Wednesday, November 2, 2016 (Travel to Peace Guest House, Cyangugu, Rwanda)

Today we are going on an overnight trip through the countryside of Rwanda, spending the night at another guest house and returning to Kigali tomorrow. So the next two blog posts will be full of scenery pictures showing you how beautiful the countryside is.

We packed what we needed for the night in the backpack and then all piled into the bus...it was extra "cosy" with all of the additional baggage we had on board. Being a 'city type bus', it didn't have a cargo bay underneath for luggage.

Outskirts of Kigali...
Rice paddies...


Some nicer homes...
 Tiered hillsides as every bit of open land is being cultivated, all by hand!



  We passed through many small towns and villages...
 How's that for scaffolding...all wood!


Earthen dam...
Rice paddies...
Firewood...


On the outskirts of Butare (Huye....all the towns/cities in Rwanda seem to have changed names since the Genocide. In most cases, I'm not sure which is the current name), we arrived at the Ethnographic Museum.

Inaugurated on September 18, 1989 in Huye, Southern Province, The Ethnographic Museum was the first Museum to be opened in Rwanda and is mainly known for its Collection on Rwanda’s rich culture and way of life; that is to say Farming, Hunting, fishing, pottery, dress code and many more elements of Rwandan Culture. As community based project the Institute of National Museums of Rwanda has on site a Teaching Center of Traditional Handcrafts that works with young children with an aim of preserving and restoring Rwanda’s Culture.

Shortly after we arrived, a couple of school buses also pulled up with school kids all dressed in their uniforms...
 We were given a tour of this impressive facility, however, no pictures were allowed.
Before getting back on the bus, we found some shade in the beautiful gardens and had our picnic lunch that the guest house had packed for us. Then we were on our way again. On the way, we took a drive through the University of Rwanda and continued on through Butare...

An interesting looking building...
...and then took the highway going west. More pictures of the surrounding countryside as we passed through...
...a quick restroom break and a chance to stretch our legs. Esther greeting a couple Rwandan women carrying baskets on their heads....
The roads are very windy and hilly. Our driver Annick, although very good in many ways has the habit of driving too quickly while using most of the road, even on blind corners which made much of our trip uncomfortable for some...



Couldn't imagine allowing our kids to handout beside the roadways...

We entered the Nyungwe Forest National Park...
 ...and stopped at the Uwinka Visitors Centre, the park headquarters (a little over half way to Cyangugu from Huye (Butare)). It has a small but informative display on the ecology of the park and an outdoor terrace area.
Esther...
Joann, Byron and Brian...


Elephant skull...

Quite the view from here...too bad it's not a nicer day...
Our bus driver, Annick, feeding a banana to a monkey...
Annick is a rarity, one of only two female bus drivers in Rwanda so garners a lot of attention from the locals...especially when her bus is full of white folks...
There is supposed to be some great hiking in this park but unfortunately to our disappointment we won't have time to explore as it's over 6 hours to our destination and the rain has started. We were really hoping to see some Chimpanzees...

Then we were back on the road...and after a long day in a crowded bus, on a very windy road, we finally arrived in the dark at Peace Guest House in Cyangugu. When we arrived, Uncle Gord found out that some of the rooms had been damaged in an earthquake the week before.
So it was a little stressful for him as they got room assignments figured out. Some of the fellows ended up having to be taxied to a hotel in town for the night. But we all  got settled and went up for dinner.

Our driver discovered she had a flat tire so she left to deal with that. Perhaps it was that speed bump she failed to slow down for...

We shared a two-bedroom cabin with Gordon and Esther...this is the living room, complete with a TV that gets snow on every station. There was no cable connection anywhere...
 Pretty cool ceiling...
Back in the cabin, we sat and chatted with Gordon and Esther before calling it a night...it had been a very long day! We're looking forward to seeing this area in the daylight tomorrow...



Tuesday, November 1, 2016 (Solace Guest House, Kigali, Rwanda)

This morning the group was going to visit the Yego Project started by the Rev. Emmanuel Gatera and his wife, Athanasie. It is a program to serve the needs of children, youth and widows who are getting help to work through the trauma of the Genocide. They would get an opportunity to meet with some of the staff and families and individuals who are supported by the Yego program.

Steve and I chose not to attend this outing. We are changing rooms today. Steve needs his rest and the room assigned to us when we arrived is right over the kitchen and very noisy with the constant staff chatter and the clatter of pots, pans and dishes. So we packed our things up and were able to move down the hall to another room on the other side of the building...much better view and even has a shower curtain!

With that done, we decided to get out for a bit of a walk. Although feeling better, Steve is still quite weak...so a little exercise and fresh air would do him good!  Speaking of exercise...that is one thing we really haven't gotten a lot of on this trip. It's not like you can get out for a good power walk or hike while in the wilds of Tanzania! A lot of sitting and standing...is about all we have be able to do!

We walked the two short blocks up to the main street, taking a few pictures along the way.

After walking a few blocks, we turned around and continued walking back, passing our turnoff. One of the spots folks have been walking to for happy hour is Hotel Umubano, so we thought we'd take a look. This is the first place where we have had to go through a security check to enter a hotel...interesting. Purse searched and everything out of your pockets and placed through the X Ray machine and a wave of a wand around your body.

This is the pool area...
After we had a look around, we headed back to the Guest House. Seems everyone carries everything on their heads!
Steve asked if he could take their picture but I think she was a little shy...

Once back, we sat and relaxed on the veranda with a bottle of water. A huge storm complete with thunder and lightning came through and it absolutely poured!
We went back up to our room and Steve laid down for a while. Here is a picture of the conference centre from our balcony...
Once the others returned, we all gathered in the dining room for a late lunch. Emmanuel had arranged for a city guide...so once she arrived, we all piled into the bus and off we went.

The Radisson Blu Hotel...









...and Convention Centre....(stay tuned...looks really cool at night all lit up!)
This is a huge traffic circle...
Kigali is a very modern city and the government is trying to get Rwanda to become the technology centre of Africa......




We looped around to an older and industrial section of town...
...then back into downtown...


We stopped at Hotel des Mille Collines where over a thousand Tutsi refugees were housed - Inaugurated in 1973 as the first grand hotel of the country and receiving globally a lot of attention since the Hollywood movie ’Hotel Rwanda’ in 2004 - Hôtel des Mille Collines is surely the most famous hotel in Rwanda.

We got out and were able to wander through the historic hotel.



We were even lucky enough to have an employee give us a bit more information about "Hotel Rwanda" He also recommended the book "Inside the Hotel Rwanda" written by one of the 1268 people taking refuge in the hotel and sets the record straight about the hotel manager that was depicted as a hero in the movie. I will definitely be getting it.

Artwork inside the lobby area depicting the massacre ...

Memorial outside of the hotel for the six employees massacred...
Next, we stopped at a market...lots of vendors selling their wares...
I picked up a couple of souvenirs...
The traffic here is crazy with taxi motorcycles between you and the curb, you and the car next to you, and you and the oncoming traffic!

Before we knew it, it was dark...and we drove to the Radisson Blu Hotel & Convention Centre for a closer look. It just opened last July. Well, it turned out we were able to get a tour...so at the gate, we all had to get off the bus and go through an airport style security check...they even ran a mirror under the bus. We then got back on the bus so we could drive closer to the centre.
This is one of the restaurants...

Outdoor dining area...





All set up for for the above program...
We saw this on the news the week before we left on our trip...
Uncle Gord playing it up...
The light display changes constantly...
Another outdoor area that even has some partially covered seating...

The hotel...
Hotel lobby...
One last view as we head off...

It was late by the time we got back to the Guest House. We had a dinner, Joan gave Steve another Reiki treatment (she even gave me one to help my knee which has been acting up...likely due to lack of regular exercise!)...then it was bed time.