Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Monday, March 2, 2009
Mini Update
Muraho Everyone!!
Amakuru? (What's the news?) We are back in Kigali after a week on the road. I will fill this in with more detail on each adventure as soon as we hit US soil, along with some much awaited photos and videos, but for now, I just wanted to let you know where we were and why we couldn't post.
Monday, a few of us drove to the Northwestern corner of Rwanda to Volcanoes National Park. We were lucky to arrive before dark and before the fog set in blocking the view of the volcanoes. I fell in love with Sabino, which means tooth, and this mountain does look like a jagged tooth. Sabino is also the name of the family of Gorillas we got to see the following day. We have some great video footage of the gorillas as we got to climb into their nest and follow them to three locations, getting as close as a few feet. Our guide François was great and the gorillas knew him very well. I still think he was half man-half gorilla as he spoke their language and ate their food. Plus he had no problem climbing the muddy slopes in the high altitude, but that may be just because we were fat Americans ;-) It was totally worth the money and the hike!
Tuesday night we visited an orphanage near Gisenyi started by an American woman that lived on a plantation there most of her whole life. We stayed in Gisenyi and spend the next day eating fish in "paradise" along Lake Kivu. (See the map-it separates DR Congo and Rwanda). We even saw a big rally/celebration for the return of some Rwandan rebels that had surrendered in the Congo. Lots of soldiers!
We came back on Wed. night and left early Thursday morning for Uganda. We stayed in Kampala for 3 nights so that we had two days, one on the Nile River and one on Lake Victoria. I'll tell the story of how me taking photos of the dam that separates Lake Victoria and the Nile River almost landed me in Ugandan prison. Luckily, Rockko was there to "diffuse the situation."
So we are back in Kigali to pick up our suites we had tailored and to do last minute shopping of handicrafts. Tonight we are celebrating moi anniversaire by cooking an American meal of Cheeseburgers and guacamole!
Tomorrow, visiting more family and the genocide memorial. We fly out of Kigali on Thursday and will get into Dullus sometime on Firday. I hope to post more details, edit for spelling and grammer (sorry i'm always in a hurry) and post photos!! So check back on the weekend.
It's been an amazing trip. Thanks for all of your support and interest!
Love you,
Maggie
Amakuru? (What's the news?) We are back in Kigali after a week on the road. I will fill this in with more detail on each adventure as soon as we hit US soil, along with some much awaited photos and videos, but for now, I just wanted to let you know where we were and why we couldn't post.
Monday, a few of us drove to the Northwestern corner of Rwanda to Volcanoes National Park. We were lucky to arrive before dark and before the fog set in blocking the view of the volcanoes. I fell in love with Sabino, which means tooth, and this mountain does look like a jagged tooth. Sabino is also the name of the family of Gorillas we got to see the following day. We have some great video footage of the gorillas as we got to climb into their nest and follow them to three locations, getting as close as a few feet. Our guide François was great and the gorillas knew him very well. I still think he was half man-half gorilla as he spoke their language and ate their food. Plus he had no problem climbing the muddy slopes in the high altitude, but that may be just because we were fat Americans ;-) It was totally worth the money and the hike!
Tuesday night we visited an orphanage near Gisenyi started by an American woman that lived on a plantation there most of her whole life. We stayed in Gisenyi and spend the next day eating fish in "paradise" along Lake Kivu. (See the map-it separates DR Congo and Rwanda). We even saw a big rally/celebration for the return of some Rwandan rebels that had surrendered in the Congo. Lots of soldiers!
We came back on Wed. night and left early Thursday morning for Uganda. We stayed in Kampala for 3 nights so that we had two days, one on the Nile River and one on Lake Victoria. I'll tell the story of how me taking photos of the dam that separates Lake Victoria and the Nile River almost landed me in Ugandan prison. Luckily, Rockko was there to "diffuse the situation."
So we are back in Kigali to pick up our suites we had tailored and to do last minute shopping of handicrafts. Tonight we are celebrating moi anniversaire by cooking an American meal of Cheeseburgers and guacamole!
Tomorrow, visiting more family and the genocide memorial. We fly out of Kigali on Thursday and will get into Dullus sometime on Firday. I hope to post more details, edit for spelling and grammer (sorry i'm always in a hurry) and post photos!! So check back on the weekend.
It's been an amazing trip. Thanks for all of your support and interest!
Love you,
Maggie
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