Rwanda

sorry this one is sideways I don't know how to turn it around.  

We arrived at the Tanzania/Rwanda border sitting 4 in front/4 in back of a sedan.  The driver actually had to reach over the lap of one of the middle passengers to change the gears.  It was squishy… and I’ve been on Cameroonian transportation for the past two years.  Fortunately, the trip was shorter than we thought and we were happy to pile out and make our first border crossing on foot.  We got stamped out in Tanzania, walked across a river, stamped into Rwanda & boarded a bus for Kigali, the capital.

We were not in Tanzania anymore… and certainly not in Cameroon.  Rwanda is clean and fancy.  Plastic bags and street food are illegal.  Moto drivers wear helmets and carry a spare for their passenger.  I say single passenger as Claire and I were literally laughed at trying to board a moto a deux.  Buses leave on time, sell tickets in advance and only let as many people board as there are seats, incredible. 

The moto ride to the hostel was sort of terrifying since the fancy paved roads mean much faster speeds.  I think it would have been like riding a moto around NYC, something I thought would be cool and am no longer interested in.  The motos were also not game for balancing bags in their laps/handlebars like the Cameroonian motos , so I had a very precarious center of gravity with my giant backpack strapped to my back tipping me backwards as I clung to the sides going up and down the hilly Kigali terrain.  But, if I had fallen off, no biggie, I had my snazzy Rwandan helmet on. 

We met up with some Rwandan Peace Corps Volunteers which was a ton of fun.  Alma was an absolute rock star, taking us under her wing & showing us an amazing time in Rwanda.  She  took us out to Musanze to attend one of her coworker’s wedding the following day.  It reminded me of a Cameroonian ceremony in that everything started later than you could have thought possible and we were obliged to drink lots of Fanta.  (I enjoyed this part since another noteworthy fact about Rwanda is the numerous flavors of Fanta that exist.)  Nobody seemed to care that the dressiest we could manage was pagne dresses and our recently acquired shower shoes from Zanzibar. 

The next day we continued on to Lake Kivu.  Our first afternoon was rainy and we ended up drinking beers and eating fish under a lean to, the only shelter from the elements at the “Bikini tamtam.”  I was wearing my “Limbe” pants so naturally wound up meeting a Cameroonian.  However, he was a fancy footballer from Yaoundé so we didn’t really have anything in common. 

Alma and her friends naturally knew all the places to go.  We stayed at two church hostels which were super cheap and ate lots of delicious food.  At night you could see the volcano glowing in the distance.  Our last day was beautiful and we got some sun at the fancy lakeside resort before boarding an overnight bus for Kampala, Uganda. 

Tanzania

Actual conversation (still groggy from the travel ordeal)

Claire Kihn: So "simba" is actually the Swahili word for lion. 

Claire Kelly:  Wow I didn't realize that Disney used all that Swahili in The Lion King.  

Claire Kihn: Yeah, and "a kuna ma tada" is also swahili.  I think its sort of like "wala problem."

Claire Kelly: ..... I mean, I know .... "it means no worries...." 

Tanzania was awesome !

We spent a couple of days in Stonetown, Zanzibar where Jill, Kate and Scott came to meet us !  It was so nice to see some of my Summit girls I can not even describe.  We did the spice tours, got lost in Stonetown, ate lots of fish at the night market and then headed north to the beach.

It was a beautiful beach and we chilled out for a couple of days.  Even though it was the dry season we got a bit of rain at least every day which was a bummer.  But we still managed to go swimming, snorkeling & I managed to get a sunburn… so the weather wasn’t that grave.  Kendwa Rocks hosts a big beach party on Saturday nights where Claire and I ended up losing our flip-flops (not ok when it represents 50% of your footwear) and part of Claire’s tooth … we’re still working on socially acceptable behavior. 

The girls left me with all sorts of treasures like spare flip-flops, a rockin safari hat & Kate’s KINDLE which has been making my life more enjoyable on a daily basis.  (THANK YOU!!!)   But I would have traded it all if they would have stayed and continued traveling with me….

After their departure, Claire and I spent one last night in Stonetown.  It was the second night of the fete celebrating the end of Ramadan and everybody was out and about.  It was seriously a different city from before we went to the beach.  Little girls had on more eye make-up than I’ve worn in the last 2 years.  Everybody had their best clothes on and was just walking around, greeting people, they brought their mats down to the harbor and just sat down outside at the fish market.   It was really festive and fun.  It did make me a little homesick for the Extreme North and the celebrations there though. 

The next day Claire and I took the ferry to Dar Es Salam. We strategically sat on the open top part in case we needed to jump off of a sinking boat ( apparently one had sunk in the last couple of months but it was not as nice of a boat as ours.)  This plan backfired as we ended up getting splashed and were thoroughly soaked.   

After Dar we moved onto Arusha via a 12 hour bus ride.  We probably did everything you weren’t supposed to regarding organizing a safari: basically we set out from our hostel in the morning to find the tourism office but instead got into a car with our taxi driver from the night before (who was lurking out front,)  saying he’d take us to his friend who was a tour operator.  We were a little concerned that perhaps it was an elaborate scam but signed on and proceeded on a walking tour of Arusha.  We found a park which was secretly a giant beer garden and then bought some supplies.  Sure enough Mt. Meru Treks turned up the next morning and we were off! 

We went with this awesome Korean couple who are in the process of traveling around the world for a whole year!  Between them, and our driver/guide Richard plus cook, Armani we had a memorable time.  I think it’s safe to assume that we will continue to be the worst dressed and most ill-equipped for any venture but it worked itself out.  Luckily for us, Kim and Lee brought both binoculars and a fancy camera which they shared.  The weather wasn’t as cold as we had feared and we got by in our fleeces and newly acquired grippy gloves. 

We spent one day each at Lake Manyara, the Ngorogoro Crater and the Serengeti, camping at sites in the parks.  The majority of the great migration had passed through already but we still saw a ridiculous number of animals, including all big 5.  Sometimes we were reminded that we were indeed on the budget safari… like when we were eating hot dogs wrapped in tin foil for lunch and starting the car involved reconfiguring some wires under the hood.  But back at camp the food was awesome & the company couldn’t be beat.  I consumed an absurd amount of hot chocolate & was literally a “happy camper.”    

We popped out at the other end of the Serengeti and got on a bus to Mwanza where we got our laundry situation taken care of and rehydrated from the personal mineral water filter in our room!?!  Mwanza is right on Lake Victoria so there was some nice viewing.  Then we spent the next 2 days on buses en route to Rwanda. 

Some baboons attack the curio-paintings at our first camp in the Serengeti

Le Depart

So I’m officially an RPCV !  Somehow Claire and I made it to Zanzibar and onto mainland Tanzania although it’s been quite a whirlwind of a last few weeks.  

I said goodbye to all my friends in Tokombéré at a goodbye party my last night.  It was really nice & I was so happy everyone came.   Arrived in Yaoundé and completed all the necessary medical exams and paperwork.  I don’t have Tuberculosis or a whole smattering of other diseases so that was a success.  I spent my last night in Yaoundé dancing till dawn at the club which was a lot of fun.  It did not benefit my packing though…

Jeneca, Claire, Boubakary and I took the VIP bus to Douala to catch our flights.  The main perk being the AC …which was too cold for Boubakary .  We arrived late and went out for poisson braise (grilled fish) at literally midnight, but the place was really hoping.  I think everybody’s eating schedules are all messed up because of Ramadan.  We dropped Jeneca straight at the airport cause her flight left real early in the morning and then Claire and I attempted to sleep a bit.  However two hours later it was time for pre-dawn prayer.  Boubakary tried hard to serve us couscous before 4am which we resisted.  I think it was all part of an elaborate plan for us to oversleep, arrive late at the airport and miss our flights out of Cameroon. 

We did make it to the airport just in time: Goodbyes were said, photos were taken, gifts were given and we were off!  Claire pointed out that our departure on 11 August – the Feast Day of St. Claire – couldn’t really have gone any other way but successfully.  Boubakary had made us giant omelette sandwiches which didn’t make it through security so we ate them at the gate while making last minute phone call goodbyes to friends from village. 

We had a surprise stop in Malaga.  Then continued on to Addis Abba where we needed to change planes.  It was about 10 degrees Celsius there…. Compared to 30/40 in Cameroon.  I was wearing a kaba, flip-flops and a tye-dye scarf…Consequences of the rushed packing.  I was also clutching my straw “auberger” hat and embroidered market bag… it was pretty sad.  It was the birthday of the lady in front of us so Claire and I also got served champagne and a whipped cream situation en route.  I think I might fly exclusively Ethiopian Airlines for the rest of my life.  (We already were thoroughly enjoying the plane food .)

Our plane got in about 3am and I realized that I had also left all my useful documents for getting the VISA in my checked bag (passport photos, WHO card, bank statement) but the customs guy didn’t ask for any of those things, just the cash monies!  Then the guest house was even waiting with a little sign for us which was the most welcome site ever.  Unfortunately there was a little mix up at the guest house and our room wasn’t actually going to be ready until 10am so we awkwardly slept on a mattress in their front office/lobby for a couple of hours. 

at post

Goodbye mango season... goodbye Liz :-(

Julia comes to visit!  "Hiking" down the hill. 

Eating some fullere.  Thank you Julia for taking such nice pictures :-) 

Mora Girls Camp

Girls bringing in the breakfast : hot tea and beignets!

Teambuilding activities

A panel of successful Cameroonian women came in to share their experiences and advice with the primary school campers.  The guests included women who had been university educated as well as women who took different routes.  But all the guests encouraged the students to stay in school and stay focused on their goals. 

Conga line break

American football!

Hungry hungry hippos

R

We were not in one of those dinky fishing boats.... or swimming in the water next to them. 

RRRrrrrrrraaaaaaaaaar

Stuck in the mud after a "pit-stop" 

Bike Ride

 

Claire and I rode our bikes out to visit Cay and do an environmental education camp in her village.  The road started out going up into the mountains.  We went by lots of traditional houses and rock wall irrigation systems.  It was really pretty. 

Then the road flattened out and we just had the occasional sheep or cow herd. 

I got a flat tire in the middle of nowhere but these guys helped me out.  They only had a motorcycle pump so they completely reconfigured my bicycle valve with random spare parts and a pair of scissors to accept the motorcycle pump.  And then we were back on our way!  In total the ride was about 80 km.