That’s all the Monkey Business…For Now 🦍🦍🦍

With the chimpanzees and gorillas of Uganda etched in our minds, we set off to get to our next destination - Tanzania. The easiest way to get there was through Rwanda, so off to the border we went. It was an interesting border crossing, clearly Rwanda is still very concerned about Covid. As we crossed over the border, there was a long line of spotless white sinks and soap for everyone to wash their hands and then someone taking your temperature as you left the area. It felt like a flashback. We had to lineup to exit Uganda and get an exit stamp in our passport, and then lineup again to enter Rwanda to get an entry stamp. Luke had to take the truck through a special lineup to have it checked before going into Rwanda as well. There was lots of military around, so not too many pictures were allowed. Everything went fine, it was just very interesting.

Rwanda is reputedly the cleanest country in Africa, and this was evident as soon as we crossed the border. Uganda could learn a lot from Rwanda‘s approach to controlling litter, as many African countries could. Luke told us that it was compulsory for Rwandan residents to spend four hours a month cleaning their community. It was great to see and probably cleaner than back home. In both Uganda and Rwanda, there was always something to watch as we drove along the highway. My favorite was seeing the brightly dressed women with babies slung on their backs:

People in this part of the world work so hard, just to get their products and produce from A to B. It made us feel very lazy!

Some light weight bricks!

Yes, that’s a coffin!

Carrots anyone?

Or cabbage?

Lots of potatoes!

Brings a whole new meaning to “DoorDash”:

We were also amazed with what people can carry on their heads. We were told up to 20 kg / 44 lbs is quite typical. try this next time your hands are full! Unbelievable:

We saw many tea plantations in both Uganda and Rwanda, and many hard workers. I also sampled local tea and it was very good.

We arrived in Lake Kivu for a day of rest before heading to Kigali and then onto Tanzania. Lake Kivu is a huge lake in northwestern Rwanda that borders the Congo, in fact the border goes through the middle of the lake. Despite the unrest in the Congo and its close proximity to where we were staying, we did not see any signs of conflict or trouble. In fact, we saw Congolese people at the markets and observed many people coming back-and-forth across the border. We stayed right on the lake at a hotel near Gisenyi called Paradise Malahide:

We spent a few hours on a boat ride that toured us around some highlights on the lake:

There was a small island just off where our hotel:

We also went by some natural hot springs:

We took a break at this lovely lakeside hotel, Kivu Paradise. This is where Mary and I are staying next time!

The saddest part of leading Lake Kivu was this was our last night together with Carleen, and our guide, Luke:

The next morning we headed for Kigali, Rwanda‘s capital city. It is a big, busy city!

We had a wonderful lunch at the hotel in Kigal that was the setting for the famous movie “Hotel Rwanda”, where over 1200 Hutus and Tutsis refugees were sheltered during the 1994 genocide. We didn’t have an opportunity to go to the Genocide Memorial Museum in Kigali, but have heard that is very real realistic and moving.

Goodbyes to Carleen and Luke!

Off to Tanzania!

NEXT STOP: Mt Kilimanjaro Airport in Tanzania. Unfortunately due to connectivity issues and how busy we are seeing animals, this may be the last blog of this trip. We will try to do something when we can but no promises!