Our trip was sooo so much fun. I travelled with three other
volunteers who are some of my closest friends here, and then when we arrived we
met up with Steven and Rogers, my friends from my first trip to Rwanda. But I’m
already getting ahead of myself. Our journey began on a Tuesday night with
three of us sleeping on Jess’s double-size bed and Hannah sleeping on the
floor, because Jess lives near Manzini which is where we had to catch public
transport earlyyy Wednesday morning to make it to Johannesburg, South Africa,
for our flight on Thursday. We took a minibus across the border, and everything
was going smoothly for the first 4 and a half hours of the journey. It looked
like we would make it into Joburg by around 1pm, and have some time to do some shopping
(we are mall-deprived) and eating (also McDonald’s-deprived) before getting
picked up and taken to our hostel. However, about 30 minutes outside the city,
our bus just stopped working. We sat on the side of the freeway in the heat of
midday for about two hours waiting for another bus to come retrieve all of us.
Photoshoot during the breakdown
When we finally arrived in Joburg, our friendly bus driver,
who knew very well what mall we had asked to be dropped at, and had reconfirmed
this several times, dropped us at the wrong mall. Our cell phones weren’t working
since we had left Swaziland, we were hungry, tired, and lost in a city we had
heard nothing but bad things about. Luckily someone helped us to find a private
taxi that took us to the correct mall. There, we enjoyed McDonald’s for the
first time in nine months! And let me tell you, it was incredible. We got picked
up and take to our hostel near the airport, and got some rest before our
travels the next day.
Our flight to Rwanda left at 8am Thursday, and we arrived
there around noon. Stepping off the plan onto the tarmac, I got goose bumps. I
have had this conversation with several people who have been to Rwanda, and
most say the same thing-there is just something about the place. You fall in
love with it. We grabbed REAL iced coffee, which is virtually impossible to
come by in Swaziland, and waiting for Steven and Rogers to come pick us up. Seeing
these boys again was honestly a dream come true. When I left Africa after my
study abroad trip, I was upset for weeks. I made all these friendships and formed
such strong bonds with people, and then had to leave not knowing if I would ever
see them again. Being back on Rwanda soil giving hugs to two of my best
friends, who have managed to stay in touch with me over the past two years
despite all three of us graduating from university, moving around, having busy
lives and occasionally poor access to communication, was such an amazing
feeling. I know that very few people they met while working with the cultural
exchange program will ever make it back to see them again, and I was so, so
happy to be able to keep my promise.
Day one was spent wandering around Kigali, Rwanda’s capital
city. We ate at a burrito bar very similar to Chipotle, which was absolute
heaven. Nothing resembling Mexican food is available to us in Swaziland… which
may be why we returned to eat at this same burrito bar every single day we were
in Kigali. We saw a little bit of the city that night, and went to bed early to
prepare for day two!
Just landed! So happy!
We were up and on the road by 5am on Friday, in a giant
safari vehicle heading for Akagera National Park. The park is about 3 hours
east of Kigali, and the animals are most active in the morning. We saw so many
things! For Jess, Dani, and I, it was our first safari. We were out driving
around the park for about 5 hours, seeing baboons, water buffalo, warthogs, antelope, monkeys,
zebras, springboks, one very distant elephant, tonssss of hippos, and the
highlight for me-giraffes. We stopped for lunch by a small lake full of hippos,
and I took the opportunity to get some good photos. As I approached what I
thought were two hippos underwater, more and more of their friends kept popping
up to stare at me! For me, the best part was getting out of the car to see the
giraffes. I had never seen my favorite animal in the wild before, so I was
really excited. When we made it back to Kigali we had dinner at an Ethiopian
restaurant (yum!) and then got ready to go out to the Kigali nightclubs! We met
up with some Rwanda Peace Corps Volunteers for drinks and then went to a few
different clubs around the city. It was nice to have several fun options, since
there is only one place for nightlife in Swaziland and it is always hit-or-miss.
On Saturday we travelled by public bus to Gisenyi, a resort
town on Lake Kivu, on the west side of the country. The scenery was absolutely
breathtaking. One of my favorite things about Rwanda is how incredibly green it
is. It is one of the most densely populated countries in the world, so land is
precious, and Rwandan farmers do not waste it. There are very few flat areas,
so those are mainly reserved for housing, but on the steepest of hills, crops
are planted in neat rows. It really is amazing to see. It was a long trip, and
we didn’t get the earliest start, so we went straight to the public market to
but ingredients for dinner when we got there. Rogers and Steven planned to cook
a Rwandan meal for us (another unheard of practice in Swaziland-men cooking for
women)! We bought everything we needed at the market and went up to the house
we rented to prepare the meal. There was a crazy lightning storm that night,
and the power kept going out. The boys were cooking by candlelight for us for THREE
HOURS! We had a feast! Friend plantains, potato chips, cooked vegetables,
peanut sauce, cabbage- it was all amazing. Then it was time to party again! We all
went to a fun bar down by the lake in Gisenyi.
Long bus ride selfie!
The view of Lake Kivu from our house
Peeling plantains
On Sunday we travelled back to Kigali, and we were
exhausted. After hitting the burrito bar for lunch we all went to the hostel to
rest. That evening for dinner, we decided to treat the boys to a meal at Hotel
de Mille Collines, better known as Hotel Rwanda. Since Rwanda’s recovery from
the genocide in the early 90’s, the hotel has reopened and is a very nice
place. As with everywhere in Rwanda, it is really difficult to imagine the events
that took place in the very space you are standing, not very long ago, while
sitting by the pool sipping on a cocktail at the hotel.
On Monday, we visited the Kigali Genocide Memorial Museum,
which tells the story of Rwanda from before colonization through the present
day. Even though I had visited the museum on my previous trip, it was still overwhelmingly
emotional and difficult to witness. I am really lucky to have friends who are
Rwandan, and who understand that as Americans, we are really poorly educated on
what happens elsewhere in the world. It is an incredibly personal, difficult
topic for the boys to discuss, but they answered our questions and shared what
they were able to. After a rough morning, we went to do some shopping at the
craft market. I bought entirely too many beautiful things. Then it was time to
go.
I am completely in love with Rwanda and I know I am not
finished with it yet. While things are still really uncertain, I am hoping to
be able to spend a significant amount of time there (potentially
working/living) when I am finished with Peace Corps. Even with this plan in the
back of my mind, saying goodbye wasn’t easy and I’ve been having a hard time
adjusting back to life in Swaziland since.
The good news is, though, that things have been really busy
and the time is going by pretty quickly. I’m still working on a grant to get
money for furniture for my school’s library, and the books will come in May. As
a co-director for Swaziland’s GLOW program, I am busy meeting with other
volunteers are preparing for two weeks of GLOW camp at the end of April! It’s
going to be completely exhausting but SO much fun to see camp come together
this year, and then begin planning for next year!
Until next time,
Ndagukunda cyane!
(“I love you” in Kinyarwanda)
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