Safari in Akagera

On Saturday morning, we got up early and headed out in our SUV, anxious to grab coffee and start the drive to Akagera National Park, which lies in the Eastern Province of Rwanda on the border with Tanzania. As we pulled onto the main road near our apartment, we were surprised to find the streets eerily quiet with no other cars in sight. Johannes quickly realized that it must be Umuganda (literally meaning “contribution”) – the last Saturday of every month when all Rwandans are supposed to participate in community service. On this day, one is not allowed to drive between 7 am – noon. Oops! We stopped by our coffee shop anyway and found it closed, so we returned home to eat breakfast and rethink our strategy.

After breakfast, we decided to just go for it since we were reluctant to sit around at home. On the other side of town, we got pulled over by a policeman, who took Johannes’ driver’s license for about 5 minutes and then let us go. Luckily, that was our only run-in with the law on Umuganda, and finally we were on our way. The road was well-paved, and we made good time as we drove past the southern park entrance and headed to Nyakarambi to check out an artisan cooperative that makes Imigongo (cow-dung) paintings. We decided to buy three of them, and by the time we had selected the best ones, paid, and were heading back to our car, it seemed like the whole village had gathered around to see what the “muzungus” were up to.

Soon we arrived at the Akagera Game Lodge situated on the beautiful Lake Ihema inside the park, and we had a look around followed by a drink on the terrace before the sun set. And then as we changed clothes before dinner, a warthog (like Pumbaa in the “Lion King”) walked by our balcony as a preview of what the next day would bring! We went to bed very early knowing that we were scheduled to meet our guide at 6:30 am for a game drive.

Johannes at the entrance to Akagera National Park

This was my first safari, so as you can imagine, I was pretty excited! And Akagera did not disappoint! We saw all kind of birds and animals. My favorites would have to be the hippos, giraffes, and zebras, but we also saw baboons, vervet monkeys, Nile crocodiles (the world’s largest reptiles!) and three different types of antelopes – impalas, topis, and waterbucks. While we saw lots of fresh elephant poop, sadly no elephants made an appearance. The roads were decent, and although the ride was somewhat bumpy, Johannes did an amazing job.

A baboon only vaguely interested in his visitors

An impala - the most common type of antelope in Akagera

A camera-shy zebra - doesn't he look fake?

Crested cranes - it's difficult to see but they are sharing the water with crocodiles!

Hippos!!!

Seeing the giraffes was probably the most amazing thing – we had driven north through nearly the entire park over the past four hours and were about ready to give up on seeing a giraffe when our guide spotted one. We stopped the car and got out to get a closer look. As we approached, we noticed a second giraffe nearby. Johannes was trying to get the best shot with his camera, so our guide kept taking us closer and closer until all of a sudden we looked up and noticed another giraffe practically right behind us. Don’t worry – they’re not dangerous – the big male just quietly started at us as we took lots of pictures! 

The first giraffe we spotted - sooo much bigger than at the zoo!

Then this guy snuck up behind us!

Life in Kigali

Our apartment is starting to feel like home after we moved the furniture around a little and changed a few light bulbs to give off a warmer glow. The place has one bedroom and one and a half baths, plus a nice balcony that looks out to the west providing great views of the rambling hills around town and frequent gorgeous sunsets.

Our bedroom, complete with a freakishly short bed

Blogging in the living room

View from our balcony

 The apartment building is located near the Belgian school. To be honest, I don’t know exactly where the Belgian school is, but in a city where few street names exist and those that do are rarely used, that is apparently the best way to describe how to get to our place. The World Bank office is a short walk away, which makes Johannes’ commute even easier than it was in DC. For the past two weeks, I’ve been working at the Ministry of Agriculture, which is on the other side of town – about a 15 min drive away.

We are renting a big old white Chevy Blazer, fondly nicknamed Otto, which Johannes drives skillfully around town, dodging motorbikes and mini-vans and pulling in and out of tight parking spots. I feel lucky to have such a talented chauffeur! The guys who supervise the gate to our building always wave fondly when we drive in or out of the parking lot and try to teach me words and phrases of Kinyarwanda.

Most nights we go out to dinner. Much to my surprise, Kigali is FULL of excellent restaurants – many of which I still haven’t visited. Those of you who know me well won’t be surprised when I later write blogs of restaurant reviews, but just for a preview, here are some of the highlights so far: fresh ginger and lemon tea and chicken couscous salad at Shokola, Sunday brunch complete with French toast and caramelized bananas at Heaven, vegetarian spaghetti and fried plantains at Banana, and mutter paneer and naan at Khana Khazana.

I’m not going to lie to you – I still have mad cravings for a huge delicious salad and a Chipotle burrito, but hey, it could be worse! Thankfully, we have also found good beer here in the form of Mützig lager, which helps me feel slightly better about missing my favorite beer season back in the US – Oktoberfest!

To work off all of these calories, Johannes and I have started taking tennis lessons at the Laico Hotel. Our coach, Bosco, is so patient and encouraging. At our first lesson, when Johannes told him that we were both beginners, he said, “Don’t worry – I’ll bring lots of balls.” : )  Today we had our third lesson already, and we're both showing signs of improvement.

Bosco, our tennis coach, testing my forehand (which is not good...YET!)

 

Johannes in action

Sweaty and out of breath after our tennis lesson

Weekend in Kibuye

Muraho! (that's "hello" in Kinyarwanda) And welcome to my blog! Here I will write about my adventures over the next 4 months in Rwanda. I hope you find it interesting to read!

I arrived here on Tuesday, August 31st, and on our first weekend, Johannes arranged for a relaxing getaway to Kibuye, a small town situated on Lake Kivu in western Rwanda. The drive took about 3 hours, and while Johannes paid careful attention to the big trucks and curvy roads, I dutifully waved to all the little kids along the side of the road who were excited to see a "muzungu" (white person). 

Lake Kivu is an interesting place, and not only because it is located on the border with Congo. The lake actually has the potential for limnic eruptions - what is that, you may ask? Well, it is a rare phenomenon unique where carbon dioxide of volcanic origin seeps into the lower strata of a very deep lake and accumulates there, becoming increasingly volatile. An external trigger, like a landslide or storm, can cause a cloud of this gas to burst out of the lake, thereby killing all oxygen-dependent creatures nearby. This actually happened at two lakes in Cameroon in the mid-80s, and once scientists identified the cause, they singled out Lake Kivu as the only other lake where such a phenomenon would likely occur. Of course, Johannes didn't mention this fact until we had already arrived at our hotel!

Moriah Hill Resort

The weekend consisted of a lot of lounging around, reading books and drinking coffee, as we didn't want to take on too much before I got over my jet lag (which honestly wasn't too bad). The highlight of our weekend was a boat excursion with Cassim, who drove us around for 2 hours on the lake. Our first stop was Napoleon's Island - its shape resembles his hat - and we got off the boat to walk around and see the thousands of fruit bats that inhabit the island. Here Cassim also informed us that the cows on the island can swim (!), so whenever they run out of grass to eat on Napoleon's Island, they can swim to another island. Craziness!

Johannes & Ginger on our boat tour

Looking for bats on Napoleon's Island

Yikes, they're everywhere!

The people were so warm and friendly in Kibuye, and as we hiked through the village, we would greet everyone with "Bonjour!" and they would reply with the same, emphatically waving both of their hands. And then we met some adorable kids who chased after us and smiled for the camera. A friend warned me that Rwandan kids are the cutest, and she may just be right!

Cute Rwandan kids!

Enjoying the sunset over Lake Kivu from our balcony