Our second trip is to Rwanda, a country that not so long ago was scene to one of the continents worst genocides, over one million killed in 6 weeks of pre meditated carnage, which is now one of Africa's more stable nations with a progressive President working for the state of the nation and not his pocket, quite a rarity! We are here to visit the Silverback gorillas, a long hoped for experience which is my 60th birthday gift from Angelka. A real tick in the box!
Once more, two flights through Johannesburg, a "technical" stop in Lusaka, capital of Zambia, and a visa to be picked up at the airport, once more in US$, even though it is a French speaking country. There are actually three languages, local, English and French. The combined flying time from Cape Town is five hours and twenty minutes and we are not even half way up the continent.
We stopped over in JHB and ventured downtown on the swanky Gautrain, passing parched golf courses, burnt veld, to arrive in downtown Sandton City, an atypical city centre, with construction everywhere, a huge shopping mall, financial centre and... zero personality. It is 34 years since last I visited, I remember a certain charm, albeit, with excited eyes having never been inter continental! Both under the weather, we headed back for an early night before doing battle at 5.00 am to check in. All the usual TIA stuff, shambolic check in, huge line on immigration waiting for the 6.00am crew to arrive, late, people pushing in, tempers frayed.
Kigali is a small airport, short lines, consistent service and no need for cash to gain entry. The flight in shows a fertile country, small holdings with arable crops neatly laid out. We are not far from the equator but it's not dry and arid like Zim. If you think that 22 years ago, a million people were killed in the genocide and within 2 years, 20% of all children under 5 had also died through ill health, to see this country as it is now is quite gob smacking. A Chinese built road infrastructure, new buildings everywhere, little or no corruption, healthy employment, new housing, clean, sanitary conditions, electricity, law and order, and... optimism and aspiration. There is a conference centre that has just hosted the African Assembly as well as the subventions you need to stage such events. While you see UN/USAid vehicles, it is clear that Rwanda is standing on its two feet and very, very impressive. Kigali sits on many hills, think Sheffield and Rome, and is busy! Thousands of mopeds, think Hanoi, weave through the traffic, Chinese road signals count down when they will turn red or green, and it's weird that all cars are left hand drive yet, the roads are right hand English! Everything we hear about the President strikes a chord of respect, once a year the Government and civic leaders go on a retreat where they all sign up to a one year performance target, which, if they fall short involves their resignation! With regard to corruption and fraud our guide made us aware of a very popular African saying; When a fish starts to smell, it starts with the head! A visit to the genocide museum and memorial is both harrowing and optimistic, because it features many personal stories.
The journey up to the dormant volcanic range, home to the gorillas, is around 3 hours, as it's mainly uphill! The soil is very fertile but the fact Rwanda is known as "Mille des Collines" (land of a thousand hills) means that all of the agriculture is developed on steppes as well as paddy field type arrangements. It's fantastic to see as crops cling on to the hill side. While it isn't the main rainy season, we are on the cusp of the light one, and the weather app says thunder! Indeed, we get a torrential downpour, for an hour, and hope that this will not be our fate trekking up the mountain, the next day. We are staying in a basic lodge that has lots of wood burning stoves, which keep out the mountain chill. There's a fire in the room and they preceded our bedtime with two hot water bottles, a nice touch as the rain poured down, for another hour!
We get up at 5.30am, have breakfast and kick on to the reception centre where we all, about 100 of us, get split in to groups of competency and circumstance. We've got a guide called Emmanuel, whose name tag is Emma! We then head off to the starting point which is where we have to don the necessary equipment, namely hats, gators, gloves as well as the things we might need like ponchos etc. We hiked for 90 minutes, stopping occasionally, after all, it's 3000m and hot and humid,with Emma throwing in the occasional jokes and his helper, Julie, a lawyer, telling us the dos and donts, like no eye contacts, submit if they move towards you, no closer than 7m, no flash photography, no pointing, no food and drinks and noises like hello, you are welcome and I'm coming through, that we need to perfect. Trackers had found the family of 12 we were looking for and we had to get rid of the non essentials before following a man with a machete, who picked his way through the jungle, to where they were. The first sighting takes your breath away, a female lounging in a cradle she's made not far from the silverback male who is our host for the next hour, our allocated time. It's the most incredible thing, Mum with her 6 month old child, others circling and all brought to our attention by the guide. We gained in confidence, they are huge and imposing. Some walked towards us, others ignored us while the main man lay flat on his back, legs akimbo! I found one coming slowly towards us, at which point she gave me the eye, slapped my leg and passed. The silverback finally got up, at which point we all paid attention, he's huge and he is the guv'nor. At one stage our guide said he was about to charge! Fortunately, he was wrong, as he changed his mind and nurses the baby. The pictures, taken on an iPhone, show we were as close as a metre, the videos show how they meandered amongst us and what an incredible experience it was. We had the perfect weather, an animated family, and a great team looking after us. It is a once in a life time experience, on a level with Masai Mara and, as I sit on the 'plane, headed for JHB, deeply saddened it's all over.
Rwanda was a revelation, really on it and showing that Africa does not need to be Third World! We are full of respect for its achievements. This is not a cheap excursion, nor is Rwanda cheap, like South Africa but, it is one of those experiences that, if you cherish animals and nature, you must consider. It was a joy to experience the people, the place and the gorillas. I'm sold!