The Impenetrable Forest & the City of a Thousand Hills

 

'Top of Heaven', overlooking the volcanos in Rwanda and the DRC

This year’s Easter/spring break (whatever you want to call it) was a bit different than usual. For the first half of the break, we went to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, which is a national park in the South-West of Uganda, bordering to Rwanda and the Congo. There we stayed in a typical safari lodge on top of a hill, with a view of the forest and the surrounding communities. Because it is rainy season, it is also low season for tourism, so the first night we were actually the only guests in the lodge. There was also no power since the generator was out of gas, so it was pitch black when we arrived, save for the fire they made and the oil lamps we were given (perfect horror movie plot, right?). To add on to that we also had no cell phone reception – dun, dun, dun…

The park is known for being the home of the mountain gorillas, which you can only see in that area. The permits to trek them is a couple of hundred dollars though, so we decided to just hike in the area, which was really beautiful in itself!

The community people burning the grass to clear the space for their crops

The Batwa pygmies

After a few days in the wild with cold showers and rice and beans for almost every meal, we headed for Kigali, the capitol of neighboring Rwanda. Coming from the chilled, misty mountains of Bwindi to Kigali was really the best 'Easter egg' I could wish for. We stayed at a typical backpackers hostel (with wi-fi!) in the Embassy area of the city, where we also met up with some of our friends who had travelled directly there. 

Kigali - 'the City of a Thousand Hills'

From what we observed in our short stay, Rwanda seems to be worlds apart from its neighboring countries. It is a bit unfair that what people associate with Rwanda is the 1994 genocide, when the country is so much more than that (obviously). Kigali, with its nicely paved roads, clean sidewalks, and lush green areas resembles a Western city almost more than an African. It is said that after the genocide the government practically rebuilt the whole city, resulting in it looking more developed than its African counterparts. Not that Kampala is bad, it is actually a very nice (or at least, some parts of it), with the green hills surrounding the city. But after being to Kigali it is obvious that the government put more money into city planning than Museveni has done. 

On the open road

On the bus, for the first time in 3 months!

Apart from enjoying strolling down the streets and taking actual busses (omg!), we visited the Genocide Memorial Centre, two of the churches where Tutsis seeking refugee were slaughtered, the Belgian Monument, where the ten Belgian peacekeepers were assasinated, and the Hotel Des Milles Collines, the hotel from the movie Hotel Rwanda. It was very interesting to see all the historical sites, but also very emotional. Suffice it to say, we were pretty tired when we arrived back in Kampala after a 12 hour bumpy ride. 

Flowers on the tombs in the Nyamata Church

The Belgian Monument - 10 pillars to represent the ten pecekeepers

 

The real 'Hotel Rwanda'