It is impossible to do justice to a country like Rwanda through words or even photographs. Compared with actually being there and experiencing it first hand in full 3D technicolour, everything else I can say or show you pails into two dimensional black and white. I am sure something changed inside me whilst we were there, some fundamental shift in my view of the world and our place in it, and I can only ascribe that change to being surrounded by such incredible beauty
From our hotel campsite in Butare we drove the wonderful, twisty roads to the Nyungwe National Park, deep in the rain forest
As we neared the ranger station we started to see a few armed military along the roadside. At first we wondered whether it was the anti-poaching patrol but there were far too many of them. When we finally arrived at the national park headquarters we asked what it was all about and were told that there were concerns about trouble in Burundi and the army was there to keep the border safe and secure.
The ranger we were talking to didn´t seem at all concerned and when I asked him whether there was ever any trouble around here he just laughed and said ´Ma´am I´m a civilian, I wouldn´t be anywhere near this place if there were ever any trouble´!
We were 2,500m up in the forests of the high mountains and it was very chilly. There were two main things to do here – a canopy walk and a trek to see the chimpanzees. We decided we were only going to be visiting once so bit the bullet and booked in to do both at the eye-watering cost of over $600!
It was a long trek through the forest to get to the canopy walk
We were thrilled to see a very friendly black and white colobus monkey on the way
When we finally arrived at the canopy walk itself – actually a suspension bridge over the rain forest – I looked over to the other side surprised and a little daunted at the length of it
And when we started walking over I realised that this was not going to be a piece of cake! The bridge swung and swayed under us, the footboard swinging left and right at a precarious angle so my feet seemed ready to slip off at any moment
When the couple we were sharing our guide with stepped on and started walking behind us the swaying got even more extreme.
I clung on to the ropes either side of me and concentrated hard on the footboard beneath, almost unable to even look around me at the stunning views.
My camera hung uselessly around my shoulder. At one point our guide shouted over to me ´you can take some good photos from there´ – but it wasn’t going to happen, my hands weren´t letting go of the ropes any time soon!
By the time we got to the end my knees were rather wobbly but our guide smiled broadly and said we were brilliant – apparently a large number of people never get further than the first few steps before running back to the safety of the ladder and back down to the ground!
After the long walk back we settled into the national park campsite for the evening where we were greeted by another black and white monkey just as friendly as the one in the forest. Although this one, I think, was more interested in what we were cooking for dinner!
We were up at 4:30am the next morning, ready and waiting at the forest headquarters to meet our chimpanzee guide at 5:30am
The three of us drove in Henry for 40 minutes, the guide in the front with me and James curled up in the back. But the recent rains had caused extensive damage to the dirt road as well as landslides and we were forced to park up at the top of the mountain and walk the rest of the long, steep, winding roads to the edge of the forest
Walking through the village was great fun with the kids on their way to school skipping alongside us chatting. After nearly 2 hours of downhill march we were exhausted but eventually the forest appeared and with it our first fleeting glimpse of a chimpanzee. It was unusual to see one so close to the village, apparently he had overslept and was hurrying to catch up with the rest of his family.
The whole thing was very professional and well organised. We were met at the forest edge by a tracker who updated our guide on sitings of the main group and took us into the forest to meet his colleagues.
We pushed our way through the vegetation for about 45 minutes, slipping and sliding up and down the muddy trails
And eventually met up with three or four other trackers who pushed us forwards to a group of trees and pointed excitedly up into the branches.
There we saw two females and a baby high up in the canopy. It was a little disappointing as they were a long way off, it was hard to see them with our eyes never mind capture anything on camera.
But we were then guided a few more meters along the path where the main group were feeding. With large males around and no young babies these chimpanzees were far less nervous of us.
We watched in awe as the various members of the group swung across the branches and did acrobatics to grab the best leaves
Eventually some of them came down lower
One in particular came all the way down and sat on the path looking around
This male looked like he was shy and trying to hide from the visitors but in fact he was just trying to fall asleep
We were allowed an hour with them and it was an experience like nothing else
These animals are so human in their expressions and behaviour and so clearly intelligent. It was a huge privilege to have spent time with them
But then we had to get back to Henry and the day deteriorated somewhat.
Getting back through the forest was fine, it was thick and slippery but cool in the shade and not too steep, but once out of the forest back on the main mountain road it became relentless. We marched uphill in the burning sun with no shade for over two hours
Neither of us had thought to put sun tan lotion on in the pitch black and cool of the 5:30am morning – bit of an amateur mistake but we had expected to be in the forest not hiking on mountain roads!
Half way up a young boy joined us and walked a short way with me. We tried to chat but his English wasn´t very good so in the end we walked along together in companionable silence until we caught up with our guide who told him to go home to get washed up and go to school. I dug out a breakfast bar for him and he grinned at me before skipping off back down to the village
As we rounded the last bend to the top of the mountain I had rarely been so pleased to see Henry and that is saying something! We threw our walking sticks down and collapsed on his back step, resting our weary legs and grateful for his shade.
Back at the forest headquarters we treated ourselves to a hearty lunch of lentil burger and chicken quesadillas
We needed to get out of the forest campsite before it got too late as every night we stayed there we had to pay the national park entrance fees. So after lunch we set off to a guesthouse which allowed camping just outside the park.
It was fairly basic but had everything we needed – the toilet was close by, the shower was warm and they had wifi. The people were very friendly and helpful – as were the other residents!
We spent the afternoon resting our bones and catching up on some admin before a much-needed early night.
This part of Rwanda is well known for its tea plantations and after the lovely experience we had had at Satemwa in Malawi we were keen to try another one. We chose the Gisovu Tea Estate which was close by – it had good reviews that were quite recent but we had been unable to find any way to contact them and book a tour. In the end we decided to just turn up and try talking our way in.
The approach to the tea plantation took us close to Lake Tivu, another of the Great Lakes of East Africa and the views were as spectacular as ever
But the road up to the estate itself was absolutely terrible, probably one of the worst we had come across in Africa in the dry
We crawled along for two or three hours over rocks and into ruts, all the time hoping that we would be able to get into the plantation and that they would let us do a tour
Finally we came to a gate with a security guard and wound the window down with our fingers crossed. The guard asked us what we were there for and I smiled sweetly and told her we were hoping to do a tour of the plantation.
She called someone over who ran off into the factory whilst we waited with held breath. After a few minutes he came back out with a broad smile, swung open the gates and with a flourish of his arms invited us inside
The Plantation Manager came out to greet us and took us into the board room for a briefing. We learnt all about the history of the place and he showed us huge boards on every wall with the total amount of tea produced each year since the plantation started. In twenty years or so they have increased production a hundred fold to over 7 tonnes a year and also support hundreds of local farmers in the surrounding fields by buying their leaves as well.
We also found that they supply some big names…
The Quality Manager then took us around the factory itself. We were allowed to take photographs outside but not inside as their process is commercially sensitive
It was absolutely fascinating. We saw the leaves arrive from the fields in big trucks and get attached to hooks to be taken inside
Once inside they unpack the leaves and spread them out on huge tables with air vents underneath to dry. After two days they are put back into the bags on the hooks and transported to the next room where they are again laid out on racks and heated until they are completely dried out – they are now the black/brown colour you expect from tea and the distinctive smell is coming out.
The dried leaves are then taken to the chopping room and cut into fine pieces before being sorted into small, medium and large and bagged up ready to go to market
After the brilliant tour we were taken to the tasting room. The Quality Manager tastes samples of the three grades of tea every two hours all day every day to ensure everything is running smoothly
He showed us the technique and James tried his hand at it
We were then taken back to the Plantation Manager to go on a drive around the estate itself
But not before he kindly allowed us to use their weigh bridge to weigh Henry. We had often wondered exactly how heavy he is with everything packed inside him and now we know – it´s official, he´s 3.24 tonnes!
The drive around the plantation itself was absolutely beautiful. From the pine forests grown to supply fuel for the furnaces to dry the tea
To the endless, rolling, green fields as far as the eye could see
We were spell bound.
The Plantation Manager was from India and talked about his family history with tea in both countries, telling us how much he loved his job as it allowed him to breath in the clean mountain air every day and look out over these views all day
We couldn´t argue with him, we couldn´t drag ourselves away.
So in the end we didn´t! He allowed us to camp on top of one of the hills that evening with another spectacular view over the estate with the small factory nestled amongst the hills
We were in the middle of the employees´ volleyball pitch, next to their common room, canteen and shop
Many of the staff were around early in the evening smiling and waving at us but by around 8pm everyone had gone and we had the rest of the estate to ourselves until morning
We took a different road back down but it was no better than the one we used to get up there
We were heading for the shores of Lake Kivu which marks the border between Rwanda and its much larger and more troubled neighbour, the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Driving through Rwanda was never a chore!
One thing we noticed was how organised and welcoming everywhere was. Every town or village had a gate over the road welcoming us in
And another as we left….
As we approached the lake it was like driving through a painting with the road following the shore line
We entered the small town of Kibuye where a beautiful sight unfolded in front of us
The road wound around the town and along the lake. We were searching for our chosen campsite but saw the closed gates pass us by just too late. As we snaked up the hill we found a place to pull over, turned round and headed back down to try again.
A cyclist started gesturing wildly at us as did a couple of guys walking up the road. We had a sinking feeling that we were breaking some rule, probably the road was one way. In a country where the rules are kept and the police are honest but firm, we were worried enough, but when a police car happened to come up the road towards us our hearts sank.
We pulled over and the police officer got out to talk to us. Our suspicions were right, we were going the wrong way down a one way road. But the police officer was very friendly and understanding, he had no intention of making us pay for our mistake – but he wasn´t going to make it easy for us either! Despite there being a convenient place to turn just behind him, he parked his car across the road and stood in front of it watching as we did a fifteen-point turn on the tight road to ultimately face the right way – there was no way we were going even an inch further the wrong way!
We smiled and waved as we sped off up the hill into the mountains again. The road was winding and long but we eventually found our way back to the town and tried again. This time the campsite gates were open so we went in and had a look around.
The manager welcomed us in and pointed us to a small patch of grass overlooking the lake. We were delighted and booked in for two nights
Lunch was chicken skewers on the beach then we settled in to doze the hot afternoon away on the padded benches. By evening the heat had gone and we enjoyed the breeze coming off the lake as the sun went down
The next day we were going on an island-crawl. We were up early and boarding our boat, amazed to find it was quite luxurious – no puddles of water inside, comfortable seats and large enough to feel relatively stable
At first the boat sailed calmly away from the campsite along the lake
And we enjoyed gorgeous views over the string of islands
We arrived at Napolean Island after about half an hour and started a long, steep climb through the trees up the hill. The main attraction of this island were creatures that we had last seen in large numbers during the migration in Zambia….bats
The noise of their squeeking was all around us
And their wings were fluttering and rustling in the trees
There were thousands of them, hiding in the trees staring out at us, hoping we were friendly
But many of them weren´t taking any chances so rose into the safety of the skies
And of course there was plenty of poo – all over James in fact!
We eventually made it out of the trees and climbed the rest of the way to the top clambering over sun-drenched rocks
The view stretched across endless islands dotted around the lake
And over as far as the DRC
I was fascinated to be so close to this enormous and very troubled country. Our guide said he had last been over there five years ago but he had his phone and the engine from his boat stolen so hasn´t been back since!
Our next stop was Monkey Island where we saw three monkeys and an ibis
On the way the wind had strengthened and the waves became rather choppy. Our boat was struggling to make headway and I was worried my breakfast wasn´t going to stay down
But it didn´t last long and before we knew it the lake was calm and blue again.
We pressed on to Peace Island. Apparently there used to be a restaurant here but the government closed it down due to too much litter and not enough taxes!
We didn´t fancy swimming but the walk around the perimeter of the island was very relaxing
The next island was full of cormorants
And then it was on to our final stop, Plantation Island. This island is where local people from the mainland grow their crops – from bananas to macadamia nuts
It was very wild and overgrown but fascinating to see so much growing in such a small space.
By the time we arrived back at the campsite the sun was out and it was the perfect day
We ordered lunch on the beach again and settled in to relax for the rest of the day
But then two other couples arrived and set up camp around us. They were friendly enough – although they used all our tape to fix their tent and were just a little bit too close.
So the next morning we hauled anchor and set sail to our next destination. We needed rice and meat so stopped in town but everywhere seemed to be closed. It was a Saturday but it was also the last Saturday of the month which meant it was Umuganda.
Umuganda is a national holiday every month set aside for mandatory, nationwide community service for three hours in the morning. The people all get stuck in to cleaning the streets, picking up litter, building walls and the like. Apparently since it was reintroduced by the President back in 2009 there has been a noticeable improvement in the cleanliness of the country.
Brilliant idea, just a shame we couldn´t get any food!
We pressed on to the border town of Gisenyi where Rwanda and the DRC meet. We had been slightly concerned about safety in this area as there had recently been a failed coup in the DRC but everyone we spoke to said it was absolutely fine – in fact we heard that Gisenyi itself is quite a happening place where people of all types meet to party.
Not so sure about the partying side but we found rice! Sadly the butchers were open but sold out. And I got stuck behind a group of Chinese tourists buying ten bottles of Maggi source and stood patiently exchanging smiles with the owner of the store as the Chinese guys opened the bottles and tasted each one before buying them – who knows what they would have done with the opened bottles if they hadn´t liked it!
Here in Rwanda we had found chocolate was very, very expensive. So much so that James had forgone his weekly bar of Cadburys. Whilst I was buying the rice I spotted some bars of Milka on sale for $15. I figured that whilst James might not be able to spend that much buying chocolate for himself it was a different matter for me to spend the money buying him a present. After I had returned to Henry and shown him my purchases he had a big, chocolatey smile on his face.
We drove around the town just to see what was about and accidentally found ourselves at the border itself. The atmosphere of the place changed completely around here, James described it as ´moody´, and we didn´t want to hang around too long.
A few miles back on the road we had spotted a convent which offered rooms to visitors. We headed that way, curious about how it all worked – we weren´t sure whether it was a working convent that took in strays, a hotel that just happened to be owned by a convent or something in between.
When we arrived we were told we could only stay for one night only as they had a large group coming in the next day. There were a few other people there as well but overall, to this day, I am still not sure what it was all about!
Our room was large and clean with a comfortable bed but it was a bit dark. The sun was hot and bright outside and there were few places to sit in the shade
So we ended up spending the rest of the day in our gloomy room reading and writing the blog. It was not our best day.
Dinner was included in the price and when we walked up to the restaurant we found it was basic but comfortable – just as the food itself was basic but wholesome and there was plenty of it
After a good night´s sleep in our huge bed we headed further north towards the Volcanoes National Park.
Around here there was a very heavy military presence and for the first time since leaving South Africa I started to feel a little uncomfortable. We had moved away from the DRC border so the only reason I could think there were so many armed soldiers around was because we were close to the forest so famed for its Gorilla trekking. The lodges and hotels we passed were all very high end and upmarket, maybe this area was a target for cross-border attacks from the DRC.
Whilst Rwanda is a gorgeous country it is also a very small country. At only just over 26,000 square kilometers it is nine time smaller than the UK and smaller even than Belgium (it also has a population density of around 500 people per square kilometer compared with 286 in the UK making it a rarity amongst African countries, most of which have significantly fewer people).
We had spent nearly two weeks here and fallen completely in love with the place. But we were disappointingly running out of things to do. The obvious tourist attraction was the Gorilla trekking but we had plans to do that in Uganda where the prices were literally half those in Rwanda.
There were volcanoes to see and the Twin Lakes to visit but we are never in the market for long mountain climbs and the road to the Twin Lakes was impassible only a few weeks ago.
So our minds were reluctantly turning to our next destination – Uganda. Apparently equally beautiful but rather more like the rest of Africa than Rwanda is. A much larger country with so much to do we were struggling to keep our itinerary to a reasonable length.
But we were not ready to leave just yet. We wanted to at least see the famous Five Volcanoes that give the national park its name, even if we didn´t plan to climb them.
So we headed north again in search of one last Rwandan spectacular…..
The Sidetracked Sagas 