#genocidemuseum

After a tough couple of weeks at work we had a much needed fortnight off.  We planned a trip around Uganda, Rwanda & the Congo.  Our friend Sarah joined us from Scotland for the trip, & our fellow volunteers Gordon, Sophie & Lara also joined for part of it, so we had good group of us.

We started in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, where we had a bit of culture shock.  Rwanda in general, & Kigali in particular, is very quiet, clean & organised, which is in stark contrast to the  noise & disorder that we have become accustomed to in Uganda.  Rwanda is also relatively more developed.  These differences were accentuated by the fact we were coming from a rural village to a big city.  From our discussions with Rwandans these differences seam in part due to different characters of the populations of the two nations, with Rwandans naturally being more introverted, whereas the Ugandans are more extroverted, & also the strict state regulation of many aspects of life in Rwanda, which at times seams to be a little extreme.  

While in Kigali we visited the genocide museum, which documents the Rwandan genocide of 1994.  It was very well done, & highly emotional.  It was interesting to learn about the factors that led to the genocide, which shamefully included the population being divided into unnatural groups by Colonialists based wealth & physical characteristics, (these groups included the Hutus & Tutsis, with the Hutus going on to commit genocide against the Tutsis), & then state propaganda brainwashing the Hutus into thinking the Tutsis were their enemy, & a failure of the international community to intervene fast enough.  The brutality of the genocide was shocking.  However, amongst the horror there were heroic stories of people who risked their lives to help others.  The speed with which the Rwandans appear to have moved on from this dark piece of their recent history is impressive.  We also took advantage of being in a modern city, & enjoyed frequenting various cafes, restaurants & bars. The boys even got a haircut from a hairdresser trained in cutting, ‘muzungu’ hair, after which they looked very smart.

After Rwanda we ventured into to the big, bad Congo.  The UK home office advice regarding British nationals visiting the Congo at the time of our visit was, “avoid all but essential travel”; this is mainly due to violence from rebel groups.  We figured our holiday was pretty essential travel!  The day we left the Congo we learnt that 14 UN peacekeepers had been killed by rebels in the neighbouring province to where we had been, which just shows how real the threat is.  Our introduction to the Congo was me being told my yellow fever certificate was invalid (it’s valid), & having to pay $70 for an unnecessary yellow fever vaccination from a fierce looking Congolese lady, who didn’t speak any English.  The Congo had a very different feel.  The noise & chaos of Uganda returned, but with a very strong Congolese army & UN peacekeeper presence.  There were also a strong presence of aid agencies, like MSF & The Red Cross. 

On the first day we climbed the Nyiragongo volcano.  As we made the 3700 metre ascent, we passed through various different vegetation zones, & had to negotiate several walls of volcanic scree.  At the top not only were there magnificent views of the surrounding area, but also the world’s largest lava lake, which was 200 metres in diameter, sat within a large crater.  We spent the night at the top watching the lava lake as it’s black crust cracked revealing red hot lava, that bubbled away, omitting a red glow into the sky.  We were mesmerised by the constantly changing lava lake, & we found ourselves watching it as if it were a television, commenting to each other, “look what the lava’s doing at 3 o’clock”.   We could feel the warmth from it.  We got creative with our photography, taking photos of the lava lake, & of our silhouettes against the red glow.  It was a magical experience.  We slept up the top before making the descent the following day.  

The volcano last erupted in 2002, destroying the Congolese city of Goma that sits below it.  The city is still being rebuilt, a process which is hampered by the hard lava rock that it is now set upon, which is very difficult to penetrate, meaning that they have been unable to restore a water supply to the city.  Once down the volcano we went on a fascinating tour of Goma.  The city has a very distinctive look; it is covered with rocks of black lava that are used to build many of the houses, & there is a distinct lack of greenery as the ground is very infertile due to the lava.  

The next day we went gorilla trekking.  Gorilla trekking is expensive business, costing a whopping $1600 in Rwanda.  However, due to the safety issues in the Congo, when it’s half price in the rainy season (which just happened to be when we were visiting), it costs a bargain of just $200.   On the way to gorilla trekking our vehicle broke down after driving into one of the many potholes in the Congolese roads.  When we finally reached our destination we were told we were going to trek to see the Nyakamwe group of 12 gorillas.  We trekked for almost two hours through rural Congolese villages before we entered the rainforest of the Virunga National Park. The gorillas had been tracked by rangers earlier that day so they had a rough idea where they would be.  We had to put protective masks on as we entered the rainforest to prevent diseases being transmitted between humans & gorillas, because we are so similar.  Within five minutes of entering the dense rainforest we stumbled across a silverback casually lying on his back on the rainforest floor.  Once we’d got over the initial shock, & we looked around we realised he was surrounded by his group.  We got to spend strictly one hour with them.  In the group there were two rival silverbacks (we learnt that all mature males are silverbacks, but there is only one chief per group, who is the boss & he alone gets to mate with all the females in the group), who seamed wary of each other.  There were some very cute babies who enjoyed play fighting & climbing trees, whilst an elderly female looked on at them disapprovingly.  And there were some moody teenagers who sulked alone at the edge of the group.  We stood in amongst them, just metres from them.  We got to experience all areas of gorilla life including lots of flatulence, & even one doing a great big poo.  The gorillas have been habituated, which means they have become used to human contact, & they appeared to be oblivious to us, however, I do wonder what they make of these strange humans who stare, & point little black boxes (cameras) at them.  They were fascinating to watch, & the hour flew by; they are enormous, with the largest silverback weighing an impressive 220kg, & they are remarkably human like, particularly their faces, & their hands & feet.

Then we returned to our second home, Uganda.  Robert had organised for us to stay in a fancy resort with rooms on stilts overlooking the beautiful Lake Mutanda for my 30th birthday, which was a lovely surprise.  Continuing the volcano theme we spent my birthday climbing the dormant volcano Mount Sabyinio, which has three peaks, the highest of which is 3700 metres, & at it’s peak, the borders of Uganda, Rwanda & The Congo intercept, so you can stand in all three countries at once.  Again we passed through various different vegetation zones, including a bamboo forest, rainforest & moss draped trees.  The climb was very steep, & so they had developed a novel method of assisting our climb, by placing a series of rickety wooden ladders along the route, made from trees from the forest covering the volcano.  As we traversed the ridge between the peaks the climb was at it’s steepest, with a sheer drop either side -it’s not a climb for those without a head for heights.  We got magnificent views of all three countries from the first two peaks, unfortunately the cloud had descended before we reached the third peak, but it did make it very atmospheric.  And soon after the heavens opened, as we negotiated climbing down the mud & slippery wooden ladders.  It was only near the end that our guide told us that the success rate for reaching the highest peak is only around 50%, which added to our sense of achievement.  After our climb we returned to our hotel to enjoy a celebratory dinner & drinks, with a surprise birthday cake, & everyone in the hotel singing happy birthday to me, which was lovely.

We stopped off in Kisiizi for a night in order to let Sarah see where we have been living & working.  And my lovely new Kisiizi friends threw me a surprise birthday celebration; they created a magical wonderland of fairy lights, balloons & flowers, where we enjoyed a delicious Indian meal courtesy of Krupa.

We then travelled to The Mburo National Park, where we stayed in tents overlooking it’s beautiful savanna.  We rose bright & early in the morning to do a walking safari, on which we saw lots of zebra, impalas & water bucks, as well as a wide variety of birds.  Walking safaris are relatively unusual, & we think are only possible in this National Park due to the relatively low number of potential predators, there’s only 1 lonely lion & 20 very shy leopards, (there were previously more, but they were unpopular with locals as they preyed on their livestock, & so were poisoned by some).  The walking safari was nice as you felt that they you were right in amongst the animals.  We then did a bit of an unintentional boda-boda safari, as we travelled by boda-boda across the park to the lake for a boat safari, & saw lots of baboons & water hogs on our way.  On our boat safari we then saw lots of hippos, & lots more varieties of birds, & some baby crocodiles, & a large one from the distance, who unfortunately got shy & hid whenever we got close.

We then travelled to Jinja by matatu.  Matatu’s are public mini-buses that are very cheap, they generally cost about 50p for an hour of travel, & are licensed to 14 carry passengers, but will regularly carry 25, so you have to get up close & personal with your fellow passengers, who can include livestock, so you might find yourself sat next to a goat, or a chicken.  We regularly use matatus, & they are great for short journeys, but this journey was very painful.  First we were shoved into an already full Matatu with all of our luggage on top of us (we’re not light packers), & so we were unable to move an inch, below the weight of our heavy bags, & we’d pissed off our fellow passengers who had the inconvenience of sitting next to our luggage.  The matatu itself was swelteringly hot, & smelt strongly of body odour & vomit.  We left Kampala in the crazy rush hour traffic, which involves waiting in a lot of chaotic queues of very inpatient drivers.  The journey which is only 50 km, took us over 3 painful hours, & the only reason it was that fast was due to the efforts of our kamikaze driver, who thought nothing of driving on the wrong side of the road into oncoming traffic, or mounting a pavement with pedestrians on it.  It’s safe to say we were relieved to reach Jinja.

The following day Sarah & I went white water rafting in the rapids of the Nile, while Robert tandom kayaked with a guide.  Robert spent five days kayaking the Nile seven years ago when he was in Uganda on his elective.  We made our way down through seven rapids of up to grade 5 (grade 6 is the highest), (& we walked round an eighth as it was a grade 6 rapid, & no one has ever made it down in a raft without capsizing), with our 2 American companions, & our Scottish guide, who seamed a bit jaded by living in Uganda long term, while Robert & his guide kayaked down alongside us.  We had great fun battling the rapids, & managed to keep our raft the right way up until the final rapid, when the Nile got the better of us, & we capsized.

At the end of the stretch of Nile that we rafted/ kayaked down, lay an island paradise, which was to be our home for the next couple of days.  It’s a hostel situated on a small island in the middle of the Nile.  It has a lovely hippyish vibe, with lots of little corners to chill out in, & is a hangout for lots of keen kayakers.  We chilled out during the day reading, going for walks, doing yoga & swimming in the Nile, & then hung out in the hostel bar with  all the kayakers in the evening, playing games like the cereal box game (you have pick up the cereal box of decreasing size with your mouth, & without your hands touching the ground), & climbing around tables & chairs (the aim is to climb around a table without touching the ground, & to pick up a lighter from the ground with your mouth, whilst on chairs of increasing size, without touching the ground), which we played with variable success!

We finished our trip in Kampala.  We stayed in a backpacker hostel, something which we haven’t come across much when travelling around Sub-Saharan Africa.  We took advantage of being in a backpacker hostel, & headed out for a night out in Kampala with some of our fellow backpackers.  It had been a while since we’d had a good night out as the nightlife is somewhat lacking in Kisiizi.  Kampala is famous for being a good night out, & is apparently known as, “the city that never sleeps”.  The night started with playing drinking games on the hostel roof terrace overlooking the lights of Kampala, before we headed out to some bars & clubs.  At one point during the night Sarah & I innocently ventured onto the dance floor, & instantly found ourselves surrounded by men as if they were preying on some fresh meat, however thankfully they took our refusals graciously.  And as is the case in many cities throughout the world, the place with the best atmosphere we came across was an Irish pub, that, in an interesting fusion of cultures, sold shisha alongside the usual Guinness.  On Sarah’s last day we headed to a craft market so that she could buy some souvenirs to take home; I was in my element in the market, & I just couldn’t help myself, & ended up getting quite a few pieces of Ugandan clothes & jewellery for myself.  And then it came time to say a sad farewell to our lovely travel partner, Sarah, & for us to make the long journey back to Kisiizi to restart work.