Kisoro – The Summit
I left with C early (6am) to go to Masaka on the first day of our travels towards Rwanda. However, once we arrived, we found that the bus going to Kisoro, south western Uganda, does not leave until 11am, so we had a little time to spare before our 8 hour journey. Before we left, I went to use the toilet (behavior of an experience traveler). A kid was asked by his mother to hand me soap. The kid feared me so much that as he came towards me, he looked like he was going to cry, but instead, he threw the soap in my direction and ran off laughing a kind of “panicked – I just saved my life” laugh. After that little incident, I knew that we were going to have a great trip. After approximately 8 hours of being on the bus to Kisoro, we arrived and met up with another Peace Corps volunteer who works at Potter’s Village in Kisoro, H, and a VSO volunteer, C, for dinner. We had an early night though because we wanted to prepare for the next day’s early vocano climb. The next day, H, C, and I, climbed Sabinyo, which is apparently the most difficult volcano to climb on the Ugandan side (there are other volcanoes in Rwanda). Still, our guides assured us that no one has died climbing (as far as they know.) The first few hours of our climb were wet – it rained hard and consistently. Luckily, our wildlife authority cashier had given us each ponchos to wear which we gladly used. Unfortunately, because of my “extreme lack of height” I kept stepping on it and felt it more hinder some than anything else. For most people, the hike takes about 8 hours - top to bottom. For us, it took 10.5 hours. I am blaming most of this on the “fabulous weather” at the beginning of our trek. Anyway, we made it to the top and were literally and figuratively in the clouds. When you get to the top of Sabinyo you are actually in 3 countries – Rwanda, Congo, and Uganda. Also, while Sabinyo is the most difficult volcano to climb, it is not the tallest on the Ugandan side. We stayed at H’s amazing apartment during the nights while we were in Kisoro. The town is really nice and has beautiful views of the lush surroundings and the volcanoes on the Ugandan/Rwandan border.
Rwanda – Monkey“ing’ Around
The next day we rode to the border of Uganda and Rwanda, Cyanika. It was incredibly easy to get through. However, once in Rwanda we were almost overcharged 10x the amount it should have cost us to get to Ruhengeri and then to Gisenyi. The taxi driver tried to get us to pay 4000RFr (Rwandan Franks) as opposed to the 400 it should have cost. To compare the money in Uganda and Rwanda – 25RFr = 100Ushs. Still, things in Rwanda are just as much as they are in Uganda, thus making items almost quadruple the amount! After our arrival in Gisenyi we went to drop off our stuff at our hotel. Most of the hotels we found came from the book which I had bought in the states, Lonely Planet Africa. Thank you much! It was a life saver and we found much cheaper hotels by using it. We then went to Lake Kivu and planned the rest of our trip. From Gisenyi we took a bus to Kibuye. The road was not as bad as we expected. Our friend and permaculture expert from Sabina, M, told us that when he went, people were throwing up all over the bus. Luckily, we did not experience the same trip. It was a very long ride though because the driver kept talking to everyone who passed in their own vehicles in addition to many people in the small villages which we went through. In Kibuye, which is the southern most part of Lake Kivu, we ate lunch and used the internet. We decided to go to the Nungwe Forest the next day in southwestern Rwanda, so we traveled to Gitarama further east and then south to Butare. Once we arrived in Butare, we went to our hotel and then ate dinner at a nice sports bar in the area. Obviously, from the looks of the restaurants, supermarkets, and hotels in the area, Butare is a pretty nice town, not to mention where the National University of Rwanda is located.
A huge problem which we had while in Rwanda was the language barrier. Most people spoke French, Swahili, Rwandese and barely any English. Still, one of the most major affects from the 1994 genocide was that most people in Rwanda hate the French (rightfully so, at least the government, considering they supplied most of the Hutus with the weapons they used to massacre their fellow Rwandans) and have taken all French language learning out of the schools and replaced it with English. Of course this transition is going to take some time, but English will soon prevail in Rwanda. By the by, thank you Peace Corps for your language training! I am sure if I had not had two months of Luganda, I would be just as lost as I was in Rwanda.
The next day did not start off so great. C got his wallet stolen and we could not leave for the forest, which takes about 2 hours to get to from Butare, until 10:15am. Additionally, we thought the entrance to get into the forest would only be $20. We were unpleasantly surprised when we arrived that it actually costs $50 for non-citizens and $30 for citizens (I am considered a citizen of Uganda because of my lengthy stay). Still, the Columbus monkey tracking made up for the cost of entering the forest. They were hilarious because they followed each other from one tree to another (I guess you had to be there). We then walked through the forest on the Grey Trail. It was beautiful walking trail. Afterwards, we hitched a ride from the forest back to Butare. After, C figured out how to get money sent through Western Union, we ate at The Chinese Restaurant in Butare and I actually was able to get veggies and tofu! Our last stop on the trip was Kigali, the capital of Rwanda. Before we left Butare we went to the Musee National du Rwanda or the National Museum of Rwanda, which contained a lot of interesting information pertaining to the geography and history of Rwanda and the people. We then took a taxi to Kigali, which should have taken approximately 2 hours, but lasted more like 4. For the day, we decided to walk around and get acquainted with Kigali and what the city has to offer after finding and leaving our stuff in the hotel in Nyammirambo. Nyamirambo was a very hip area of Kigali. It reminded me of where I lived in Atlanta, called Little 5 Points with graffiti and people walking around with very trendy clothes. Kigali was nice, but offers a lot less in terms of size and things to do as compared to Kampala.
Our last day of the trip, before returning to Uganda, consisted of remembering the genocide of 1994. In the morning we went to Gisozi where the Kigali Memorial Center is located. The memorial is a deeply moving and vivid image of the 1994 genocide of the Tutsis by the Hutus. The bottom floor of the memorial contained graphic images, accounts, and written timelines of what happened before and during that horrific event. The sequence of events reminded me so much of the build up to Holocaust with the propaganda and the fact that many family and friends turned against each other. It was difficult to view the actual machete slices which people inflicted on one another in a film that was being played. The Tutsis were not just killed, they were tortured. Often times, many of their body parts were chopped off or mutilated. Many women were raped and infected with HIV by their perpetrators.
The top floor of the museum gave accounts of other genocides that have taken place in the 20th century – Bosnia, Germany, Cambodia, Kosovo… It is a haunting reminder that “never again” is not happening and the sad truth that people can do such terrible things to each other. Afterwards, we traveled to Ntarama memorial which was approximately 25km south of Kigali. Ntarama is a church where 5000 people were massacred during the genocide. The inside of the church contains the clothes of those murdered, including skulls and other bones from them as well. The priests changing rooms also contained numerous bones from the dead. Outside the church building was a memorial wall with very few names. Most of the bodies were unable to be identified. Only those with identity cards had their names placed on the wall. Most likely many other names will not appear on the wall for a while or ever because most families were killed altogether. After seeing this memorial we went to Nyamata which was also a church where people were massacred during the genocide. In Nyamata, approximately 10,000 people were put to death. There were skulls and other bones inside the church, but many more were behind the church in an underground area which also contained caskets of bones. There was a distinct smell inside this underground area was of moldiness (death). It was haunting walking between piles of skulls and bones. Some of the bones were positioned in a way where visitors could see the bullet wound or machete slices which caused that person’s death. After having lunch in Nyamata, we went back to Kigali and spent the rest of the afternoon walking around.
Our trip back to Uganda was stressful. We woke up at 4am in the morning and rushed to the bus park, only to find that the tickets to Kampala on the Kampala Coach were all sold out. We went to another bus park called Jaguar, where we had to wait to purchase tickets. While waiting, C, realized he did not have his passport. I was freaking out because I assumed that it was stolen, but we went back to the hotel (mangu, mangu – quickly, quickly) where luckily it was there. Pheww…we went back to the Jaguar bus park and got 2 tickets to Kampala at 6am. Finally, we were good to go. Though, when we arrived at the border of Rwanda and Uganda we had to wait in line for over 1 hour for the exit stamp from Rwanda and over 1.5 hours for the entrance stamp into Uganda. Approximately, 13 hours after first getting onto the bus in Kigali, we arrived back in Ssanje. Still, before we were to get off the bus in Uganda, near Masaka, our bus almost capsized because the back wheels hit a large dip in the dirt road which the police directed us on as a detour from some accident. We all got out of the bus because we thought we were going to flip with it. Some how, after about 45 minutes of debate and work to prevent the bus from tipping over we were able to get safely back on the road with the help of many people pushing and leveraging the back wheel. Overall, we had a great trip, but I am happy to be back in Uganda where I feel some what comfortable and at home these days.
I left with C early (6am) to go to Masaka on the first day of our travels towards Rwanda. However, once we arrived, we found that the bus going to Kisoro, south western Uganda, does not leave until 11am, so we had a little time to spare before our 8 hour journey. Before we left, I went to use the toilet (behavior of an experience traveler). A kid was asked by his mother to hand me soap. The kid feared me so much that as he came towards me, he looked like he was going to cry, but instead, he threw the soap in my direction and ran off laughing a kind of “panicked – I just saved my life” laugh. After that little incident, I knew that we were going to have a great trip. After approximately 8 hours of being on the bus to Kisoro, we arrived and met up with another Peace Corps volunteer who works at Potter’s Village in Kisoro, H, and a VSO volunteer, C, for dinner. We had an early night though because we wanted to prepare for the next day’s early vocano climb. The next day, H, C, and I, climbed Sabinyo, which is apparently the most difficult volcano to climb on the Ugandan side (there are other volcanoes in Rwanda). Still, our guides assured us that no one has died climbing (as far as they know.) The first few hours of our climb were wet – it rained hard and consistently. Luckily, our wildlife authority cashier had given us each ponchos to wear which we gladly used. Unfortunately, because of my “extreme lack of height” I kept stepping on it and felt it more hinder some than anything else. For most people, the hike takes about 8 hours - top to bottom. For us, it took 10.5 hours. I am blaming most of this on the “fabulous weather” at the beginning of our trek. Anyway, we made it to the top and were literally and figuratively in the clouds. When you get to the top of Sabinyo you are actually in 3 countries – Rwanda, Congo, and Uganda. Also, while Sabinyo is the most difficult volcano to climb, it is not the tallest on the Ugandan side. We stayed at H’s amazing apartment during the nights while we were in Kisoro. The town is really nice and has beautiful views of the lush surroundings and the volcanoes on the Ugandan/Rwandan border.
Rwanda – Monkey“ing’ Around
The next day we rode to the border of Uganda and Rwanda, Cyanika. It was incredibly easy to get through. However, once in Rwanda we were almost overcharged 10x the amount it should have cost us to get to Ruhengeri and then to Gisenyi. The taxi driver tried to get us to pay 4000RFr (Rwandan Franks) as opposed to the 400 it should have cost. To compare the money in Uganda and Rwanda – 25RFr = 100Ushs. Still, things in Rwanda are just as much as they are in Uganda, thus making items almost quadruple the amount! After our arrival in Gisenyi we went to drop off our stuff at our hotel. Most of the hotels we found came from the book which I had bought in the states, Lonely Planet Africa. Thank you much! It was a life saver and we found much cheaper hotels by using it. We then went to Lake Kivu and planned the rest of our trip. From Gisenyi we took a bus to Kibuye. The road was not as bad as we expected. Our friend and permaculture expert from Sabina, M, told us that when he went, people were throwing up all over the bus. Luckily, we did not experience the same trip. It was a very long ride though because the driver kept talking to everyone who passed in their own vehicles in addition to many people in the small villages which we went through. In Kibuye, which is the southern most part of Lake Kivu, we ate lunch and used the internet. We decided to go to the Nungwe Forest the next day in southwestern Rwanda, so we traveled to Gitarama further east and then south to Butare. Once we arrived in Butare, we went to our hotel and then ate dinner at a nice sports bar in the area. Obviously, from the looks of the restaurants, supermarkets, and hotels in the area, Butare is a pretty nice town, not to mention where the National University of Rwanda is located.
A huge problem which we had while in Rwanda was the language barrier. Most people spoke French, Swahili, Rwandese and barely any English. Still, one of the most major affects from the 1994 genocide was that most people in Rwanda hate the French (rightfully so, at least the government, considering they supplied most of the Hutus with the weapons they used to massacre their fellow Rwandans) and have taken all French language learning out of the schools and replaced it with English. Of course this transition is going to take some time, but English will soon prevail in Rwanda. By the by, thank you Peace Corps for your language training! I am sure if I had not had two months of Luganda, I would be just as lost as I was in Rwanda.
The next day did not start off so great. C got his wallet stolen and we could not leave for the forest, which takes about 2 hours to get to from Butare, until 10:15am. Additionally, we thought the entrance to get into the forest would only be $20. We were unpleasantly surprised when we arrived that it actually costs $50 for non-citizens and $30 for citizens (I am considered a citizen of Uganda because of my lengthy stay). Still, the Columbus monkey tracking made up for the cost of entering the forest. They were hilarious because they followed each other from one tree to another (I guess you had to be there). We then walked through the forest on the Grey Trail. It was beautiful walking trail. Afterwards, we hitched a ride from the forest back to Butare. After, C figured out how to get money sent through Western Union, we ate at The Chinese Restaurant in Butare and I actually was able to get veggies and tofu! Our last stop on the trip was Kigali, the capital of Rwanda. Before we left Butare we went to the Musee National du Rwanda or the National Museum of Rwanda, which contained a lot of interesting information pertaining to the geography and history of Rwanda and the people. We then took a taxi to Kigali, which should have taken approximately 2 hours, but lasted more like 4. For the day, we decided to walk around and get acquainted with Kigali and what the city has to offer after finding and leaving our stuff in the hotel in Nyammirambo. Nyamirambo was a very hip area of Kigali. It reminded me of where I lived in Atlanta, called Little 5 Points with graffiti and people walking around with very trendy clothes. Kigali was nice, but offers a lot less in terms of size and things to do as compared to Kampala.
Our last day of the trip, before returning to Uganda, consisted of remembering the genocide of 1994. In the morning we went to Gisozi where the Kigali Memorial Center is located. The memorial is a deeply moving and vivid image of the 1994 genocide of the Tutsis by the Hutus. The bottom floor of the memorial contained graphic images, accounts, and written timelines of what happened before and during that horrific event. The sequence of events reminded me so much of the build up to Holocaust with the propaganda and the fact that many family and friends turned against each other. It was difficult to view the actual machete slices which people inflicted on one another in a film that was being played. The Tutsis were not just killed, they were tortured. Often times, many of their body parts were chopped off or mutilated. Many women were raped and infected with HIV by their perpetrators.
The top floor of the museum gave accounts of other genocides that have taken place in the 20th century – Bosnia, Germany, Cambodia, Kosovo… It is a haunting reminder that “never again” is not happening and the sad truth that people can do such terrible things to each other. Afterwards, we traveled to Ntarama memorial which was approximately 25km south of Kigali. Ntarama is a church where 5000 people were massacred during the genocide. The inside of the church contains the clothes of those murdered, including skulls and other bones from them as well. The priests changing rooms also contained numerous bones from the dead. Outside the church building was a memorial wall with very few names. Most of the bodies were unable to be identified. Only those with identity cards had their names placed on the wall. Most likely many other names will not appear on the wall for a while or ever because most families were killed altogether. After seeing this memorial we went to Nyamata which was also a church where people were massacred during the genocide. In Nyamata, approximately 10,000 people were put to death. There were skulls and other bones inside the church, but many more were behind the church in an underground area which also contained caskets of bones. There was a distinct smell inside this underground area was of moldiness (death). It was haunting walking between piles of skulls and bones. Some of the bones were positioned in a way where visitors could see the bullet wound or machete slices which caused that person’s death. After having lunch in Nyamata, we went back to Kigali and spent the rest of the afternoon walking around.
Our trip back to Uganda was stressful. We woke up at 4am in the morning and rushed to the bus park, only to find that the tickets to Kampala on the Kampala Coach were all sold out. We went to another bus park called Jaguar, where we had to wait to purchase tickets. While waiting, C, realized he did not have his passport. I was freaking out because I assumed that it was stolen, but we went back to the hotel (mangu, mangu – quickly, quickly) where luckily it was there. Pheww…we went back to the Jaguar bus park and got 2 tickets to Kampala at 6am. Finally, we were good to go. Though, when we arrived at the border of Rwanda and Uganda we had to wait in line for over 1 hour for the exit stamp from Rwanda and over 1.5 hours for the entrance stamp into Uganda. Approximately, 13 hours after first getting onto the bus in Kigali, we arrived back in Ssanje. Still, before we were to get off the bus in Uganda, near Masaka, our bus almost capsized because the back wheels hit a large dip in the dirt road which the police directed us on as a detour from some accident. We all got out of the bus because we thought we were going to flip with it. Some how, after about 45 minutes of debate and work to prevent the bus from tipping over we were able to get safely back on the road with the help of many people pushing and leveraging the back wheel. Overall, we had a great trip, but I am happy to be back in Uganda where I feel some what comfortable and at home these days.
