Careless and free like animals
on Rose Hardman (Rwanda), 15/Nov/2010 07:01, 34 days ago
This weekend Ken, Carla, Pauline and I descended upon Akagera National Park. It was Ken and Carla’s last weekend in Rwanda (which is going to leave a gaping hole in the lives of many a volunteer) and, as none of us had been to Akagera Park (or indeed any African safari), we decided to go and try and spot some wildlife. They don’t have the Big Five in Akagera Park (or so I’ve been told- I’m not sure what the ‘Big Five’ includes. If it includes Giraffe, Buffalo, Hippo, Warthog, many different types of Antelope, Tortoise, Baboon, other monkey in a tree, colourful birds, Zebra, or Crocodile then they do have the big five!)It was a long day (we left Gitarama at 4.30am and returned for about 6.30pm) and the company we rented the 4x4 off was not great for customer service (do not go with Akagera tours unless you want to pay extra for less!) but Akagera Park was brilliant. Here are some of the animals we saw:Our guide, CharlesTanzaniaIn work this week we had a visit from one of our biggest donors. I wish the UK had the same attitude to donor visits as Rwanda! Everyone was so relaxed and it was a really enjoyable couple of days. We were taken to Chez Lando in Gitarama on Thursday for dinner which is very nice! There was a little confusion on my part as I didn’t realise we were going and then had a call just after I had got out the shower to be told I was being picked up to go out. I then had a mad dash to look half way reasonable. This seems to happen a lot to me here! Maybe I should stop having showers!Sunday was Ken and Carla’s leaving do which was a Spanish tapas theme. As always, the food was delicious and the company great! It is with sadness that we say goodbye to Ken and Carla though as they are such a big part of our Rwandan life. Ken particularly has been a massive support since we arrived.