Day 32: Mon 3rd March: Akagera Lodge to Kigali to Kinigi

We leave the Lodge after breakfast and I (Lyn) have been able to eat so all good. We head for Kigali where we will meet up with our fellow travellers. We have of course arranged to meet at a coffee shop in a small shopping centre in Kigali. All goes well and after coffee we go back to our vehicle which has attracted the attention of South Africans Ronald and his wife Michaela who live in Kigali. We crack the nod and get invited to the SA Embassy for a braai on Saturday if we are still around. That is extremely tempting and we would love to go so will see how the rest of the week works out. They are planning a trip from Kigali back to Cape Town and are very keen to discuss our trip with us.

Navigating to Rwanda Development Board is easy and we are able to book and pay to visit the gorillas tomorrow morning (it's as easy as Dave said it would be) and we can even pay by credit card (US$750 pp - used to be US$250pp in the year 2001).

We get to Kinigi and happen across a small lodge at the side of the road called Villa Gorilla. It seems rather appropriate so we stop to have a look and Gilbert makes us so welcome that we end up staying here for two nights. He spent some time in SA and trained at Shamwari (knew Adrian Gardener) and has brought a chef back here from Shamwari as well. He is going all out to set up a hospitable lodge and we thoroughly enjoy our stay with him and would recommend him to anyone. At US$150 per room per night including full board for 2 it's easily good value around here (some lodges are charging up to US$650 pp per night!). We eat outside where there's a fire going as it's quite high here (about 2200m) so cool-ish at night. A few spots of rain drive us inside but we finish our drinkies outside again.

Day 33: Tues 4th March: Villa Gorilla to Gorilla Trek

Gilbert feeds us up bacon and eggs the next this morning and we set off for Rwanda Development Board at 6:45 and there are already around 60 people there!

We are asked how far we want to walk and opt for the longer hikes (around 2 to 2 and a half hours to get there and slightly shorter back) and divided into groups and assigned guides (ours are Bosco and Ignatius). We have to drive another 45 minutes to get to the start of the trek - 40 minutes of which is on the worst road I have ever taken the Doddle - volcanic rocks that each look they will pierce a tyre and there are millions of them. We rock and roll successfully to the car park (the guides catch a lift with other vehicles in our group).

We are given walking sticks and plenty of advice and information and start our walk at about 8:40.

The group of gorillas we are tracking is called the Amahoro (Peaceful) Group and they number 18. The Big Daddy is called Ubumwe and he is a 40 year old silver back and they range on the slopes of the Bisoke Volcano.

Rwanda has around 480 gorillas in the Volcanoes National Park and between Rwanda, Congo and Uganda there are approximately 880 (this number was at a minimum of 270 around 1972). There are around 100 "habituated" gorillas in the park i.e. ones that can tolerate humans and the rest are wild and very aggressive (and will even fight with the habituated ones). The aggressiveness comes (naturally) from poaching by men.

The gorillas make a new nest every day and travel up to 1km between new nests.

The walk is via a muddy track up the slopes of the volcano and entails some hacking by the guides and guards (one front and one rear as there are buffalo in the area). The walk is about an hour and a half and we get to a small clearing where we meet the trackers. There are 2 trackers that track the Amahoro group by day and we leave our back-packs, walking sticks and water behind, pull on our rain jackets (as the stinging nettles are bad around here) and realize there is a male gorilla of about 4 years old just around the corner. We gather around and take photos and the guides make gggrrrr noises to placate and greet him. Meanwhile the trackers have gone downhill to find other members of the gorilla group (we are especially keen to find the alpha male Ubumwe). On the way to find Ubumwe we find about 9 other gorillas in the thick vegetation feeding.

We stand within about 5m of the gorillas and when they move towards us we crouch down to allow them to be dominant. We generally talk in whispers and make no sudden movements. Two of our group are gently "kicked" by one male gorilla as he trots past and one members falls over from the push - the gorilla just telling us who's the boss! It's fascinating and they seem really docile and not bothered about our presence, all the time stripping leaves (even from nettles) and feeding on them and bamboo.

The gorillas are absolutely as mind-boggling as we have always heard. Simon and I are thrilled to be able to experience this at last and think especially how much Rebecca would have enjoyed this experience - more so as we are doing this on her birthday.

We find the silver-back Ubumwe and he is totally disinterested in us and simply trying to find a comfortable position to take a nap. One of the females relaxes nearby and they are completely laid back about us being there. He looks like he is blissfully unaware, but every now and then he opens an eye or rolls around so we know he is not sound asleep. They have fed well and are really quite bored by all the attention. We are only supposed to spend an hour with the family group so that we don't disturb them too much. We watch them for about an hour and a half before the guides suggest that we retreat. It is just such a pity that the stinging nettles are such a nuisance - I would have loved to just sit and watch then and it is really a moving experience. No national geographic video or photo can prepare you for how huge they really are and how incredibly powerful they are. The guide tells us that a 'playful push' from one could mean you fly about five metres (and inevitably into stinging nettles) so that's not something we are keen to do. Once again the guides are confident and knowledgeable and we have absolute faith in them to keep us out of trouble.

We take our leave of the mountain gorilla's but I am sure that we will be back one day. What an amazing experience.

After lounging around after lunch we decide to take a drive to Virunga Lodge about 20km from Villa Gorilla and apparently with spectacular views. We doddle into town (Ruhangeri) to get some cash and fill up the Doddle and then set of for the lodge. As we arrive it is apparent that the sun is going to set soon (and there is a 2 day old new moon only) so we opt not to have a drink (we'd heard US$21 for a G&T and a beer) take a few snaps of the truly amazing views and rush back to Villa Gorilla. Unfortunately dark enveloped us about three quarters of the way back and everything you hear about "don't drive in the dark in Africa" came to fruition. Well there weren't many animals, but because there are few vehicles on the road at night, the normally evasive and wary daytime public take full possession of the road at night! It was hair-raising. Although I'm sure the local's eyes get used to the dark, how the hell do they know where the storm-water drains or even their own houses are? Where the hell are they all going anyway, as they are also on the road all through the day? Anyway we got back without mishap and a promise not to get caught like that again!

Day 34: Wed 5th March: Kinigi to Lake Kivu, Karonga

It has been talked about a lot so far and today we get to drive to the worlds most prodigious producer of methane gas. There is enough dissolved methane gas below 260m of water to power South Africa's electricity demand threefold! (Take note Eskom!!- Lyn)

The drive proves entertaining as the road we were to take has been closed for repairs so we eventually procure and follow a motorbike and his passenger on the "Congo Nile Trail Part 1" - 89km of horrendous gravel, averaging 20km per hour. But the scenery and views are brilliant and reinforces the fact that the Rwandans are seriously expert in cultivating on steep slopes and use every inch of it. On arrival at the lake at Kibuye we decide to travel a bit further along and arrive in Karonga where it is rumoured that there is a camp site. My GPS shows the way but the camp site is long gone and the road down to it on the lake shore hasn't been used for years. So we amble back into Karonga and find a suitable hotel and discover Virunga Mist - a delectable semi-stout that has me wasted by 9pm! The food was apparently very good, but the chicken madras I ate had me producing my own Virunga Mist Methane the next morning.

We notice on our travels that in the rural villages some very young kids are working in the fields and dressed in sack cloth, looking extremely poor. In discussion with locals we are told that there are two school sessions per day, primarily as there are just too many kids and insufficient facilities, but it also allows the kids to work in the fields for some time! Schooling is free for the first 9 years and then anything after that the parents have to pay for.

Lately we had noticed a reduction in the number of churches and mosques but on the last road the mosques are appearing again and seem better constructed and maintained than their Christian counterparts.

Day 35: Thurs 6th March: Lake Kivu, Karongo.

A little bit worse for wear after the Virunga Mist we set off on a boat trip to the islands we see in the lake, with DRC as the backdrop. The lake is the 6th largest inland lake in the world and we see the constructed power station and another one in progress (for electricity from methane) from the boat. The boat driver tells us that Americans, French and Nigerians are building the power stations - it would be a serious boon to Rwanda's economy if they could develop this methane resource for export to neighbouring countries.

At the first island we jump off and hike to the top, about 200m high I'd say and see some of the seven million fruit bats that inhabit the island. There are also a few cattle on the island but absolutely no flat spots - these cattle are cousins of the mountain goat! At the next island there is a little beach type area and I swim around the island, the water smelling slightly foul presumably from the methane (well hopefully anyway). This island is safe to swim at due to the absence of bilharzia. I will probably have gyppo guts tonight (but blame it on the Virunga Mist). There are no elephant or hippo in the lake, but we briefly see an otter.

Lunch at one of the other hotels (run by the Presbyterian Church of all things) is a lengthy affair as we decide to have something off the a la carte menu and not the buffet. I have the local "white bait" equivalent of capenta (found in Lake Kariba also) called sambaza - tastes more of the cooking oil than anything else, probably another reason to expect the runs tonight!

Yesterday we stopped at a road side water well and filled up some water bottles, but the water is quite brown (probably silt) so I spent some time converting it to potable water via our expensive filter (truly) and got some serious upper body training in the bargain - by now you will have realised that I am trying to minimise my chances of s***ting through the eye of a needle.