Finally arrived in Kigali, Rwanda - 1st Day

 Kigali, Rwanda - 1st day - 8 December, 2022

We finally arrived in Kigali, Rwanda at 7:30am on Thursday, Dec 8th.  We were supposed to have arrived on Monday, Dec 5th at 7:30pm!  Lost days - never to be recovered, but we're here & I immediately pulled out my camera & my binoculars & started bird watching!  Spotted & identified a Black Kite & a Pied African Wagtail!  With the help of our guide Isaac & Merlin!

Although we (Anderson's & Hurd's) were groggy from the long overnight flight, we had to hit the ground running.  We drove to the the Mille Collines Hotel (Hotel Rwanda!) and got to hug everyone!  They were all in the lobby waiting for us!!!  Felt great to finally be with them!  Isaac gave us 15 minutes to drop off our stuff & then meet back in the lobby to hear our first talk from Annie, a lovely professional Rwandan woman, about the status of women in the country.  80% of the government positions are filled by women!!  She was wonderful.

We had a few minutes back in our room (I spotted a juvenile Black Kite right outside our window) and then we were off again!

We headed out in our bus for our first activity of the trip.  I was snapping pictures left & right while we drove.  The city is SOOOOOOO clean & looks quite prosperous.  

During the drive, Isaac gave us info on how the government provides jobs for all physically able to work & pays them.  We paused for a short stop at the Nyabarongo River to watch sugar cane being processed & loaded for transport.  This swampy area was the location of many of the killings during the 1994 Genocide.  Isaac said the waters ran red with blood & bodies of the dead.

Bicycles provide transport for much of the population.  They are quite adept at balancing most everything!

The city is a contrast of new & old, basic cement blocks, straw huts, & amazing architecture.  But everywhere we went, folks waved & smiled.  It was awesome!

I never tired of spotting birds.  This was my first of hundreds of Pied Crow.  Couldn't identify the other 2 birds unfortunately.  

Our destination was the Nyamata Catholic Church Genocide Museum.  This is the site of one of the many massacres that took place throughout Rwanda during the 1994 genocide.  This church had been a previous safe haven for the Tutsis since 1959, but on this horrific day, the refuge was overrun & it is estimated that 10,000 people lost their lives there on one day.  We did not take any pictures, it was just too awful to consider lifting the camera.  I downloaded these photos from on line.  The doors still show the results of the hand grenade used to bust open the facility.  The individuals huddled inside were shot from the roof.  There are bloodied clothing remnants displayed on benches inside.  Downstairs there are skulls that show the results of machete blows.  We were in tears throughout the descriptive narrative from our guide.  There is a mass grave outside that holds the remains of at least 45,000 people.  It's just almost too heartbreaking to think about.     

OAT is famous for the "learning and discovery" activities.  This trip was definitely full of those!  Isaac spotted one of the many bicycles loaded up to carry things to market & we'll stopped to chat & sample his goods.  He had probably 350 lbs of pineapples!!!!  We bought a few from him & Bachu sliced them up for us to eat.  Yum Yum Yummy!  So sweet & delicious.  We were to discover that Rwanda has some of the best pineapples we have ever tasted anywhere.  Dole should be ashamed to call theirs by the same name!!!  Our guys took turns giving it a try.  Don't think any of them want to actually peddle them down the road!!  Holding the bicycle upright was enough!

Next stop was a Reconciliation Village.  I understood that there are many of these villages throughout Rwanda.  I haven't been able to verify more than 6 of them.  The one we visited in the Bugesera district was very impressive.  I don't write my travelogues as a history lesson, but in this case I think it is important for me to explain a bit of the history of Rwanda.  Most folks have seen the movie Hotel Rwanda, but it's presentation of sides is a bit skewed according to most reviews.  Therefore, I read a bit more about what actually happened.   To keep things simple, I am just going to paste in the explanation in our OAT travel guide:

"These remarkable communities are a showcase of Rwanda’s commitment to putting its gory past behind it. Here, survivors of the genocide live side-by-side with the very same people who perpetrated it; in these villages, both sides have agreed to put aside their differences, forgive the bloody transgressions of the past, and work together to end the cycle of ethnic violence to move toward peace and reconciliation. We’ll get an introduction to the village at around 10:30am as we meet its chairman, Kaligwemo Fredrick, who will tell us about the community and how he and the rest of its residents came to live here. When the genocide started, Kaligwemo joined in with the extremists. He participated in the bloodshed, and was personally responsible for multiple deaths. For his crimes, he was sentenced to nine years in a maximum security prison, where he eventually sought and received forgiveness from the families of the people he killed. As a free man, he has dedicated his new life to a mission of repentance, healing, and reconciliation—an earnest devotion which eventually led him to be elected as the chairman of the village. At around 11am, we’ll join Kaligwemo for a walk around the village, to see for ourselves how the genocide’s victims and perpetrators have learned to put the past behind them and live together as neighbors once again. As we’ll see, machetes and bombs have been traded for hammers and plows, as Hutu and Tutsi residents work alongside each other as unified Rwandans to perform the daily tasks that keep the village running. We’ll wander through the village and meet locals as they tend to vegetable gardens, raise livestock and poultry, craft filters to provide potable water, and brew banana beer (we’ll have a chance to try a taste of this unique local beverage). We'll share a traditional Rwandan lunch, which will likely feature local produce such as cassava, plantain, vegetables, roasted beef, arrow roots, chicken, beans, and fruit. As we eat together, we’ll enjoy the opportunity to get our hosts’ perspective of what life is like in an unusual community like this. Afternoon: At about 1:30pm, we’ll join members of the village community to delve deeper into the Controversial Topic of the practical difficulties of nationwide reconciliation in the wake of the horrible crimes committed during the genocide of 1994. While the nation’s government has its eyes set on the future, many who survived the genocide are unwilling to forgive what happened in the past. The official government policy toward the country’s ethnic tensions is straightforward and clear: “Ndi Umunyarwanda (We are all Rwandan).” In an effort to let go of the ethnic divisions that led to the genocide, as well as the civil wars and violent clashes that preceded it, the country has formally banned the practice of separating the country’s people along ethnic lines. However, while the residents of the Reconciliation Village are all firmly committed to burying their old hatreds and living harmoniously alongside their former enemies, many others in Rwanda are not so ready to forget about these divisions; there are many who still believe that justice cannot be served until those who perpetrated the genocide are tracked down and locked away. We’ll spend an hour in conversation with up to three residents of the Reconciliation Village (depending on their availability) to get their firsthand perspectives of how and why they decided to move on from their dark pasts, and how they perceive the prospects of a future peace in Rwanda at large. In addition to Kaligwemo, the village chairman, we’ll be joined again by Florence Kabanyana, a genocide survivor. We’ll also meet Jackline Uwimana, who lost her parents and other relatives to the bloodshed. She found refuge in Burundi, and, upon returning to Rwanda, found the strength within to forgive the people who took the lives of her loved her ones, and to live alongside them as neighbors in the Reconciliation Village project. Our speakers will provide a diverse array of perspectives on this complicated subject—Kaligwemo as one of the perpetrators of the genocide, and Florence and Jackline as survivors—giving us insights into the extent to which the people of Rwanda have accepted the government’s push for harmony, and what obstacles are still yet to be overcome."

We were given a short tour of the village & they showed us some of their animals & gardens.  Everything is maintained jointly.

We were invited inside one of the compounds & allowed to help in preparation for our meal.  I snapped peas while a couple of the girls cut up carrots.  

One of the leading lady members of the village had met with then Prince Charles last summer!  

This was the most heart warming activity I have ever been involved with.  How this group of people have been able to come together in forgiveness & love is mind blowing to me.  I truly do not think I would be able to forgive the atrocities committed to my own family.  But these people obviously have & it gives you hope for the future to see it, feel it, & know that it is working for them & their country.  I will never forget the love & commitment that I felt while in their presence.  

The City is called "city of a Thousand Hills" and rightly so.  The surrounding terrain is lovely.  It is right on the equator, so the weather is moderate year round (note all that greenery!).  There was a bit of rain, but never stopped any of our activities.  Seemed to subside at the right time!

Circled around a huge Silver Back Gorilla statue in town, but couldn't ever get a good picture of it.

Those yellow umbrellas signify a local money changer.  Interested system - they are legally allowed to accept debit cards to hand out cash.  Folks do not go to an actual bank.  Some of them just wear yellow vests.  It's very interesting.  You can call your local guy in advance & let him know you'll be there in a few minutes & let him know how much cash you need.  You are not "borrowing" money, he has access to debit your bank account.  They are everywhere!!!

The lovely scenery made driving around very pleasant, but the traffic was scary.  They weave in an out & don't really observe lane markings.  At a signal light, the motorcycles will pile up sometimes 10 or 15 across.  And they might have 3 or 4 folks on one or a bed frame or a basket of sugar cane.  More on that later!!!! 

Back at the hotel for a couple of hours, we finished unpacking & reorganizing for our drive to the Akagera NP tomorrow morning.  I got another photo of the Juvenile Black Kite that loves to hang around outside our bedroom window.  I have been making plans for another trip to Africa in April 2024 with our beloved guide, Tinashe.  We had arranged to call him while we were in Rwanda, so we managed the call using What's App, but the connection was awful.  Usually on had a sentence or two before it disconnected.  But nice to hear his voice & we're confirmed for the visit!!!!  Yea!!!

Although the official Welcome Dinner had taken place on Tuesday night, OAT sprang for another one since we were just now all together!  Went to The Hut, a lovely restaurant with a great menu, fantastic service, good views all around with the open venue and we were all ecstatic to be together!!!!!

The best thing about the drive back was the awesome view of the "Bee Hive", the huge convention Center in the city.  It's gorgeous.  I downloaded a couple of pictures from wikipedia to supplement ours.  The best picture is from Ken of course!  And back to the hotel, we slept a short night to get prepared for a long drive to Akagera NP in the Northeast corner of the country.