVEN countries, because we have just travelled through Uganda into Rwanda, as there are no more Gorillas in the Ugandan forest. This has meant constant travel (3 1/2 days) sitting on the back of the truck (its not a bus!) since Monday morning.

Such long travel tends to cause pain to two main areas of the body:

1) Backside (lots of sitting)

2) Arms (lots of waving at small children in passing villages)

We have been through a variety of "residential areas" from cities and towns to slums and shanty towns. It is an eye-opening experience to see how a major town here can consist of just a few clay / mud buildings with the odd shop here and there. The Africans have everything here - supermarkets, garages, car washes and pubs - but they tend to be made of natural materials (rather than bricks and mortar) and are very small and infrequent.

Due to the truck being "slower than normal", we didn't make our target destination the first night, so had to leave at 0600 on Tuesday morning. This in itself made us see how society operates in this vast continent - even at 0630, before the Sun has even risen, streams of small children are already walking miles to get to school, many of whom have no shoes. The early start (with school finishing at lunchtime) is so that the children can work in the afternoons.

So, three days later, and two border crossings, we arrived in Rwanda to see Mountain Gorillas. We were up at 0500 today (Friday) to make our 0600 transport to the rainforest and, after a briefing by Fidel (our guide), we were trekking by 0815. Apparently there are less than 800 Mountain Gorillas left on the planet, around half of which are in these forests.

We trekked for around 45 minutes (in the company of two armed soldiers and a local porter with a machete), to be greeted by a 10-foot-high 350kg Silverback Gorilla (the Alpha Male of the <insert collective noun for Gorillas here>).

We spend just over one hour with the Gorillas and were able to see a complete family group interacting and moving, from the Alpha Male to a 4-month baby. At one point, we were just 2 feet away from the Silverback, and boy, does he roar!!!

Whilst this was an amazing, never-to-be-forgotten experience, it was tainted with thoughts of how we were imposing on their land. The mothers turned their backs and shielded their young, whilst the males frequently grunted and beat their chests, possibly to show their discomfort at the regular (daily) exposure to, and intrusion by, tourists.

We are now back at our campsite, are waiting for the water to heat up for a well-earned shower, and are eating out in the local town this evening. Tomorrow, we set off back to Uganda and will stop over at Lake Bunyoni, before moving onto Kampala and Jinja, where we have the chance to White Water Raft on the River Nile, along with quad biking or horse riding through local villages.

So, until the next installment, farewell!!!

Ruhengeri is a small town which most travellers stay here just one day before their Gorillas Trekking. Due to this reason, the people here find foreigners like me so interesting. You would feel like being a celebrity with everyone staring and smiling at you.

Kigali Memorial Centre - also known as the Genocide Museum is a must-go. At there, you can understand how this recent tragedy influenced the rwandans.