Into the Mist

05 December, Sunday; Mucenze, Rwanda. We had an early morning departure from beautiful Lake Bunyonyi. All night, we kept hearing the pitter patter of an animal walking out onto our porch, sitting there for quite a while, and then pitter pattering off. We quickly realized it was a dog (or dogs) and they were friendly, so I drifted off to sleep in peace, revelling in the fact that I didn’t have to take the tent down in the morning.

We awoke to a lake view shrouded in mist. Such a peaceful, quiet morning. Well, until we were accosted by the 3 dogs who insisted on escorting us to breakfast, except they weren’t the most skilled guides, as they frequently stopped for no reason in the middle of the single track trail, forcing us to bump into them and nudge them along.

Before breakfast, we packed our lunches, ate and then set off for the Rwandan border. The drive was only 30 minutes, but most of it was over a treacherous, cliff-perched one way dirt road. Borders here are quite interesting. There doesn’t seem to be much order or direction and there are commercial trucks lined up for what seems like a mile. While our driver tried to find a spot, we all started at the locals (just like they stare at us). That was one cute little guy in a Syracuse t-shirt that was entertaining.

We first got stamped out of Uganda and then walked across to the Rwanda side to fill out forms, stand in line, and hope that we wouldn’t get charged for a visa. A Brit we’d met a few days earlier said that Americans had to pay $60, but Brits got in free. I think Ben couldn’t wait to rub it in my face. However, we are short on USD since we didn’t check our $100 bills before we left. They only accept bills printed after 2006 (or maybe it’s 2003) due to the older bills being popular counterfeit targets. We got them from an American bank and they are good, but no one will go off of that info! Now we have some extra USD in our pockets because we both got in free! The border is also clouded in mist, as is our first few miles in Rwanda. This is a fitting entrance into the country where we will be trekking into the mountains to see the Gorillas [in the Mist]. We had a bit of a friendly banter on the truck this morning as our driver switched over to the RIGHT side of the road, as Rwanda is one of the minority of old European colonies that wasn’t controlled by the British. However, the side of the road for driving is quickly forgotten as we all stare out the window at the most beautiful scenery. Rwanda is known as the country of a thousand hills. It’s a very mountainous, densely-populated country and it’s simply stunning to see the terraced fields as our truck rolls by.


A Brief History of Rwanda	Taking the Milk to Market	Farmland Everywhere

Our tour leader gives us a brief history and explains some of the cultural differences between Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda. The most poignant being the history of the genocide in 1994 (and the killings leading up to those terrible 3 months). It’s nearly unfathomable to me that this occurred so recently. 1994 is just a stone’s throw in the past. Our first stop was Kigali, the capital of Rwanda where we had a few hours at the moving genocide memorial. The exhibitions are very well done, walking you through the history and then during and after the genocide. It’s a bit difficult to explain my feelings, and I have to reiterate that it’s so hard to understand how this could have happened so recently. How can a neighbor kill a neighbor? How can a father kill his wife and children because they belong to a different tribe? Hate and propaganda are powerful weapons, even in this day and age of ubiquitous information. I often take it for granted that I live in a country where the media isn’t controlled by the state. The memorial also had an exhibit on other instances of genocide – Cambodia, the Baltic states, the Holocaust. And then two instances that were news to me – the Armenians in Turkey during WW I (which Turkey still denies to this day) and in German South-West Africa at the turn of the last century. One stark difference between Rwanda and Uganda is the refusal to forget this dark period in their history, whereas Ugandans want to forget the time of Idi Amin (see “Last King of Scotland).”


An Elephant Never Forgets	Mass Burial site.	The Wall of Names. Many will forever remain nameless.

The visit fuelled some interesting discussions at the truck after lunch. Afterwards, we made our way up the winding streets of the city to make a quick stop at Hotel Des Mille Collines, which was the hotel featured in “Hotel Rwanda.” A few of us got out to take a few photos and I went straight for the bathrooms. This is an African 4* hotel and hey had the most glorious bathrooms I’ve seen since the lounge at JNB airport. Beautifully clean stalls, fresh toilet paper, a lovely sink and handwash and a mirror. The most fantastic part – an electric hand dryer!

Then we set off on a two hour drive through even more beautiful scenery to our campsite for the next 2 or 3 nights. I have to admit I didn’t see much of the countryside because I slept part of the way. I was glad to finally be able to get comfortable enough on the truck to take a nap. This is vacation after all! Our base for the next few nights is a church mission and we’re all sharing a dorm with bunk beds. We have some great luxuries, though – a bar, electricity and wireless internet.

We’re all getting really psyched for Gorillas in a few days.