Driving to Uganda to track mountain gorillas...and other fun things :)

Elizabeth on a moto

My favorite public transportation in Kigali

I hope all is well! I have been a little delinquent with updating this blog, but that's mostly because there has been so much going on these last few days. Last Friday night, Elizabeth arrived from South Africa after several exciting adventures in Namibia. Since she only had one day here in Kigali, we tried to make the most of it and took motos around town, ate Rwandese food, visited the Memorial, and of course checked out the local craft store. One craft store, Nziza, was a special discovery. The crafts are made by a co-operative of HIV+ women here in Kigali to help them make money. The special souvenir from Rwanda is called Imigongo and is made of cow dung (don't worry - it doesn't smell like cow dung!) It's kind of like a painting made of clay with vivid designs. I've been keeping my eye out for a cool one to bring back.

For a Rwandese lunch, we went to a local buffet called Chez Robert ("Robert's House"). Buffets are very common in Rwanda. I'm told that there is a cultural fear of poisoning in many African countries (dating back to folklore, etc), so people are careful to eat communal food that lots of people are eating and never drink something that hasn't been opened in front of them.

Eating Rwandese food in Kigali

Rwandese food - matoke (bananas), rice, curry chicken, veggies

Colleen with wine made from bananas

Saturday evening, Colleen arrived from Kenya where she'd been camping on safari for 10 days! Though everyone was pretty exhausted, we managed to have a cocktail at Milles Collines (Hotel Rwanda) and then experimented with a Rwandese restaurant that's supposed to be very good called Republica. Since Republica is popular, I wanted to make a reservation, which interestingly I did via text message since I couldn't get a good signal on my phone. (I have a temporary Rwandan phone, by the way). Anyway, since it was dark when we left Milles Collines, we took a cab to Republica and encountered a situation that demonstrated how wonderful the people of Rwanda are.

When we arrived at Republica, the cab driver told us in French that the fare was 10,000 francs (the exchange rate is approximately 600 francs to the dollar, so that was almost $20!) I thought that sounded like a rip-off, but since I hadn't negotiated the rate prior to getting into the cab, there wasn't much we felt like we could do. So, we paid begrudgingly and then walked into the restaurant. Halfway through our meal, the impossible happened. The cab driver appeared at our table and explained that we had overpaid him (since my French is not great, I'd mistaken the word for 2,000 with the word for 10,000). The cab driver then gave us the difference between the actual fare, 2,000 francs, and how much we overpaid him by (approximately 5 times!) We couldn't believe that he actually drove all the way back to the restaurant once he realized our mistake to refund us! I can't imagine another place where that might happen!

Driving to Uganda

Rwandan countryside

On Sunday morning, Ahmed from a local tour company arrived in a jeep to drive us across the border to Uganda - about a 6-hour drive. This was my first time seeing the more rural parts of Rwanda, which is actually where the majority of the Rwandese people live. The country-side was gorgeous:  rolling hills; miles of farmland with coffee, tea, potatoes, and sugar cane; and of course quaint villages. (Side Note: We thought it was interesting that in both Uganda and Rwanda people call potatoes "Irish's.") Along the drive we were the only car on the road in most places and passed hundreds of people carrying goods, fresh water, etc. We passed one group of ladies who were balancing at least 5 baskets each on their heads! Very impressive. As another side note, I mentioned that people were carrying fresh water because running water is not common in the more rural villages so people take large plastic jugs to a local well to supply their homes.

Uganda countryside

Crossing the Ugandan border was fairly easy - we just paid for a visa and walked through. But the difference in road quality was almost immediately apparent. Ahmed called it "African massage" because the entire ride was pretty bumpy along unpaved and/or loosely-paved roads. However, the scenery was incredible! Uganda has a lot of volcanoes and impressive mountains like Rwanda, so we got a lot of nice pictures.

One of the roads we took in the Ugandan mountains

Wagtail Camp

Colleen rolling up our tent flaps

For our time in Uganda, we decided to stay at a camp called Wagtail, which is located in the small town of Nkuringo outside of Bwindi National Forest. Bwindi is a large national park, mostly comprised of mountainous rain forests, on the border of Uganda and Rwanda and is home to the mountain gorillas. We weren't sure what to expect at Wagtail and were pleasantly-surprised on a number of fronts! When we first walked-in, we learned that we were the only people there for that first night and were taken to a large tent that could fit all three of us. I could only describe this tent as "luxury camping." The tent had a wooden base and bathroom attached to the back. We had beds, not sleeping bags, which were turned-down at night! I've never seen that in a campground before. :)

We were fortunate to meet the owner, Fidelis, who grew-up in the small town of Nkuringo (population 2,000) and told us the interesting story of Wagtail. The site that Wagtail camp was built on had been deforested years ago for a banana farm. Fidelis loved nature and when we purchased the land, he decided to recreate the natural habitat that had once resided upon it. He planted as many "bird loving" trees as possible so that birds, in particular, would find the land to be desirable and nest there. Then, a few years ago, after spending years as a tour guide, he decided to start a lodge on his land for tourists. To preserve the natural beauty of what he'd worked so hard to create, he built small bungalows and tents spaced-out on the land so that each guest would still feel like he/she was staying in the forest.

Nkuringo Village and the Pygmy Village
The environment and nature preservation were not Fidelis's only concerns. On top of his desire to preserve the natural beauty of the land, Fidelis was also concerned with helping the people of the village, many of whom were living in quite severe poverty. On our first day we had a few hours of free daylight and went on a walk through the village with two guides who are also residents and teachers in the village.

Little girl in Nkuringo

They took us through the entire center of town and then across the mountain to the indigenous Pygmy village. We walked for about 4 or 5 hours in total. To be very honest, though everyone was smiling and talking with us, it was hard to overcome the emotional reaction to the severe poverty around us. Most people were living in very small mud-brick homes with no running water, electricity or sanitation. The teachers told us that an average classroom had 60-80 students per teacher. And due to the village's isolation and poverty, malnutrition was a noticeable problem, particularly among the children. Despite all of this, it's important to note that people seemed happy, and Fidelis confirmed this. Children were laughing and playing and smiling all along our walk. I think it's hard for us to understand sometimes, but it's moving and inspirational on many levels to see people who are so grateful and joyous in life despite having so little.

After walking through the town, as shown in the picture below, our guides asked an armed guard to take us across the mountain to the Pygmy village. The guard was required solely because we were traveling on a foot trail along the rainforest. The Pygmy people, called Batwa in this region, were the original inhabitants of the Bwindi rainforest. Pygmy people are known for being noticeably shorter: less than 4'11. They live a very traditional life in banana-leave huts with agriculture being their primary form of subsistence.

Guard that took us to the Pygmy village

After our walk, we were happy to learn that Fidelis and Wagtail camp support the village by giving them income sources (buying local produce, teaching the villagers how to grow profitable crops that the lodge would need) and also supporting orphans and vulnerable children through the Nkuringo Cultural Center. Through this cultural center, it's possible for people to sponsor children and pay their school fees. Most people seem to agree that education is the most likely way for people to overcome poverty here. Upon learning that we were business students, we were given all of the contacts for the cultural center as well as Wagtail in order to stay in touch if we find volunteers in the future. Our first step is to put Wagtail on TripAdvisor's website to make sure more people know about it! Many of the lodges that we've heard of are run by Westerner's so it's nice to support the local community, especially when this particular lodge has such a noble philanthropic mission.

Tracking the mountain gorillas in Bwindi
As I mentioned before, Bwindi National Forest (technically named "Impenetrable Forest") is home to several hundred mountain gorillas (a little less than half of the total ~700 mountain gorillas left in the world). For reference, the movie Gorillas in the Mist is based on the life of Dian Fossey who worked to save this species, which ultimately led to her death in Rwanda.

Our guides through the rainforest 

Since the mountain gorillas are endangered, only 32 people per day are allowed to track for them (8 trackers per family of habituated gorillas). So, we were very lucky to be able to do this! The word "habituated" means that these gorillas are used to seeing people and will not run or charge when humans approach. This habituation process takes about 2 years and the guides in Bwindi actually know how to talk to the gorillas but making the low growling and/or coo'ing sounds that echo the gorilla sounds and put them at ease! We wondered how the guides knew they weren't telling the gorillas to "come and get it!" but I guess that will remain a mystery:)

Ready for our trek!

After gearing-up, we were told that the hike could last between 2 and 10 hours. We were actually tracking the gorilla families in their natural habitats, so it was difficult to know where they were at a given time. The guides knew how to track and find them, but sometimes it took longer than others. On a number of fronts, this hike was unlike any I've ever done before. The guides, who were armed in case of elephants, etc, were literally slicing through the jungle with machetes to make our trail up the mountain.

A mountain gorilla!

The moment that we found the family of 23 gorillas was incredible, to say the least. After several hours of hiking, our guide told us that we'd found the family. We couldn't actually see them at first, but we could hear wild noises where they were talking to each other and see the trees shaking where they were moving below. As we got closer, the guides started talking to the gorillas, which allowed us to approach a few of them. At one point, one of the guides grabbed Elizabeth and me and moved us to the side of the trail. When we turned around, there was a large male (called a Silverback) walking right behind us! As we saw him, the lady next to me turned around quickly so not to look at him. When she did that, I realized that I was staring straight into his face, which is a huge no-no (looking them in the eye is deemed to be aggressive and a challenge of power). Oops. So, I immediately looked down and watched as he made his way past us.





In total, we saw 17 out of the 23 gorillas in the family. It was stunning, and I'm excited to share all of my pictures when I get back!

Life back in Kigali
We got back to Kigali on Tuesday, and last night Colleen and I went with my co-workers to a Rwandan film festival where we saw the movie Africa United. I feel like most movies about Africa are sad and/or graphic, so this movie was refreshingly upbeat and heart-warming. Mom - It'll make you tear-up :) In summary, it's about several Rwandan boys who are trying to get to the World Cup in South Africa. I'm not sure if it's available in the U.S., but I recommend watching if you can find it.

With about three full weeks of work left, I feel good about all of my projects and am excited for the final product. Kigali is a small city, so I'm starting to know my way around. You may also think it's funny that I am now used to hearing people say "Hi Mzungu!" Which literally means, "Hi White Girl!" It's not meant to be derogatory - it's friendly. :) So anyway, work and everything else in Kigali is going well!

I'll check back in soon. Love and miss you all!

Always,
Meredith