Bumpity Bumpity Bump

An insane downpour woke many of us in the early AM. We all still had the pent-up energy, however, to hike up to Virunga Lodge: a 5km uphill trek. There were beautiful views, and many children to hike with. After relaxing a bit at the Lodge (no, we didn't spend the night there: we're college students), we left for the lake. As we headed west towards Lake Kivu, I fell in love with the Rwandan donut. Supposedly, the delicious ball of fried dough taken with tea or bagged milk is a typical breakfast, at least based on the word of our driver, Abdul.

After a nice bumpy tour of Gisenyi ("this is African road"), we got onto some pavement and arrived at our home for the afternoon and night that is true to it's name: Paradis Malahide. A relief to our budget, the Paradis was a better place than any we had been to yet. Owner Odette and son Mucyo were welcoming an accomodating: I could not have asked for anything more. In addition to the excellence of the lodging itself, the sounds of the water and songs of the fishermen were an experience in and of themselves.

We left Paradis Malahide to drive along the lake to Kibuye, another town bordering the lake. There, I came to appreciate our previous night's accomodations even more: a decent hotel on the water costs four times what we had paid the night before. Finally, we drove back to Kigali, where we rested and recovered from our days of traveling.