Gisenyi

We have managed to spend every weekend while I've been here in Gisenyi, by the lake. Had another lovely weekend sitting on the beach in the blazing heat... and sitting at the Presbyterian Guest House in the blazing heat waiting for someone to come and jump-start the car. Yes, it is actually impossible to go anywhere without at least one small catastrophe occuring with the car! This time we had apparently left a very small light on inside the car...and when I went to the receptionist at the Guest House to ask for his help pushing the car, he was able to tell me in French that yes he had seen the light on all night. (Thanks for coming to tell us, mate!) So after three or four running start attempts, we gave up and waited for a mechanic...who was on another job. Then eventually another "mechanic" came to help instead...he turned out to be a bus driver who had removed his bus battery and with the leads (well wires really) that we had in the car, he managed to get us on the road again...and we finally made it down to the beach. It occurred that we are "Wanted" in Gisenyi by quite a few people...and we almost considered fake moustaches in order to move about. There are the motorcycle drivers who weren't happy with the amount of money we gave them, the Batwa (although I don't think they'd be moving round the town) and the big group of UN Indians who insisted on taking their pictures with us last week, and then going swimming with us, trying to help teach Justus (senior) to swim and offering to feed us...and generally not leaving us alone! We were worried about going back to the Serena Hotel where we could sit on the beach, in case they were there again, and at one point a group did turn up but thankfully weren't the same group; we remained relatively undisturbed!

This picture is tea growing - it is one of Rwanda's biggest exports I believe, along with coffee. There are many tea fields around, and we even went past Pfunda Tea Plantation when we did our epic motorbike ride into the hills last week. Of course, the roads are lined with people carrying things on their heads...I still reckon that this is the way forward - we'd all have much better postures and less back problems if we carried things like this in the West. Well, I'm waiting for my ten hand-made shirts to arrive, to be brought back to England for my African workshops. If anyone wants to book me into their school/other institution I'm going to be teaching drumming, songs and dance in real African clothing (if the shirts turn out how I'm hoping!)