Tragedy

As my days are running out, we decided it would be nice to spend one more day in Gisenyi swimming in the lake. We got corn on the way to keep us going - so much tastier in this country... I'm going to attempt to barbecue some when I get home and see if I can recreate it!

Unfortunately when we arrived at the lake one of the beaches was roped off and we started to suspect that something wasn't quite right. When we got to Serena hotel we were told that we weren't allowed to swim in the lake because a boat travelling from the Congo had sunk and they were looking for bodies which were being washed up everywhere. I looked it up and a passenger boat, must likely overfilled so it could take more money from people, and not in a good state of repair had gone down in Lake Kivu (you can see the border from the beach we were on.) Tragically there were over hundred bodies missing - only 37 were rescued... I imagine these were the only ones who could swim, or who maybe found something to cling to - so few people here have learnt to swim, even the ones who live by a lake.

So suddenly we were looking at the view that was so beautiful last week imagining bodies being washed up on the beach, and feeling very sad for all the families that went down, and we decided we didn't really want to say there. We all fell asleep by the pool at the hotel for a while, and then went down the road to get a fresh fish for lunch.

Things change in twelve years. Twelve years ago I distinctly remember a fish arriving with its head and tail on and Pam having hysterics, hardly eating a mouthful and then sloping off to the car for a Mars bar. This time she tucked in, picked the fish off the bone, and even had a conversation with the head of the fish. We ate a whole two plates of this between 3 of us, just using our hands. It was delicious, though I found out today, may not have actually been caught in lake Kivu - many are imported!

As we hadn't had a swim in the lake, we went to Hotel Fatima when we got home, and actually it was an incredible experience, because we happened to be swimming at the same time that a flock of swifts were having their evening bathe! They kept swooping down and skimming their bodies along the surface of the water  and then sitting on a wire and fluffing the water through their feathers! It was like being in a 4-D David Attenborough documentary as they swooped towards your head, then veered off just before they hit you! It cheered us up a bit after the emotional morning.

Golden monkeys!!

What an amazing day!!  Since the volcanoes national park now charges $1500 to see the gorillas (!!) and I saw them in 2007 at a much much lower price, I decided that it was about time I saw some monkeys...and the price was a LOT more affordable...I suspect we had a bigger group than the people gorilla trekking, as many tourists have now been priced out of the market.  As per usual in Africa, buying the tickets could not have been more complicated.  We went up to the booking office in Kinigi yesterday, to buy the tickets and the man at the counter said, "You don't need to buy them today, go and have a think about your itinerary, talk to your family, see what you think, see what you want to do....(you get the idea) and buy them tomorrow morning."  He said they took card payments... what could possibly go wrong?  Justus and I arrived at 7am to a queue of people waiting to pay. At 7.10am the power went off and only cash payments could be taken.  "No problem" we were told, "go and get a cup of tea while you wait." Finally the power came back on, but they could only process one card payment at a time.  And it took AGES for the machine to reset after the power cut. Somehow I ended up at the back of the line, having done what I was told and gone to get a drink...when it finally came to my turn, it transpired that the lady was just inputting my card details into the website, which I could have done myself from the comfort of my bed.  When it came to pay, Nationwide sent me a text with a confirmation number, to prove it was me.  I didn't get the text.  On asking if I could perhaps leave them with my card and driving license and sort out when I returned from the trip, rather than keep everyone waiting, I was told that I should go to the "local" ATM 2km down the very slow, potholed road, but that they would keep a tour guide back to show us where to go when the group left without us!  Off we went.   After I had paid cash, of course, the vital text message had arrived! I ended up paying a lot more because of the exchange rate, but by this point I just wanted to see some monkeys.  We hiked at speed up a steep, muddy hill, with a wooden stick to assist, to catch up with the others - we are at quite an altitude here, so although the climb wasn't that bad, I was out of breath, just because the air is thinner.

I don't know how long they had to wait, but nobody tried to murder us on arrival so it perhaps wasn't too long.  We did move pretty fast.  We continued up towards the national park (pretty sure I saw some kind of eagle on the way), and left our extra bags/coats etc just outside the forest, then walked into the thick bamboo.  It wasn't very long before we found the monkeys, and suddenly all the stresses of the morning were forgotten about!

The amazing thing was that we were only a group of about 8, along with rangers and tour guides, and we were told when we got there that we could pretty much go anywhere we wanted as long as we kept an eye on the guides so that we didn't get lost and "run into a buffalo" (I kind of wished I had run into a buffalo...or an elephant, but neither come as close to the edge of the park as we were, sadly!)  So, you could walk away from the group, and feel like you were just by yourself with the monkeys - they were an amazing range of colours and sizes, and the speed that they can swing through the trees is incredible.  I've got lots more photos, but the internet is playing up a bit today, so you've just got me "Dianne Fossey/David Attenborough" style for now!

It was so special being so close to these monkeys, watching them grubbing around in the ground looking for shoots and insects, and leaping through the trees.  There were probably about 30-40 around us - they have about 180 altogether in the Volanoes National Park, but this was one cohort.  Each group is lead by a female, interestingly enough, but we were lucky that it is mating season because it means they all hang out together.  After they have mated they can be more solitary, especially the males.  It is the females that stay together in their group for life, hence a female leader.  This is the opposite from the gorillas who have an alpha male in charge of each family.

We hiked back down, with more amazing views of the five volcanoes, delivered two rangers back to Kinigi and decided NOT to stop at the cafe where we ate a highly suspect sambosa the previous day.  I was expecting it to be vegetable....and it was more like the inside of a haggis...God knows what kind of meat I was eating...and thanks goodness Justus had the one that had gone-off, because I didn't know what to expect so would probably not have noticed that it tasted strange as he did!  Felt slightly sick for the rest of the evening....wondering if either of us would spew!  Neither of us did...but that is the last time I'm opting for savoury over sweet!  Should have just stuck to African tea!!!

Still, sambosas and dodgy card payments aside, I spent a wonderful hour with the monkeys - something I'll never forget...worth every penny!

Sunday

On Sunday I really felt like a day in bed...but unfortunately I was headlining at Francis' church.  I had agreed to sing one song with the choir - it had verses in three different languages - everybody joined in the Swahili and the Kinyarwanda verses, and not quite so many the English verse.  I was surprisingly nervous, in the rehearsal the day before (which I thought would take 5mins, not involve me standing at the front failing to sing along to another 8 songs in Kinyarwanda awkwardly prancing about for an hour and a half!) it hadn't been brilliant - mainly because in Rwanda you don't sing in a certain key - either the singers start and the keyboard finds them...interesting to hear...or the keyboard starts (in my case) and plays it really low!!

Pam was faffing in the morning (a particular skill she has) as we had the pastor and his family coming for dinner and there was coleslaw to be made...so we were late, and I wondered if we'd missed the singing altogether, but luckily (sadly?) not!  Fortunately they had changed things around a bit so that my song was first, and I was able to slope off back to my chair after the 20mins of dancing that proceeded it...I think even they could see that whilst I don't mind a bit of dancing, I was a bit uncomfortable standing with them at the front through all the songs I didn't know!  No-one wants an uncomfortable-looking Muzungu cluttering up the place!  I actually really enjoyed it, to my surprise, and just decided to dance like no-one was watching...whilst every pair of eyes in the church were in fact watching!!

The rest of the service was really hard work.  I hate it when everybody prays out loud in kinyarwanda, half of them down microphones, and the cocophony of sound is overwhelming and people get worked up, and distressed and its like a scene from a disaster movie... Especially with thunder and lightning in the background... Honestly the biggest crash of thunder I have ever heard!

Then when the cocophony ended, Pastor Francis began his sermon. 25 mins in he said, 'this is not actually my sermon, I haven't started it yet!' Then he began the sermon and talked for another hour - I had to read 4 bible passages to the congregation in English (thank goodness Pam was able to find them quickly for me)... And every time I started to lose concentration I was addressed by name to hammer home a point about hell or asked a question like 'how does the queen celebrate her birthday in England?'

Nearly 4 hours we were there. 4 hours!!!!! I daren't tell you what I was praying for! I got the giggles at one point too, but I managed to bury my head in my hands and pretend I was praying. He asked Pam to lay hands on all the sick... she thought there was only the one person who had sidled up at the beginning... so she shut her eyes and spent ages praying for this one woman... When she finally opened her eyes the rest of the congregation was standing at the front waiting for her heeling hands...the look she gave me was hysterical.  Apparently they will get testimonies next week to see if anyone is feeling better... I want to know how many ask for a refund!

We came home and dashed around getting ready to host the pastor, his wife and their 4 children, which was fun.  We had goat brochettes that we ordered from the local bar (see photo) and Pam made chips...in vast quantites!  I did an Easter egg hunt with the kids as I had brought some little easter eggs from UK.  They don't have any Easter traditions here, so were a bit bemused by the chocolate eggs, let alone having to find them all round the garden!  They got the hang of it though!  At the end, the littlest one was collecting bottle tops and when his mother asked him why, he said he was taking them home so that he could hide them around the garden and play the game again!!!! Sweet!

Then just when we thought they were leaving, there was a sermon of thanks, followed by prayers... then he burst into song and three songs later finally tailed off.  I love him dearly, but I was so ready to sleep by this point!  The nerves and trauma of the morning had taken their toll, and I went to bed very early!

Lake Burera

From one lake to another... This one closer to Ruhengeri, but much more off the beaten track! As you can see we had a car full... There are 9 people in this car - Francis, Jennifer and their 4 children, Pam, Justus and me! Francis and Co used to live in Uganda, near lake Victoria, but since they have lived in Rwanda they have not been to the lake as it is so far!  They were so thrilled to have seen it. I think the youngest son, Simeon, has never seen such a vast expanse of water! Everyone was very excited to go for a paddle!

We had to drive down a very steep, rocky, grassy track to get access to the water... (remember this for later in the story!)  and there appeared to be a guest house down by the lake, but it looked deserted...I can't imagine how anyone would ever get to it!

We had bought chapatis and bottles of juice for everyone, so we perched on the wall of a building and ate those  - it was so deserted that we didn't even build up a crowd of people, as usually happens if a Muzungu stands still for more than 2mins!  I watched some bright yellow weaver birds building nests in the reeds, unfortunately, I couldn't really get close enough to get a decent photo...I tried, but once I had climbed down the slope into situ, the birds decided they weren't brave enough to continue building with me there!


We also climbed up a hill to see a shack that Nathan owns...he was going to set it up as a bar and grill, but as with so many of his projects, it never came to be.  It is now a deserted building with a guard living in it.  But from the top of the hill, there were amazing views over the lake.  I got into trouble for taking this photo, as the boats out of shot have been confiscated by the police, from fishermen without permits.  The ones on the beach are used by the people with permits.  I was slightly sad to see there was nobody fishing.  Ten years ago there were young boys with home-made fishing rods and boats carved out of tree trunks...but no longer.

There were some amazing views of Muhabura volcano from this area, and the red soil made everything look beautiful.  We have limited amount of data here - Pam has a GB a day and you just get cut off when you've used it up, so I'm not going to post any more photos, but I will happily show anyone who is interested when I get home!

And finally...the drama I hinted at earlier: we started the steep descent back up the hill, and with all those people in the car and the steep uneven ground, the car got stuck!  We all got out, but still one of the wheels continued to spin, and we were near an edge so going backwards was difficult.  We attempted to put a mat under the tyre, that didn't work....we attempted 2nd gear, that didn't work...we attempted to push, that didn't work.  In the end, Pam got behind the wheel and in a heroic feat of skill, she managed to get the car to go backwards enough that it got off the rocky ground and could be rolled back substantially that a she could take a run up at the rocky mound and get over it!  I was well impressed!  We walked up the hill, so as not to add any weight to the car.  It didn't seem to suffer too much, apart from a cover underneath which Justus had to detach as it was trailing on the bottom!  So far we have noticed no other ill effects, though I imagine the bottom looks a bit battered....  The fun of driving in Africa!

Classic Lodge

It's exhausting lying on a sun lounger on an empty beach looking at this view and swimming in the lake (Btw for those of you who know him the silhouette is Justus!)

So on Thursday we went to Classic Lodge, 15mins from home, which has been recently built (possibly on the site of the 'special place' that Nathan took us to in 2007 - see earlier in blog if interested!) and spent the morning lying looking at this instead.

We had the place to ourselves, and it costs £3 to swim in the pool. It's pretty spectacular swimming with the mountains in the background! I'm being flippant about the swimming and relaxing but actually this is the first time I've come out to Rwanda purely to have a holiday. And Pam has not been very well recently, so this is very much about relaxing rather than volunteer working which I've done in the past. We had a lovely quiet time, and another muzungu friend of Pam's joined us as well. Jane has been living here for 8 years with Isaac, her Rwandan partner. 

In the afternoon we acquired some mix for Rwandan porridge - eight different types of grain - mixed with water and milk. Millet, maize, rice, white sorghum, red sorghum  sosoma, wheat and soya! It wasn't quite how I remembered Jackie making it for us (Tubakunde house girl) twelve years ago  but she probably didn't have quite as many grains! Was delicious though, and I'm sitting on the veranda, in the early morning sun  while everyone else sleeps, getting hungry thinking about it. Time to go and see if I can do as good a job as Justus did making it yesterday!!

Additional: since writing the above I spent a good half an hour making Rwandan porridge. Delighted with my results I then discovered I had made it with gone off milk! I've resorted to toast and marmalade .. How very British!

Lake Kivu

Ah... Gisenyi.

Another amazing memory from ten years ago. Every time I think I've had the best day, I have another! Lake Kivu is about an hour from Ruhengeri where we live. The roads are much better than they were ten years ago... No potholes now... Though a lot more traffic. Sadly, walking along the main roads there is a strong smell of petrol fumes now that I didn't notice last time I was here.

Anyway, back to Gisenyi. Is there a better feeling than swimming in a lake, with birds of prey flapping overhead, fighting with the crows (which look like giant magpies)? Perhaps only when a black and white kingfisher flies over and perches on a stick in the water so you can swim up to it!

We went to Gisenyi overnight to make the most of it - part of the plan these two weeks is for Pam to relax and have a proper break... And lying on sunloungers by the lake seems to be doing the trick! We stayed overnight in a Presbyterian guest house... £5 per night. It even came with a mosquito net over the bed! Though it unfortunately didn't stop one little blighter from whining in my ear all night (and I'm not talking about Pam!) It didn't bite me because I had anti - mosi spray on, so it munched on Pam instead.

There was a long power cut when we arrived and the water was off too, so I suggested we play the game that Tracy and I invented for playing during power cuts. It really is an inspired game. It's called 'dying farmyard animal impressions' - one person does the impression and the other guesses what the animal is and what it died of! Pam declined to join in. Though she induced hysterics when she was singing along with her headphones in, later, and it took me about 15 mins to manage to say 'I thought you didn't want to play my game...' I genuinely don't know if it's the affect of Rwanda, or the affect of Pam or simply being on holiday, but I have not laughed till I cried for a loooong time!

The landscape definitely helps! Serena hotel charge a lot for you to sit on their beach, and use their loungers and swim in the lake, but it was worth 10,000 francs to spend the day there.

We visited Justus' aunt before we left Gisenyi and had a chat with Justus translating...with me throwing in the odd word of kinyarwanda every now and again which always seems to cause amusement!

I'll leave you with this kite...

Moto!

Yesterday I had the most exhilarating morning! I walked from the house by myself taking photos for about 40 mins. Some photos are of a covert nature but others I asked permission - this lady offered me her baby to photograph

And I asked the lady behind these two children as she was shelling an interesting looking vegetable .. However, she thought I wanted her children so lined them up for me. Nobody smiles for photos here...even in their wedding days! They smiled when I gave them 100 francs, the equivalent of 10p!

I also found some little nooks and crannies that I love the look of but daren't go closer so took from the roadside. I was concerned that my pocket of loose change would not be enough to offer!

 

I continued walking towards the volcanoes, not entirely sure that I knew my way back... Then an idea struck me. I knew we lived near Regina Pacis Primary school, so all I had to do was find one of these... 

... Get on the back and moto my way home in about 5 mins for the equivalent of 30p! I actually gave him 50p... I was completely exhilarated by the ride! 

In the time I'd been on my adventure Pam had sorted out a jewellery drawer and was still in her nightie...

Pastor Francis

This morning we went to church - not the cathedral that we used to frequent when I was here before, which was full of bishops and ceremony, but a smaller church that Pastor Francis has established called Eden Church.  A quick recap - 12 years ago Francis was a teacher at Sonrise school where Tracy was volunteering for 6 months.  He was beginning to lose his sight and approached Tracy for help.  He needed an operation to replace both corneas or he would go blind, so without a second thought Tracy offered to raise the money for this operation.  We did concerts and the band I was in at the time did a fundraising gig, and we raised £1000 to send over for Francis to have the operation.  This was so long ago, and seemed such a small thing, that I had really forgotten all about it, but I found out this morning just how much it has changed Francis' life and how grateful he and his wife to us for saving his sight.  I was truly overwhelmed by how such a small act from the other side of the world, has literally changed his life.

We went to church and Pastor Francis was preaching.  The congregation is small but there is an English service at 8am...we got there after 8.30am but it hadn't started. The sound system was soooo loud, my right ear is still hurting and we were invited to sit on the front row!

He called me up to the front, and thanked me in front of everyone - I wish Tracy had been there, as it was really her venutre - I didn't even know him at the time - though I have come to know him well since.  Until today I had no idea what he was going through, how he had not told his wife his was going blind, how he feared he would lose all his work, how much the operation has meant to him, and how he talks about it in his sermons regularly. 

Then he invited me to talk to the congregation and I sang amazing grace, met his wife for the first time, and she sang with me.

He spoke a lot about his journey to regain his sight, and prayed for Tracy, Pam and me, and I was in tears by the end, but hiding it like a good Rwandan!!!  I was just so moved that such a small act, such a long time ago, is still experienced as life-changing.  In some ways I don't really feel that I deserved this mass of recognition as it was Tracy's project that I supported, and I had almost forgotten about it.  I was glad I could at least sing to contribute something to the moment so I wasn't just standing at the front being applauded!  I think this means I'm singing again on Easter Sunday...but I have a week to train Pam up so she can join me at the front!!!!  I know one song in Kinyarwanda - that will have to do!

We went to Francis' house in the evening and they cooked a wonderful Rwandan meal for us - matoki (savoury banana), groundnut sauce, meat in sauce, rice and pasta and avocado.  Once again I wished Tracy was with us when I was quizzed on my opinions on Brexit and Donald Trump!!!  They find his Mexican wall a great source of amusement, and Brexit is a topic they wanted to try to understand... to be honest I told them I was as confused by the concept as they were... it makes no sense to Africans.  It makes no sense to me!

The evening ended with more prayer.  I think I have prayed more today than I have in the last year... it's exhausting stuff!  One of Francis' children was asked to contribute and she was thankful that "Emma is so funny, and has good laugher...."  !!!  Clearly my serious conversations on Brexit had not made a lasting impression....  There was a reason they called me "Munezero" (joy) when I was here before.

Ruhengeri

Ruhengeri... or Musanze as it is now called has changed so much in the last ten years.  I barely recognise the main street - so many more buildings, shops, people, motos, traffic...its almost like I remember Kigali (the capital) being 10 years ago.  I dread to think how busy Kigali now is, no doubt I'll find out at some point!  The market is the only thing that has stayed the same... I tried to take some covert photos yesterday when Justus and I went shopping.  There was a power cut so it was completely dark inside the middle of the market, but I got some photos on the periphery.  I just love the vibrant colour of the fruit and vegetables, not to mentiont the taste.  Avocados and tomatoes are so good here.  And I have found I can eat the little, slightly bigger than finger-length bananas here which is brilliant! I find English bananas difficult to digest, but these ones are part of my staple diet!

Pam's house

This is Pam's house from the front.  After breakfast I was too excited to wait for everyone to get dressed and ready, so I went for a wander around the local area.  Theoretically I aimed to walk in a square, and thus not get lost.  Those of you who know me well will be suspecting you know the end of this story... but wait!  

Here are some photos of my little trip out:

You can see it was still cloudy, but the sun is coming and going.  The rainy season started literally a few days before I arrived, so we are dodging the rain somewhat, but I can tell you that whenever it is sunny I am outside!!



I found what I thought was Tubakunde House...luckily I didn't hang around too long trying to look in the window, as I found out later I had misjudged it by one, and was looking at the house next door!!  I am planning to go back soon and find Kazu - he has been the guard ever since 2007 when I was first here, and althought he spoke no English beyond "Hello Emma" we somehow found plenty of ways to communicate, and he taught me lots of Kinyarwandan by pointing at things and repeating the word slowly for me!

OK, ok... the end of the story. I did get lost.  I was just thinking that it would have been sensible to have noted the name of the school opposite Pam's house, and possibly even her address in case of emergency, but I had done neither of those things.  I was about to get my phone out and attempt to explain to Pam where I was (those of you who have followed this story from the beginning will know that she is deaf, and really needs to be able to lip read to understand easily...so a phone description from me telling her I didn't know where I was would not have been the most straight-forward thing!!!)  Just as I was about to dial, I found myself back at the house!  Haha...the magic of Africa.

A veranda in Rwanda

I was so incredibly excited to wake up on Saturday morning... More so even than Christmas morning! It was early - about 6am England time but I couldn't stay in bed any longer, I wanted to see Rwanda!! Of course it was dark when I got off the plane, so I saw very little out of the car window, and although we sat on the veranda for half an hour when we got home, it was pitch black but for the lights from our phones as Pam and I caught up on the last ten years of change in Ruhengeri.

The question I suppose you're asking is why did we sit on the veranda in the pitch black being nibbled by mosquitoes at 11.30pm when I was up at 3am. And it's a good question. We arrived home to find that Pam's house girl had locked the door with a random padlock and hidden the key as requested under a wooden plank. Much searching under said concrete block heralded no key, the house girl wasn't answering her phone so Justus (Pam's Rwandan 'son') and Gregory, the guard, went off in the car to find where she lived...she had moved recently so this was also not simple! Anyway, they woke her up to discover that she had buried the key in some soil, under said wooden plank. You would never know that the house had a double locked gates, 4 high walls round it and a guard... I think under the doormat might have worked just as well...

So... From the veranda in Rwanda at night, to the veranda in Rwanda by day... I have been looking forward to having breakfast in the sun on his veranda since Pam told me about it 3 years ago...and it didn't disappoint! (though with it being the rainy season there wasn't much sun.) I'm very excited by the array of birds including kites which just mosey about with the frequency of English pigeons.  If you're interested, these are the kind of things http://wildlifewoods.net/blog/2017/3/17/birds-of-kigali   (the variable sunbird on this list is a thing of absolute beauty... I thought it was a hummingbird as it was drinking nectar but apparently you only get hummingbirds in the Americas.  My plan is to camp out in the garden every morning until they get used to me and come close!

And in the front garden, I found these...

                

Travelling alone

One of the nice things about travelling alone are the people you meet; those who might want a chat because they are also travelling alone. A few minutes, or a few hours spent with people you know you will most likely never see again can seem pointless, but on the other hand it is about connecting with humanity and doing it gives you a sense of belonging to a race of friendly supportive people, something I think we can lose sight of in the current political climate.

From the woman with a husband and two young children on her way to Thailand, who envied my travelling alone, to the 17 year old travelling alone for the first time to America, who I befriended so that when she left her mother she had someone to talk to, to the Ugandan lady I sat next to on the plane who now lives in London and is visiting her family for the first time in 3 years. I only found out their names as we parted, but it doesn't matter, the stories we shared and the connections we made were valuable even if we never see each other again. Three very different lives all continuing unaware of the others.

I find myself wondering if they got where they were going. Particularly the Ugandan who travelled for 10 hours yesterday when the plane turned round half way and she ended up back in Brussels as they were denied entrance into the airspace poverty the Sudan. Today we are going round this airspace so the journey is a little longer than predicted... But nothing compared to what she went through yesterday! I am writing this in the air, and I don't want to jinx it, but so far my journey has been way more easy than hers!

Brussels

I'm now in Brussels... Only an hour till the next flight leaves. Surrounded by Africans, I feel like I'm going to my spritual home ... Pretty sure I am an African born into the wrong skin!

I really wanted to jump out of the window and land in those fluffy clouds... They really looked like you could romp through them. I didn't.

Beginning to feel like I've been up since 3am which is hardly surprising. Got a few mins sleep on the last leg, but the next one lasts 8 and a half hours (I think .. Haven't quite worked out the time difference!) so there must be some sleep age soon. Wondering how many meals they give us too....