Today we went on a short, early-morning safari back to the lake area. We saw impalas, baboons, hippos, warthogs, an African fish eagle, a heron, guineafowl, and other unidentified birds. We also saw some interesting plant life, including cacti and water hyacinth. I was particularly interested in the hyacinth, because I’m studying how it moves throughout the San Francisco Delta. The plant is native to Brazil, but has spread throughout the world, causing problems for the water bodies it invades. It was pretty cool to see it in Rwanda because it inspires me to try to do something about it. But enough of the geeky science stuff…
We were not graced with the presence of Mutwari the elephant today even though we went back to the same location we saw it yesterday. We saw a lot of elephant dung, so we were probably really close. The brush is so tall and dense that even an elephant can hide. We climbed back up to the ridge, got one last look at the huge lake with Tanzania in the distance, and headed back towards Kigali. We gave one of the park rangers a lift to a town along the way. As we neared Kigali, our driver Abdul showed us the house in which his family sought refuge during the genocide in 1994. He was only 12 years old. We were extremely grateful that he shared his story with us, because we were all curious but didn’t want to ask. It’s so hard to believe we are now in the same place that was the center of such violence and horror just 14 years ago.
In Kigali we had lunch at a Rwandan-style buffet which was very good. Back on the road, we headed northwest out of Kigali toward Musanze (formerly Ruhengeri). The road out of Kigali was a nice climb that we all wished to bike up rather than sit in a car. The drive was beautiful with green hills abound; most were covered with banana trees, beans, potatoes, cassava, and other crops. As we neared our destination, Abdul gave us a test: he wanted to see which of us would see a volcano first. We rounded one turn and suddenly a dark behemoth appeared, unlike any of the hills we’ve seen so far. It was Karisimbi, 4507 meters of sleeping volcano. The top third of the mountain was obscured by the low clouds. It was huge! All of us saw it immediately, so there was no clear winner of the game. As we got closer to Musanze, one of the volcanoes emerged from the clouds. It was Sabinyo, a name that means something like sharp teeth. Sure enough, the top had tooth-like spikes. We headed to the park headquarters outside of Kinigi Village. We were looking for information about trekking Mt. Bisoke, a seven-hour hike up to the 3700 m summit. It was Sunday so no one was around. Later we decided to skip the trek because of the $75/person fee, which we all agreed bordered on extortion (though it’s nothing compared to the $500/person fee to possibly see the gorillas).
In the evening we went a local soccer game with children from two villages playing against each other. The locals were excited when Josh A. and Josh J. wanted to join the game. They had a tough time, partly because of the high altitude, partly because of the excellence of all the local players, but mostly because the playing field was a lumpy cow pasture with ponded water and a general slant toward one goal. The mini hills gave the ball an unpredictable bounce, which made ground passes very difficult. The threat of an ankle sprain was very real. The locals were well-adapted to their field, and many played without shoes (likely not by choice). They ran fast and had very strong, accurate kicks. Josh and Josh survived the game with no injuries and even had few good plays. After the game, we had a mini team photo-shoot. Josh A. ended up buying his team a new soccer ball, much to their delight. All of us had a fun time. We got some dinner at our guest house, showered, and got some sleep.
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