The End...

Johannes and I are saying good-bye to Rwanda today and heading off to Germany to celebrate the holidays. So now it is time to sign off from the blog forever - many thanks to all of you have read and commented on my posts over the past four months! Allow me to close with a couple top ten lists about what we'll miss from Rwanda and what we've missed from home:

Top 10 Things I’ll Miss About Rwanda When We Leave

1.      Long lunches with Johannes

2.      Long weekend trips with Johannes

3.      Warm, sunny weather day after day after day

4.      Friendly Rwandan colleagues

5.      Delicious avocados, mangoes, pineapple, passion fruit, and mini-bananas

6.      Shocking the locals by speaking a few phrases of Kinyarwanda

7.      Monkeys! Gorillas! Chimpanzees!

8.      Having a tennis coach

9.      Having a chauffeur (a.k.a. Johannes)

10.   Beautiful trees and flowers that grow everywhere

Top 10 Things I Miss From Back Home

1.      Hanging out with my friends

2.      A comfortable, normal-sized bed

3.      Good beer

4.      Chipotle

5.      Salad

6.      Eating things that Johannes cooks or bakes

7.      Brushing my teeth with tap water

8.      Seasons

9.      My iPhone...or just generally speaking a cell phone with a battery that lasts longer than 3 brief calls

10.   Wearing perfume rather than insect repellent

Nyungwe Redux

For my birthday weekend, Johannes and I made a trip back to our favorite corner of Rwanda – Nyungwe Forest. We left early on Saturday morning, grabbing coffee and banana bread to go from Bourbon. After about two hours on the road, we stopped in Butare for ice cream at Inzozi Nziza. Unfortunately, we weren’t the only ones with the same idea and ended up in line behind 20 or so brand-new Peace Corps volunteers. Eventually, we received our coffee ice cream and were on the road again. The drive was as spectacular as I remembered, and this time the scenery was even dotted with the largest sunflowers I’ve ever seen. Just gorgeous!

Hilly countryside on the road between Butare and Nyungwe Forest

We arrived at our favorite hotel – Nyungwe Forest Lodge – just in time for a late lunch and spent the afternoon relaxing in our suite, reading books and magazines and watching the movie “Despicable Me.” After a delicious dinner, we turned in early in preparation for our 3:30 am wake-up call. Unfortunately, Johannes and I didn’t sleep well, despite the super comfortable bed. It was probably a combination of the high altitude and the constant rain which made us worried about our early morning chimpanzee tracking expedition.

At 3:30 am we were up and at ‘em, and after some Rwandan tea and warm muffins, we were on our way. We picked up our guide a short distance away, and he directed us to the Cyamudongo Forest, which is much smaller than Nyungwe (only 6 sq km) and is located further south and west, not too far from the borders with Congo and Burundi. We drove an hour and a half on progressively worse roads but eventually arrived at the start of our hike. It was quite chilly, and the path was muddy and slippery from the rain. In all honesty, the “hike” was more like trail running for an hour until we heard the chimpanzees screeching and hollering nearby. Unlike with the gorillas, it is difficult to get close to the chimps, so we stood on the path and watched them ascending and descending trees, eating leaves, and resting amid the branches. Although it was possible to see them with the naked eye, one needed binoculars to get a glimpse of their faces or see exactly what they were up to. 

The beautiful Cyamudongo Forest

A chimpanzee...you'll just have to take my word for it! ; )

Another chimp in action

Apparently, chimps are omnivores and sometimes eat other monkeys. Thus, it was surprising to see Mona monkeys springing from branch to branch nearby. We watched the scene for two hours, until I was pretty cold, tired, and hungry and ready to head back to the warmth and comfort of the lodge. On the hike back to the car, we took our time, and the guide pointed out various interesting flora and fauna. We also ran into a couple groups of baboons, who unbeknownst to me actually bark like dogs. We even saw a tiny baby baboon, but Johannes didn’t want to take any pictures, because he’s “seen way too many baboons – they are like a plague!”

You can see a Mona monkey if you look closely

Back at the lodge, we took warm showers, ate a satisfying lunch, and settled down for a nap. We enjoyed another wonderful dinner, complete with a cabernet sauvignon from South Africa. That night we slept like logs and woke up feeling refreshed. The sun was shining, and we ate breakfast on the patio and enjoyed the view of the tea plantation and Nyungwe Forest one last time. As we drove through the National Park, a few L’Hoest monkeys came to the side of the road to say good-bye. The rest of our drive was uneventful, and this time we benefited from a quiet pit-stop at Inzozi Nziza and shared chocolate ice cream with bananas and a couple of Snickerdoodle cookies (how they ended up making those in Rwanda, I’ll never know!) – power lunch! ; )   

One source of the Nile River has been discovered in Rwanda

A L'Hoest monkey saying good-bye! ; )

We're going to miss the Land of a Thousand Hills...

A Bite to Eat

Since you've all been reading the blog faithfully and are in the process of booking your flights to Kigali for your next vacation, I thought I would share some restaurant reviews with you:

Banana

Our favorite restaurant in Kigali, Banana offers delicious African specialties in a romantic setting. The evening typically starts with the main waiter lugging the chalkboard menu over to our table and reading it word-for-word, which goes something like this: “As a starter, we have a bacon and avocado salad, which is a salad with bacon and avocado.” This continues for several minutes and inspires reactions ranging from mild annoyance to inconspicuous giggling. We usually opt for guacamole as a starter – made with fresh, perfectly ripe avocados, it never disappoints. Generally speaking, it is wise to order a starter in Rwandan restaurants, because you’ll likely be waiting a long time for your main course. As my boss says, “Don’t go out to eat if you’re hungry.” So true! Luckily, when the entrees finally arrive at Banana, they are nearly always worth the wait, such as a Congolese chicken dish paired with fried plantains that are crisp on the outside and melt-in-your-mouth sweet on the inside. You can even get Schweinshaxe – a popular Bavarian dish of pork knuckle – which Johannes often does to diminish his homesickness. As most of you know, I live for dessert, and since I’ve been in Rwanda, I can count on one hand the times I’ve ordered it. After sitting in an uncomfortable wooden chair for two hours, heading home and eating a few bites of Ritter Sport chocolate sounds more appealing.

Heaven

For awhile, this was Johannes’ favorite restaurant in town, and I admit that the terrace is one of the loveliest spots in Kigali. Our most heavenly experience at Heaven was a Sunday brunch a few months ago, where we nearly cried tears of joy over the delicious French-press coffee, mini burritos, and French toast with caramelized bananas. Ironically, the restaurant cancelled its Sunday brunch service the following week. Our dinners there have been hit or miss. Johannes loves the hamburger, which is smothered in gouda and takes up nearly half the plate. I prefer to try dishes on special for the evening but have been disappointed before with a chicken dish boasting a spaetzle accompaniment that turned out to be chopped up spaghetti. Heaven’s biggest strength is probably its service – the waiters are quick to bring an amuse bouche if the food is taking too long. The restaurant’s greatest fault is, in my opinion, the loud expats that frequent the place and destroy the ambience of the terrace.

Khana Khazana

Interestingly, one is not deprived of high-quality Indian food in Kigali. With candlelit tables on a pleasant patio, Khana Khazana is our favorite place to eat curries and naan. We almost always opt for one of the abundant vegetarian options, but to be honest, the menu is so extensive, one could pick only among the multiples of eight on the numbered menu and come away sated and happy. A dish of mutter paneer or aloo gobi, paired with steamed rice and plain naan, is enough for two, while ordering an extra dish can provide leftovers for the next day, which the waiters don’t mind wrapping for you. The food and service are consistently top notch, and the romantic setting can’t be beat. If someone at a nearby table has a birthday, you are in for a treat, as they dim the lights and then the waiters sing and dance around the entire patio – it’s quite a sight!

Shokola

Shokola has a lot going for it in the food and drink department, but its service is among the slowest in town. Johannes and I learned our lesson early on and now always bring something to read if we are heading there for a meal, which makes the waiting time bearable. My favorite items on the menu include a soothing mint tea and a fresh chicken couscous salad, which is plentiful enough to share. They also recently started a lunch menu, which includes delicious pita sandwiches with the freshest ingredients. On Sundays, they offer a Mexican menu with a vegetarian burrito that comes closest to satisfying my Chipotle cravings. On the weekends, the crowd here is a unique mix of hippie kids who sit in front of their laptops and chain smoke through breakfast and expat moms who let their kids run wild, but if you can avoid those factions, you will be in for a delightful, albeit S-L-O-W meal.