AKAGERA
At 5.30 in the morning,just as a beautiful dawn was breaking over Kigali, we set off for Akagera national park;its very small by african park standards and until 1994 was almost twice as big but it is still an amazing experience. It took us just over an hour and a half to get there in the massive land cruiser (with 2 petrol tanks) that picked us up;( the sort of vehicle that we had always sneered at because they cost a fortune and were always full of muzungus) but once in the park it really came inti its own as we went completely off road, only such a vehicle could have managed the terrain and we really felt we were on safari as we stood with our heads out of the roof looking at giraffe, buffalo,; many different types of antelope, baboons, wart hogs - you name it.Unfortunately the zebras were on holiday in Tanzania that day! There were so many different kinds of birds and a real highlight were the hippos basking in lake Muhazi; we actually got out of the vehicle to look at these creatures - how amazing and to think that that they live on grass, cant really swim but spend all day in the water only coming out at night to feed. Who thought that one up!! There are elephants too in the park and lions and many other animals but they are very elusive. Poaching is still a big problem in the park as traditionally rwandans have always hunted some of thes animas for food and skins; We saw a picture of a hippo trap in the national museum.
On the return to Kigali our pwerful vehicle broke down. A million people tried to get it going again but to no avail so we were eventually rescued by two lovely men with a lot of bananas. They gave all four of us a lift back to our hotel in Kigali, they told us that it is a rwandan belief that if you see someone in trouble and you dont help them, your daughters will never find husbands.
GORILLAS!
The climax of our stay in Rwanda was definitely our visit to the mountain gorillas last week. Although it is hideously expensive it really is a once in a lifetime experience.It involved another early start; we were picked up from the "hotel" by a 4 by 4 and driven to the volcanoes national park HQ where guides were waiting to put us into one of seven groups of eight people. We were given a short briefing by Ignace, our guide as to how we should behave in the presence of the gorillas; no pointing, no touching, no showing you are afraid as this can make them aggressive. After a 40 minute drive to the lower slopes of the Virungas we then had a 3 hour climb, very steep and slippery in places, through very difficult, thick jungle. Ignace was in constant touch with the trackers who were tracking the movements of our group of gorillas, the Amohoro ( peace) group, a family of 16. At last we reached the trackers and had to leave all bags and sticks behind and minutes later we were in the midst of the gorilla family, all of whom were enjoying their mid morning nap. They soon woke up and we were able to observe them eating, playing, climbing and occasionally insisting upon their right of way on the narrow jungle trails and ever so gently pushing us aside if we were in their way. We saw mothers with small babies, juveniles, and young adults and the highlight was right at the end of the visit when Ubumwe, the massive silver back and leader of the group moved off and the rest of the group had to follow him. It was a breathtaking experience and we felt we were greatly priviliged to be allowed to spend an hour in the company of these noble creatures.Back down the mountain in the pouring rain, slipping and sliding all the way but totally elated and then just time for a bite to eat and a well earned primus before getting the bus (filthy as we were) back to Kigali.
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