Don't go chasing waterfalls
on Rose Hardman (Rwanda), 21/Nov/2010 08:31, 34 days ago
I pushed the boat out this week and ate out twice! A group of us met up on Wednesday to go to Green Garden. Moira is back from her trip to climb Kilimanjaro. Luckily she didn’t get too ill whilst climbing although she said it was freezing! On Thursday we went to Nectar. It was my last meal with Carla, who has now gone back to Brazil via Germany, France and possible somewhere else!I was meant to have a meeting in Kigali on Friday but it was cancelled. However, I had already arranged to pick up a parcel and head to the East so I went in anyway. The parcel was my Christmas present from Dad and family which came complete with Christmas Tree- they are absolute stars! I then got the bus to Kibungo to stay with Louise and Cathy. It was great to see them and catch up. On Saturday they headed to a wedding (which ended up lasting about 12 hours by the sounds of it!) They both looked beautiful in their mishananas but I was too focused on the marmite they had offered me for breakfast to truly appreciate it! Once I had waved them off like a proud parent I headed to Rusozi to see Abdel. There was a little bit of confusion when I was trying to get the bus as I was told by the guys who sell bus tickets that the next bus wasn’t until 11.00 (it was 9.30). After about 10 minutes of me saying surely there’s an earlier bus and them denying it, one of them nonchalantly mentioned the bus at 9.45. Right, so there is an earlier bus then!Abdel had said he would send a moto to collect me when I arrived in Rusozi, so I called him when I arrived whilst trying to shake off the group of people who had surrounded me, including a man who kept asking me where I was going. I tried to explain that I didn’t know and that someone was coming to get me but the guy’s phone rang interrupting our conversation. Next thing I know this guy is greeting me by name- it was Emmanuel, Abdel’s moto driver.Abdel lives in a really nice village. His house is smaller than most of the volunteers but that makes it more homely. VSO do not give us the furniture to kit out large houses! We had a very pleasant day spent walking, chatting and me hanging off his exercise bar unable to do a chin up. We also spent a large part of the day trying to convince two of his friends (who are girls) that we were not a couple and a man and woman can just be friends. One of the girls refused to look at me when we were first introduced as she has a crush on Abdel! She slowly warmed to me as I think it became obvious that I was not trying to make a move on her man! Although she did spend a good proportion of the evening staring at us trying to find evidence that we were more than just friends.On Sunday Abdel and I went to Rusomo Falls and met up with Mark, Phil, Louise and Cathy. The falls were great and Louise and I sneaked over to Tanzania for all of 30 seconds. I’m not sure that I can count it as having been there though! We decided to have lunch before I had to make the long journey back to Gitarama. At first it was very nice. We spoke to the head waiter who told me that he knew me from Butare (I’d be surprised!) We practised our Kinyarwanda with him and we all caught up. However after waiting for about two hours we decided that enough was enough. It was nearing 2.30 and it was going to take me at least 5 hours to get back. So Cathy, Louise and I had to leave without food. This then caused a big commotion as the waiter was surprised that we wereleaving (despite the fact that we had told him multiple times that I had to leave to get back to Muhanga and he had told us multiple times that the food was just coming!) Luckily the boys sorted it out (I hope, Louise, Cathy and I just scarpered to catch the bus!)Rusomo FallsAnd againRwanda to the left of me, Tanzania to the right...Here I am, stuck in the middle with you...My 30 seconds in Tanzania- a trip to rememberBack into RwandaThe Kagera River, border between Rwanda and Tanzania It ended up taking 5 and a half hours to get back to Gitarama. The journey was fine but my bum was numb by the end of it! Luckily Suzanne had ordered me an omelette so I was able to eat as soon as I arrived back.