Rwanda is a small landlocked country with a horrifying recent past, a genocide in 1994 which killed 800000 people by Hutus against Tutsis. The recovery that the country has made is even more astonishing bearing this in mind. The four-day conducted tour that I made had the main aim of viewing the mountain gorillas which are in the area of the Virunga Mountains but also enabled excursions around Kigali, the capital, and whereabouts.
The tour was spoilt somewhat by horrifying flights which took 10 hours with a 6 hour wait at night in a cold deserted Johannesburg airport to catch the 3.30 am flight to Kigali. This is something I won’t repeat.
The first excursion was to the genocide museum, a well laid out building which has 250000 people buried there. The museum didn’t pull any punches, two schoolgirls were overcome with emotion and it was difficult to shake off the mood afterwards. A visit to a large dark, densely packed, crowded market came next where we were greeted with surprise and friendliness. Everything was being sold there and there were plenty of men and women using Singer type Chinese sewing machines to make clothing.
Paul Kagame is something of a benevolent dictator President. There is 0% unemployment,2-3% inflation, the country is spotless, one Saturday a month the residents have to go out and clean their neighborhoods. There is no corruption, everything is done on line, traffic rules are rigorously enforced. There is very little fast food; the people are tall and slim, no obese people to be seen. The complete opposite to South Africa. But I found the country to be somewhat of a police state, heavily armed police everywhere. Our vehicle was searched and we had to take all our cases out for inspection. The police were officious. But perhaps this is the price one pays for a well-run country in Africa.
The following day we had a coffee tasting before embarking on the 3-hour drive to Volcano National Park. The route is very hilly and all the area is farmed with plantations right up to the top of the hills. Men struggle up hills lugging all sorts on bicycles, pushing 200 kilos of potatoes, sugar cane; you name it they carry it. At the top they proceed to career down the hills at breakneck speed using special tyre tread shoes as brakes. Most of the women outside Kigali wear traditional dress. We stopped at the Ellen DeGeneres , Diane Fossey centre, a newly built education centre for the study of the gorillas and I certainly learned much there . Our hotel was nearby and I had a small house where a lady brought me a hot water bottle and a gent started a fire in the fire place. It seemed to be unchanged since colonial times. With the volcanoes in the background, a nip in the air it was certainly like the Drakensberg.
Gorilla day. Away by 06.30 to a nearby assembly area where many tourists gathered. Our group of 8 were assigned a guide and a gorilla group and we drove to a nearby village where porters waited for us. We walked through farmland to the entrance of the park which is a simple bridge over a stone wall. Then the fun started. We climbed up steep trails through the jungle ; at one stage I fell into a hole and it took a couple of porters to pull me out. Eventually somewhat mud spattered we assembled close to the gorilla’s position. Each family group have heavily armed trackers so at any one time their position is known. We crept forward and suddenly there they were with the silverback just a meter away sleeping soundly. It soon became clear that he was the decision maker , when eventually he got up and moved the troupe followed him and so did we . We moved around the group and at one time the guards cut a path to them with machetes and they never flinched. They are totally accustomed to humans and really pay no attention to us. It was great to watch the interchange between them with the youngsters swinging on branches and others climbing trees. Our one hour time slot was up and reluctantly we had to head back down the mountain.
The following day was a visit to the golden monkeys which I was unfortunately unable to make due to stomach problems but I was treated to a visit in my room by one who clambered up the roof and even sat down next to me.
The rest of the day was a return journey to Kigali airport and then checking in and flying to Johannesburg and another long wait overnight in a closed airport before catching the first flight to Durban.
This is a once in a lifetime visit. The mountain gorilla population has gone from almost extinction to a population of over 1000 but is still threatened. To see these animals, close up in their natural environment will remain with me for the rest of my life.
