The start of a new year

February in Rwanda

It’s taken me a few attempts to write this post.  Life here continues to keep me very busy and I often feel I can just about cope with the day-to-day challenges, let alone write about them!  Looking back, I see my last post was in October and the one before that in August so apologies they have become less frequent (and it is now February) as I know many of you like to be updated on what I’ve been up to.

So what have I been up to?  I’ll not go back to last October, as I can’t remember that far back so I’ll start from the beginning of the year when I returned to Rwanda after a lovely break back home for Christmas.  I find switching between being here in the Rwanda, going back to the UK and then coming out here again all quite easy and it is interesting to see how I can quickly adapt from one minute being in here in the middle of Africa in the south-west of Rwanda, with the DRC as my neighbour and then back into the Lewes bubble.

The lovely Lewes bubble

The realisation of how different life is between here and there hit me after I arrived in Addis Ababa airport on my way back to Kigali.  I left Heathrow on a cold, dark evening and a very high tech Terminal 2 where everything is now stream-lined & computerised to walking around, the following morning, a rather warm Terminal 2 of Addis Airport wondering why my onward flight was not showing on the departure board. Thinking I may be in the wrong terminal and that my flight was now leaving Terminal 1, I soon discovered the flight was not leaving at all as it had been cancelled and combined with another flight going via Entebbe.  Chaos reigned as I discovered there were two flights leaving from the same departure gate so it was a miracle I ended up on the right bus to the aircraft let alone on the right plane to Kigali.

After a rather long and sleepless journey (a passenger had been taken ill in the seat behind me on the flight from London and there was one of those “Is there a doctor onboard moments?” but, thankfully, being a flight to Africa where there are normally medics coming out to work, there happened to be two doctors and five nurses who all crowded around the seats behind me diagnosing and treating the man who, thankfully, turned out to be OK), I arrived at the guest house at Solace Ministries very tired. On getting into the bath for a much needed shower, I slipped and somehow managed to come flying out upside down crashing onto the toilet and ripping off a pipe in the process resulting in water gushing out all over the bathroom and me rather dazed on the floor.  Thankfully, nothing was broken (except the WC) but I noticed there was some blood on the floor and I saw that I had badly gashed my back and arm.  

Deciding I didn’t need to go to the hospital or rather didn’t want to, I did a quick self-examination and thought a visit to the pharmacy would do the trick so two pharmacies later and £12.00 for some rather sticky anti-septic gel I managed to fix myself up.

However, the decision to drive out to the Akagera National Park, a six hour return journey, the next day and then a six hour drive back to Kamembe the following day was maybe not a good idea and arrived back rather battered and weary.

This experience sort of set the tone for the following weeks I have been back. Emmanuel, the manager at the guest house, left shortly after my return to go back home town in the north of the country leaving me manager less for a few weeks and a stream of visitors coming from the UK.  With only two days notice we had the Rwandan Prime Minister come to stay.  We thought we were just getting him and a few of his staff so we were not too concerned about looking after such a VIP but the morning of his arrival it was announced that they wanted to have 50 people for dinner.  This did cause me some concern (more than just some!) as we already had a team of 10 from the UK and a team of pastors, also 10, who were at the guesthouse for training so having 70 for dinner was logistically challenging if not impossible. After some discussions with the PM’s staff and at one point being “ordered’ to host people for dinner we agreed on 30 – 20 in the restaurant and 10 in the Villa where the PM was staying.

The plan was to have the PM’s visitors in the restaurant and the other visitors in the small meeting hall but this plan, as they do here, backfired when the PM decided he wanted to have a 20 minute meeting in the small hall that turned into rather a longer meeting of over an hour. By this time, the heavy Cyangugu rains had started along with the power cuts and when the meeting finally finished, everyone rushed to the restaurant and we discovered the invited 20 had turned to 40 and with the other visitors we ended up with 60 in a restaurant that comfortably seats 40!

We were hoping the following day would be a bit easier as the PM was going out in the morning and then would return to the guesthouse to change before leaving for Kigali.  It was decided, again at very short notice, to invite 20 for lunch and this time we were told would be the maximum number to then find that 40 turned up and unsurprisingly we ran out of food at which point I was past caring.

The PM was very nice and was very appreciative of what we had done to accommodate his visit, as were many of the other ministers who were there. To be honest, I don’t think any other hotel in Kamembe could have done what we did that weekend. For those of you who know the guesthouse, you can see how challenging it can be to be going up and down from the Villa to the restaurant and the staff were very bemused to see the General Manager running up and down with jugs of juice and then clearing plates from the restaurant and serving drinks.  The staff did a wonderful job under a lot of pressure and I was very proud they did such a good job and I was very pleased that my 20+ years of event management had been put to great use.

As well as the PM, we have been busy with many other visitors from the UK. A team from the Glaven Valley in Norfolk were out for two weeks and now I am looking after a small team of four from St Peter’s Church in Yaxley. All have been busy supporting various projects from building a house, training pastors, visiting recipients of micro-finance loans, medical and sexual health training, installing rain-water systems in two houses built by teams and much more besides! 

Some of the Glaven Valley team going off to teach

Other news from here is on a sadder note. The sick baby that had water on the brain died shortly after I returned from the UK. He had slipped into a coma and didn’t recover but really a blessing for him and his mother who has now enrolled into a local secondary school to restart her education.  The lady with HIV/Aids, who I have also mentioned in previous posts is, I feel, coming to the end of her life and what turned out to be a sad and distressing visit to see her the other day with the realisation of how badly she had deteriorated both mentally and physically. How she has gone on this long I just don’t know but she has shown remarkable fortitude and resilience with a life confined to a small bedroom and more recently no contact with friends as the doctor had banned her using her mobile phone, her only way of keeping in touch with the outside world, due to breathing problems she was experiencing.

On a more positive note, is the encouraging story of Taciana, a genocide widow and her two children who became the recipient of a house built by the Glaven Valley Church team. A few weeks ago, I found myself sitting outside a kitchen of the house where she was living – in the kitchen and not in the house and when I say kitchen I mean nothing more than a mud hut. Her story was a very sad one, husband and family killed in the genocide when she was seven months pregnant to be raped shortly afterwards and infected, as was the baby she was carrying.  A few years later, having remarried, her husband left her as he discovered he had been infected but, thankfully, her daughter who she shortly gave birth to was not. Forced out of a house as she couldn’t pay the rent, someone offered her the use of their kitchen with a leaking roof that meant whenever it rained they had to find a dry corner and huddle together to keep dry.

Taciana outside her kitchen

Through an organisation that supports genocide widows she was identified to be the recipient of a house to be built, by the Glaven Valley team whose churches generously donated funds, on land given by the government some 30 minutes outside Kamembe. A simple, timber framed structure with mud-lined walls and a tin roof it promised shelter and a home for the family and through generosity of others she was also given a young cow, furniture, bedding and other items and a system to harvest rain water. She had been welcomed into her new community and it was wonderful to see how lives can be transformed in a matter of weeks.

Moving in day for Taciana and her children

Talking about weeks I am now into my final ten weeks here.  I have decided to stay a few more months in Rwanda, probably until the end of October when my visa expires. I have decided to spend some time in Kigali to experience life in the city and to divide my time between Kamembe and Kigali offering consultancy support as opposed to managing projects.  I hope this time will give me the space I need to think about the future with the realisation that my two years here has flown by.

Last weekend I escaped to Kibuye up the lake for a short stay in the Moriah Hill, a very nice hotel affordable through a gift from one of the teams to spoil myself – a real treat to have a comfortable bed, soft pillows, a t.v. walk-in shower and a bathrobe.  Time to relax a bit before a text from the guesthouse to say the drains had blocked and required emergency repairs due to tree roots getting into the pipes and tanks. This weekend we had have to have further repairs done, close off a number of rooms, dig some of the gardens up and deal with heavy rain and mud!

Kibuye

Going to Kibuye reminded me again what a beautiful country this is.  This time of year is one of the best times to visit as it is between the heavy rain seasons and the countryside looks green and lush with the trees covered in colourful red, yellow and purple flowers. I’m often struck by the colours here, from the fabrics to the handicrafts, jewellery and even the reflections in the water from the colourful painted boats.

Local colour

Reflections

I continue to share my house with my Rwandan family and to share in their challenges, negotiate myself around the many pots and pans as well as peer through the washing to enjoy the view of Lake Kivu.  Note to self – that washing line must come down!

So that’s a quick snapshot of the last few weeks.  Yes, I do mean a snapshot as loads more that I could write about but will save that for the book.

Lake Kivu through the washing!

Dedicated to Pam & in memory of Janice

Realised I have not written another blog post since 22^nd August – this must show how busy I’ve been. So busy that I can’t remember what I’ve done – either that or old ageis catching-up with me. In Rwandan terms, I am, sadly, an old man or “Muzehe” as they sometimes refer to me – this is, apparently, a respectful term for an old person.

I have to admit it is quite hard to keep up a blog. I did say to a very good friend of mine, Pam, that I worried that people would find it all rather boring but she very kindly responded saying “your blog is NOT boring at all. It makes incredible reading, you are living such an alien life to what we all know.” So Pam, this blog post in specially dedicated to you.

The Old Man or "Muzehe"

So, what have I been doing? As I’ve said before, and apologies for repeating myself, my days and weeks here are very varied and recently I found myself at the ‘official’ opening of the Diocese Clinic and the next day on Nkombo Island giving out 30 goats!

Recently the Clinic, just one of the projects here including the guest house, a farm and schools run by the Diocese, went into partnership with the Government of Rwanda and is now a Health Centre able to provide a wide range of medical services to the community here.  Sadly, it comes with an agreement that the Diocese must build a maternity unit by the end of the year and have 20 trained staff in place before the government provide any funding which will not be until next summer so some financially, challenging months ahead!

The opening couldn’t be an opening without the customary speeches, followed by the customary Fantas – here, you cannot have speeches without Fantas or Fantas without speeches. Rwandans do love their speeches and also their introductions, so everyone has to be introduced, stand up and wave to everyone and maybe say something. Then the speeches, all in Kinyarwandan with someone translating bits into English for me, and they are often long and many – I think we had three hours of speeches before the Fantas appeared. I can’t help but compare it to what we do in the UK where we would say “right, we only have 30 minutes so let’s keep it short”. Unfortunately, the Rwandans don’t do short – apologies to my Rwandan friends who may read this as I am giving observations, not criticisms!

Speeches over, Fantas drunk & now the photos

The following day, in complete contrast to the formality of the clinic opening, I found myself on Nkombo Island - I’ve discovered if you Google ‘Nkombo Island’ my blog comes up about fifth in the list. Nkombo is the second largest island on Lake Kivu, with a population as at August 2013 of 17,000 although I suspect, at the rate they have babies here, the population has doubled since then. 80% of the islanders depend on fishing and the government have focused a lot of attention on this impoverished island with electricity, plans to connect a water pipeline and a domestic and public hygiene campaign.

My purpose of going was to give out goats. Through a donation, given to me by some students in Germany (thanks to Veronika and friends) the Diocese bought 30 female goats, to give to 30 people at a cost of around £30.00 per goat – not sure if there is any significance in the number of 30’s. Each person receives training to look after the goat that provides manure for their plot of land, where they cultivate and grow crops and foods and the idea is that the first female goat produced is given back to the Diocese to give to another person/family. The idea is to encourage them to take responsibility for their goat so others will benefit and also they develop a sense of giving rather than taking. With more goats that are produced (a goat can produce twice in a year and can give birth to two kids), they can then sell to get income so maybe they can get around £100.00 per year for as long as the goat can produce.

Emmanuel, PGH Manager, came with me and he kindly donated some money to buy a male goat, who we are going to call Emmanuel, and I am sure he will have a great time getting to know the female goats. So, Nkombo Island could be over-run by hundreds of goats in the next few years!

Dancing in celebration of  getting a goat

When we arrived, we met all the recipients in the church where we had introductions, singing, dancing and speeches (yes, those again but only short ones!). Then the goats arrived - bought in Kamembe and then taken, by foot, 11kms to where they were put on a boat and taken across to Nkombo – sadly, I missed seeing this as would have been great fun to see them get all the goats on and off a boat not to mention getting the life-jackets on them!

The goats are coming!

Taken to the back of the church, each goat had a number stuck onto its back with some paper and tape. Rounding them up took some time and then the recipients come, also with numbers, to claim their goat. Photographs, more singing and then the goats were taken home – hopefully, not to be eaten!

"Come in goat number 4 - your time is up!"

It was great to see something like this in action. The goats and their owners will be monitored to see how they are getting on and I will look in on them from time to time as I visit Nkombo.

Everyone paired up with their goat

"Why are the goats getting all the attention?"

I couldn’t be a Muzungu without talking about the weather.  We should now be well and truly into the heavy rain season now but we having days of very hot and sunny weather followed by storms and heavy rains in the evening.  Some wonderful sunsets as yet another sunset picture below shows. Fortunately, crops seem to be growing and after the rains people are busy on the land and the dusty brown landscape of the dry season is turning back into the lush and green vegetation that makes Rwanda look so beautiful.

My lush & green garden after a night of heavy rains

One of those wonderful Cyangugu sunsets

Life at the guesthouse continues to have its challenges. Whilst I love working with the staff they do, at times, test my patience and after a four day break, last week, in Kigali I was only back five minutes and to hear from Emmanuel what had been going on to find one of my heads coming on! Actually, I often think I must have two heads by the way people here in Kamembe still look at me as if I have come from outer space – I would have thought, by now, they know what a Muzungu looks like.  It felt strangely good to be in Kigali and getting no one staring at me.

So, Christmas just around the corner and whilst there is no sight and sound of it here until Christmas Eve I guess back home the cards are in the shop and the countdown has begun.  I am looking forward to coming home for Christmas for a couple of weeks although it is going to be strange to feel that coldness that you just don’t get here – I rarely have to wear a pullover so the thought of coming back and wearing heavy jackets, gloves and scarves will be quite a novelty.

Then its back in the New Year for what could be my last four months.  My two-year ‘mission’ comes to an end in May, as I keep saying to Bishop Nathan and my thoughts are turning to what happens after that.

I’m looking forward to having some friends from Southover Church in November and from Blakeney Church in January as well as other friends and visitors. We are all still mourning the loss of Janice Balfour who came here to teach earlier this year, had to return to the UK after about a week as she was ill to find out she had cancer and very sadly died shortly afterwards. Janice had been to Rwanda a couple of times, had lived in Kigali back in the 80’s and was a wonderful, kind, caring person and she is greatly missed.

Lovely Janice - Rwanda 2011

People here, also sadly, have to deal with losses of friends and family. They die without warning, often with no sign of illness or knowing what the cause was and then, often, the day later they are buried.  Remarkably, Maria who I been visiting and who is dying from AIDS is still alive – her life is no more than lying all day in bed but she always greets me with a wonderful smile and keeps in contact with the outside world through her mobile phone.  So often, the way the Rwandans use their phones here drive me mad – constant ringing and answering in middle of conversations, in meetings and not to mention shouting on them all the way on the bus to/from Kigali (sorry my Rwandan friends but this is a criticism not an observation!) but I can see, for Maria, what a blessing her phone is.  She knows everything that is going on at the guesthouse (more than I do) and she blesses me greatly when I go to see her and puts all my problems and challenges into perspective.

The mother with the sick baby that was, finally, diagnosed with water on the brain continues to care for him at home but is getting support from the church and I hope to go and visit her soon.

Recently, I had to say a good-bye to Isaie my house-helper who has gone to join a Tearfund community service programme for two months. He will be part of small team of one other Rwandan young man and four girls from the UK (he is very happy!) and is working in Muhanga, a large town about an hour from Kigali.  Isaie is really a ‘boy from the village’ so I hope this two-month experience, that I encouraged him to apply for, will help him grow in confidence and open up opportunities for other things he can do with his life rather than wash my socks! (Isaie, if you are reading this I know you do much more than this and you are greatly appreciated and missed).

Isaie saying goodbye to his Mum, brother and niece

But saying a ‘goodbye’ to Isaie, I am saying ‘hello’ to a Rwandan family of five, from Kigali, who are coming to live with me. It was going to be only three – Jonas (who is working at the guesthouse), his wife Marguerite and their two year old daughter Gaele but then I found out that Clementine, his wife’s sister, also has to come as she looks after Gaele and then, shortly after, I discovered that Marguerite is having a baby any time now.  And, if Isaie decides to come back, which I suspect he will, then there will be seven of us – fortunately, the house is big enough and I have the house next door, where I used to live or the guesthouse to escape to, if the new baby screams the house down.  I am looking forward to it, really I am!

So, my life in Rwanda continues. Exhausting, yes?  Challenging, yes? Life changing, yes? Enriching, yes?

My Rwandan holiday – Part Two

Gisenyi's sandy beach

As I said at the end of Part One, I was looking forward to a different type of ‘resort’ experience in Gisenyi and I was not to be disappointed. The town of Gisenyi is famous for its sandy beach, colonial history, closeness to the DRC and also to the Virunga National Park with its range of volcanoes famous for the mountain gorillas.

Being in Gisenyi felt like being by the sea – you couldn’t see the opposite side of the lake and there were even waves. A long road with palm trees and old colonial houses runs along the beach and leads to one of two border crossings – Gisenyi has seen some troubles over the years most recently with fighting by M23 rebels in Goma but today there is a sense of peace and calm.  It does have feel of a faded past with some of the old colonial houses having seen better days but like many other places in Rwanda there are new hotels and other buildings going up – I felt it a shame they couldn’t repair and preserve some of the older buildings as it would allow Gisenyi to have something quite unique.

A reminder of Gisenyi's colonial past

I stayed outside Gisenyi in Kigufi at a small Catholic retreat called St Benoit. Beautiful location, right on the lake with lovely gardens, trees, birdlife, flowers and best of all no Wi-Fi or internet access! I was entertained one morning by the sight of the elderly gardener cutting the grass not by a slasher (long bladed tool) used by most people here but by an electric lawn mower – there were a few anxious moments when the electric cable got very close to the blades.  I think he was probably quite happy with his slasher.

St. Benoit's gardens right on the lake

Cutting the grass with the new fangled contraption!

It was a 20-minute ride by moto to/from Gisenyi, along the lake and across a broken bridge that stopped any car getting to Kigufi unless they took a 45-minute detour. Each time I went over the bridge, on the moto, I wondered whether it would give way – my driver, who I used every day, was called Muzungu Jonathan (you couldn’t have made it up) and as it happens all the time here I now have a new friend.

Muzungu Jonathan and Jonathan Muzungu

I was invited by someone I knew, who lives in Gisenyi, to go on Sunday to his church the Zion Temple - I knew I would be in for a long (3 hours) and lively service.  The preacher who had been invited from the DRC, preached for around an hour in French and the leader of the church translated into Kinyarwandan and my friend tried to translate for me into English – not easy!  As are many of the preachers here, he got very animated and excited as did the church leader who I think felt he had not only to translate but do all the actions as well – very entertaining and made up for the fact that I couldn’t really understand the sermon.

The highlight of my stay was to visit “Imbabazi” a bus and moto ride towards the Volcanoes National Park and a noticeable drop in temperature as we climbed quite quickly from Gisenyi. “Imbabazi” was an orphanage, a pyrethrum farm and gardens created by an American lady called Rosamund Carr who spent much of her life in the DRC and Rwanda until she died in 2006.  She created a wonderful English garden in the middle of Africa and she was also known for her friendship with Dian Fossey – her character and her gardens featured in the film ‘Gorillas in the Mist’.

An English country garden in the middle of Africa

For a couple of hours I felt I was back home in England walking around manicured lawns and flowers of all descriptions.  Ros Carr discovered that due to the climate and the fertile volcanic soil, flowers from all over Europe did very well and she also developed a business selling flowers to many of the hotels in Gisenyi and Kigali. I was accompanied on my tour by three very friendly dogs and at times a very playful cat but I was reminded that I was not really in England by the sight of Rwandans walking along the lane by the gardens.

Two of my three four-legged guides

I bought and read her book “A Land of a Thousand Hills” and I certainly recommend it as a really interesting story not only about her life but also the history of the DRC and Rwanda through peaceful and turbulent times.

The figure in the background was a reminder I was in Rwanda

Then it was back on the bus to Kigali for an overnight stay before the six hour drive back to Kamembe made interesting, as these journeys always are, by a German missionary who decided to preach to the bus as we drove through the Nyungwe Forest much to the amusement of the Rwandans who couldn’t understand a word (maybe not a bad thing) and five Italian girls who were going trekking to the forest. These are never quiet journeys as the radio is blaring out music, people are talking very loudly on their phones or listening to music and the usual loud conversions or shouting as we narrowly avoid a truck coming very fast around the corner in the other direction. I have discovered that having a good books provides some distraction as sleep is out of the question.

So now it's back to work and taking my first day easy by writing this post.

My Rwandan holiday – Part One

Kibuye on Lake Kivu

The beauty of Rwanda still amazes me. For such a small country, the landscape is diverse and so very beautiful and this week I’ve discovered the ‘resort’ of Kibuye on Lake Kivu about half-way between Kamembe in the south and Gisenyi in the north where I head to tomorrow.

Some while back, I decided I needed to take a holiday and did the typical muzungu thing and planned and booked my time off.  I felt I needed to escape, clear my head and try and have some R&R – the last few months have been very busy and I’ve not managed a proper day off in the last three weeks.

Since being in Rwanda, I’ve wanted to explore the resorts of Lake Kivu and on Tuesday I took the boat service that operates a couple of times a week to Kibuye and Ginsenyi. To Kibuye it is a journey time of six hours by boat - slightly longer than taking the bus but on a road that for most part is unmade and impassable in the wet season, which we are now approaching.  I thought I’d spoil myself and book a VIP ticket for around £5.00 rather than a standard ticket for £3.50 but boarding the boat I failed to see anything that resembled a VIP section so just paid for a standard ticket and bought a plastic mug of hot, sweet tea and a doughnut including buying some for the two young boys sitting next to me.

The boat to Kibuye

It was a bit disconcerting to board, after first walking up a few planks of wood, to discover all the passengers (surprisingly for Rwanda it was full at 6.30am even though it wasn’t scheduled to leave at 7am) sitting inside wearing their life-jackets – I decided to use mine as a back-rest as the seats were very hard.  After six hours and a few stops on the way, we finally arrived in Kibuye where they checked our passports/identity cards as we disembarked (at the last moment I decided to bring my passport) although no checks were made when we boarded in Kamembe.

Arrived at Kibuye

Although I try and avoid taking motos, I decided these were the easiest and cheapest form of transport and the young driver who asked me if I wanted a lift knew where the guesthouse was. Kibuye has a one-way system so a rather long ride took place to the guesthouse, which, as I later discovered, was just a short walk up the hill from where the boat docked.  I’d booked a small guesthouse run by the Catholic church – main difference from the ones run by the Anglican Church, such as Peace Guest House, is they serve alcohol.  

View of one of the inlets and guesthouse on top of hill on left

Located on a hilltop it offers wonderful panoramic views over various inlets of Lake Kivu and my bedroom, on the top floor, has windows on two sides so as I sit here and type this I’m looking over the lake and the beautiful hills in the distance.  This morning, after a night of heavy rain, I was able to see two of the volcanoes in the north.

Early morning in Kibuye with two volcanoes in the distance

The location of the guesthouse and the friendliness of the staff make up for the fact that:

a) For two days we have had no water (they say “it’s the dry season and water often is a problem” and I say “but we had two hours of very heavy rain last night”) so it arrives in a jerry can and is left outside the door – cold and so heavy that it is almost impossible to lift

b) They are doing building work, just behind my room starting at 7am in the morning

c) Everything from the doors, curtains and bed make a noise so impossible to do anything in the room quietly

d) There are huge Rwandan crows that make a racket on the tin roof and squawk their beaks off

e) I had to wait last night for an hour and a half for some fish brochettes (wanted beef but no delivery of meat) and chips for supper

Despite these minor irritations, Kibuye is very peaceful and beautiful.  More sophisticated (if that’s the right word to use) than Kamembe, it is a popular resort for people living in Kigali and the nearest to get to by road from the city.  There are some lovely, new hotels overlooking the lake and life seems to go at a gentler pace than the frenetic pace of Kamembe.

One of the 'new' hotels in Kibuye

During the genocide, 90% of Tutsi lost their life in Kibuye– the largest amount of anywhere in Rwanda. The area is dotted with genocide memorials and near to the guesthouse, the church was the scene of a large massacre and now a rather macabre memorial has been erected there with what looks like a shop window of skulls looking out.

One of the many genocide memorials

A rather disturbing memorial

Today, I went out on a boat trip taking in many of the islands dotted around including one called ‘Napoleon’s Island’ as it is shaped like his hat.  Stopping there, John the young boatman decided we had to climb to the top and made a rapid ascent meeting on the way a number of cows and disturbing a large bat colony – John asked if I wanted to go and have a closer use but somewhere at the back of my mind I thought about bats and Ebola (there is a connection) so decided to give it a miss.  

Out on the lake

Disturbing the bat colony

As we carried on climbing, the peace was disturbed by John listening to loud music on his phone – I don’t think Rwandans do quiet as they seem oblivious to noise around them whether it is the radio, ghetto blasters or shouting on their mobile phones.  The climb to the top was worth it as we had a wonderful 360-degree panorama of Kibuye, the lake and surrounding islands as well as the new methane plant extracting methane from the lake (which is full of it) and turning it into electricity. I understand that despite the very high level of methane it is safe as long as the water pressure is greater than the methane pressure, which, at the moment, it is.

John celebrating our climb to the top of Napoleon's hat!

Tomorrow, it’s back on the boat for a shorter three-hour trip to Gisenyi in the north of Lake Kivu and on the border with Goma in the DRC.  I understand a different type of ‘resort’ to Kibuye so looking forward to the experience.