The arrival of the parents...
on Sarah's Blog (Rwanda), 18/Sep/2010 12:10, 34 days ago
August Week OneYet again I have not kept up with my blogging duties...sorry, sorry...I have been pretty busy over the past few weeks...I have a had some very important visitors accompanied by some very worthwhile experiences...I have also reached the grand old age of 30...a mile stone in the eyes of some...Rwanda is an interesting place to turn 30...as if trying to explain that you are 29, single and childless wasn’t hard enough...add a change of decade to the mixture and suddenly everything is a whole lot worse...I am not making it known in my office as it would just not be pleasent...I don’t even score brownie points for having a career...being away from home or being able to ride a motorbike...the lastone I think should earn many extra points...imagine trying to manage that with a buggy...I guess it could be bungied to the back but only if the wheels were all terrain...anyway...it has not been nearly as difficult as first anticipated as I have successfully managed to avoid the subject completely...So the parents arrived on 3rd August...I was travelling to Kigali to meet them on the Monday...while on the bus, minding my own business I was given a copy of ‘AWAKE’ which is part of the Jehovah’s witness WATCHTOWER series...I tried to politely refuse but to no avail...I accepted my fate and had a nosey through it...God aside (and I failed miserably at the quiz) it actually made for some quite interesting reading...how to make Kayaks out of seal skin and the such like..enough entertainment for a bus ride to Kigali...the radio was blaring out...some sort of American evangelical sermon...and it wa this that got me thinking...all the signs were pointing towards there being a God...he was definitely covering all bases and trying to make a point...so, if he did really exist, maybe I should make one last visit to the ORTPN to see if there were any tickets to visit the Gorillas in theVolcanoes National Park...and there were...I managed to book 3 tickets for the Friday...now we just had to sort out the finances...I had thankfully brought my green card and credit card and after some confusion I I had the money and the tickets...However I then realised that I hadn’t thought to bring walking boots, warm clothes or my camera...so Tuesday was a trip back to Gisagara...possibly the fastest turn around EVER...I got the 1pm bus from Butare to Gisagara...walked (very quickly) to my house...got together my things...and somehow (I think it may have been God) managed to get the 2pmbut back to Butare...and was back in Kigali in time to shower and meet the parents at the airport. It seemed to take forever for them to come through...but they made it eventually...3 suitcases...2 matching rucksacks...a panama and a straw hat...came ambling through...a little travel worn but otherwise ok...we went back to the hotel (hot water and wireless internet) dropped off the bags and then headed for the bar...3 portions of goat on a stick and chips were ordered...(with a side order of shock as when I had left the UK I had been a none potato eating vegetarian...quite a change!) and a fewRwandan beers...we chatted a little before all heading off for a reasonably early night...after all the travel and excitement...Wednesday morning we headed for the market...thankfully a bus came pretty quickly...but it was a small mini bus...well...they were going to have to experience it at some point...the market was busy and smelly as always...there are some things (although not many) in Rwanda which can be guaranteed...one of which is a smelly and somewhat noisy market...we had a quick wander around before heading into the town centre on the bus...we stopped for lunch in bourbon...beforehaving a look around Nakumat...all very exciting...Dad and Jane were still feeling a little tired after all their travelling so afternoon naps were in order...the evening was spent playing cards...having dinner and of course a few beverages...which started with Waragi (Ugandan Gin) in the bedroom playing cards...The cases were packed for the next day’s trip to Musanze...the volcano region where the Gorillas live...we got a taxi from the hotel over to the bus stop...and from there we spent 3 hours winding through the mountain...Jane managed to get a proper seat...Dad was on a proper seat...but over the wheel arch...while I was sat happily in a bucket seat...the journey felt longer than it was but we arrived in Musanze well before dark...we were collected from the bus office by the manager of the guest house...the guest house was small and pretty but very basic...we took a stroll into the town for a quick pop and a snack as we had missed lunch, before heading back to the guest house for cards and yet more Rwandan beer! Bed was a little earier than usual as we had to be up early in the morning to be at the meeting point for Gorilla trekking...we had hired a 4x4 to take us there...atfirst I was a little confused as it all seemed to be on the main road...I didn’t understand why we had to have such a rough and ready car...only after having or talk with the guide we got back in the car and headed into the mountains to meet the Hirwa group of Gorillas...then it became more thanapparent that a large and hefty vehicle was needed to get down the dirt paths!!! We stopped as close as we could to the forest and mountains...and there we were met by the porters...they carried our bags and were there to help when the paths were difficult and steep...the walk we were supposed to bedoing was supposedly short and the gorillas had been only 10 minutes from the car parking point the day before...but today they had decided to play a good old game of hide and seek...they were well into the forest which was a difficult terrain to negotiate...but everybody made it and we got to seewhat we had come for...GORILLAS!! They were incredible...they are so big and powerful...yet they have a playful and caring side too...they just played and got on with it...didn’t really pay all that much attention to the crowd of people watching them...we spent an hour watching them interacting and playing together...following them as they made their way through the forest...before we headed back to the waiting cars...back at the ORTPN meeting centre we each received a certificate before going back to the guest house...dad and jane thought that it would be nice to spend the rest of the afternoon visiting some of the nearby lakes....so we kept the car and continued ont he adventure in Musanze...the driver took us to a couple of lake view points and they really were pretty...but we were only able to get out at one of them...he also drove us to the Ugandan boarder before heading back to the guest house...for the evening...The next day we were all packed and ready to go...Dad and Jane were going to head on to Gisenyi for a few days as it was election time and it was better to be out of the way...but somewhere nice and pretty by the lake...I headed back to Gisagara where I would be joined by Melanie and Vanessa for the weekend...