While I couldn’t not blog about the genocide memorial, I’d like to point out that there is much, much more to this country than its painful history.
We happened to be here during Memorial Week, a week of remembrance during the first week of April (the time at which the violence first broke out in 1994). We’ve seen communities gather and share stories of their experiences in community halls, churches and other similar spaces – proof that the healing process is far from over.
But, at the same time, the tourism industry is flourishing, the people are friendly and welcoming towards visitors and this relatively small African country boasts some truly amazing natural beauty. While Rwandans will clearly never forget, and rightly so, you get the impression that they don’t want the past to define their future.
Kigali itself is cosmopolitan and clean, with tree-lined suburban street and some high-rise buildings under construction in the city centre. It has a definite ‘upwardly mobile’-feel to it. As a result, however, it can be quite expensive (by east African standards) – we splurged a little on a delicious dinner at a Tandoori restaurant, but didn’t spend that much time in the city.
From Kigali we headed north-east, to the town of Musanze (formerly known as Ruhengeri), a popular tourist destination mostly because of its proximity to the Volcanoes National Park. We were headed to the park too, of course, although we couldn’t afford the steep (500$) fee to track Dian Fossey’s famous ‘gorillas in the mist’.
Although you could register to climb to the peak of some of the volcanoes, we opted for a straightforward forest hike instead. As it turns out, this was a wise decision. Our guide, Denise, explained that people often underestimate how strenuous these hikes, and the gorilla tracking itself, can be. “After 20 minutes they are exhausted,” she said. “And then the gorillas are four hours away!”
Our hike climbed about 400 to 500 meters around the edges of one of the volcanoes, called Bisoke, and ended up at a crater lake on its flank. At 3 100 meters above sea level, we could really feel the altitude, but the hike was worth it – the forest was so many different kinds of green it was a little disorientating.
We did get stung by nettles once or twice, and I slipped quite spectacularly in the rich mud (it is the rainy season, after all), but that didn’t even matter. From towering bamboo to tall, dense trees and stinging nettles up to shoulder height, it really was a beautiful walk.
Our next stop was the town of Gisenyi, on the shores of Lake Kivu – I’ll try to blog again tonight, but if I don’t, it’ll have to wait a few days. The next leg of our journey takes us all the way across Tanzania, so it might take a while before we settle somewhere and find an internet connection…
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