Muganda

The last Saturday of every month is Muganda, a community service day. In theory, the entire population does activities such as cleaning roads, landscaping, etc. Afterwards there are town meetings. As a result, nothing is open until 11am at earliest.

Today we drove north to the Akagera national park. The two hour drive from Kigali was mostly on paved roads, though some of it was on dirt or "african" roads. We saw a number of small villages en route and a ton of bikes, far more than in Kigali. We bought bananas on the side of the road...about 75 for the price of what a single banana would be in the US. We got to the national park and started our afternoon safari around 2:30pm.

On the safari we saw a number of animals, including giraffes, baboons, warthogs, bushmarks (similar to antelopes), an elephant, and a number of other birds and monkeys. Our safari lasted about two hours.

Upon arrival to the Akagera Game Lodge, we found out there was a slight misunderstanding about prices. After an hour of negotiation, a price was agreed upon and we had rooms for the night. We played some moncola, and are now about to hit the sack. We get up at 6am tomorrow for a 7am depareture for a morning safari before heading north to the mountains to do some hiking in two days.

I tried uploading some pictures from the safari but no luck...sorry.

Day 2

Today we were able to explore the city of Kigali. We first visited the main memorial museum and communal mass grave site of the 1994 genocide. The museum discussed the long term causes of the genocide stemming from ethnic divisions rooted in European colonialism and Christian missionary efforts, the lead-up to and perpetration of the genocide, and reconciliation efforts afterwards. Different displays showed photos, essays, film interviews, and physical items (e.g. weapons, clothing, and bones) to explain the events. Following the museum we began a driving tour of the of the city exploring different districts and passing by prominent sites. We stopped at the site where 10 Belgian UN peace-keepers were killed which has a stone memorial constructed in their memory. The building in which they died has been converted from a former military post to a small museum discussing worldwide genocides. Though the criteria for the listing of historical genocides seems to vary, the holocaust and Armenian genocide were both listed as well as, interestingly, the North American genocide of 15 million plus people since 1492. We passed by the Hotel Mille Colonnes which is featured in the recent film Hotel Rwanda. We paused the driving tour to walk around the center downtown area for a small period of time passing by small shops and financial institutions while getting a sense of the daily motion. Following a brief stop at a food market, we ended our day and are preparing for our visit the North of country tomorrow. Today we were able to explore the city of Kigali. We first visited the main memorial museum and communal mass grave site of the 1994 genocide. The museum discussed the long term causes of the genocide stemming from ethnic divisions rooted in European colonialism and Christian missionary efforts, the lead-up to and perpetration of the genocide, and reconciliation efforts afterwards. Different displays showed photos, essays, film interviews, and physical items (e.g. weapons, clothing, and bones) to explain the events. Following the museum we began a driving tour of the of the city exploring different districts and passing by prominent sites. We stopped at the site where 10 Belgian UN peace-keepers were killed which has a stone memorial constructed in their memory. The building in which they died has been converted from a former military post to a small museum discussing worldwide genocides. Though the criteria for the listing of historical genocides seems to vary, the holocaust and Armenian genocide were both listed as well as, interestingly, the North American genocide of 15 million plus people since 1492. We passed by the Hotel Mille Colonnes which is featured in the recent film Hotel Rwanda. We paused the driving tour to walk around the center downtown area for a small period of time passing by small shops and financial institutions while getting a sense of the daily motion. Following a brief stop at a food market, we ended our day and are preparing for our visit the North of country tomorrow.

Elliot

We made it!

After hours and hours, we've finally made it to Kigali, Rwanda. We've exchanged our money, purchased water bottles, gotten our cell phone, and figured our lodging situation for the next 2 weeks. It's been a groggily exciting day, and we can't wait to get some sleep.

Tomorrow we will be getting a short tour of Kigali and visiting a memorial, as well as buying some odds and ends.


If you haven't gotten a chance to support us, but still want to, it's not too late! Visit projectrwanda.org/donate.php and remember to check off the Cal Cycling box. Also, check out the fundraiser we're doing with Tropical Paradise, which is described in a little more detail in the blog below. Thanks!

-Alvin

Tropical Paradise is go!

I've attached the Voucher for the Tropical Paradise fundraiser. 15% of your check goes to our trip: you can either bring in a printout of the coupon below, or just mention that you're eating in support of "Project Rwanda" or "Bears in Rwanda." Tell your friends, coworkers, parents, second cousins twice removed, or random strangers that you may happen upon.

Most of us have now gotten our shots and prescriptions. Now we're doing our last bits of frantic fundraising and thinking about what to pack. A few of us are also trying to juggle finals. Wish us luck!