A walk up a big hill

I spent last weekend in Kigali with some friends. I was told beforehand that they were planning a walk up a big hill with a group of their friends and would I be up for it? I though it sounded fun so agreed and packed my hiking clothes and boots.

17 of us, ranging in age from 5 to over 50, and 2 small dogs met up and set of with a picnic lunch to enjoy at the top. Immediately we were swarmed by a group of between 50 and 100 Rwandan children. They joined us all the way to the top in their flipflops or barefeet with boundless energy.

The paths were mud tracks and were quite slippery as it had rained the day before and overnight. I think almost all of us hit the deck at some point but without serious injury. The route we took (or were taken on) was pretty much straight up. At times it was steep and narrow. As we approached the top we ended up walking in the cloud. Fortunately it cleared as we ate our picnic and the views were amazing. We reached an altitude of 2642m having climbed over 1000m. The return journey down took as long as the climb up and felt quite treacherous in places trying not to slide all the way down on the mud. At times the youngest member was carried by one of the Rwandans who walked down with any problems!

It was a good day of 6 hours walking, company and some aching muscles the next day.

I think I was little misled by a ‘walk up a big hill’! It was, we decided by the end a hike up a mountain!

The road less travelled..... (8.5.10)

Today we visited Akagera national park. 6 of us piled into a vehicle one of the guys had arranged for us along with a driver and off we went, having waited around for the obligatory hour at 6am! We completed the necessary paperwork and payments at the park gate and collected our guide for the day, James. We agreed on a route which took us by some of the lakes then onto the hilltops to enjoy the panoramic views. James told us the roads were in bad condition but our vehicle should be able to give it a go!

The first sightings of the day were some giraffe and zebra. We then found some buffalo taking shelter under a tree. Next on the agenda was to see if we could find a herd of elephants. They had made their way across the boundary of the park and for the last couple of weeks had been sighted in an area inaccessible by car. We saw lots of signs of their recent presence on our journey – trees which had been pulled down, fresh dung, and we also came across some locals whose crops had been destroyed by the elephants earlier this morning. Despite bumping along tracks which barely seemed to exist through thick bush we didn’t manage to get a glimpse of the elusive giants. We stopped at midday by a lake for ‘breakfast’ as we got lower in altitude and closer to the water, we were plagued by horseflies inside the vehicle but were provided with entertainment as people tried (unsuccessfully) to swat them. At the next lake we saw hippos in the water and James spotted two elephants across on the opposite shore – we still don’t quite know how he did with his naked eye. With the help of a pair of binoculars we all just managed to make them out!

The tracks we drove along were apparently the old tracks which were no longer used… in places there were large pot holes, huge patches of mud which we skidded through, trees across the tracks requiring either James to jump out and remove them or take a diversion through the grass/mud/rocks to go around them, ditches which caused the vehicle to tip to what felt like a 45 degree angle and was bumpy all the time. At times the track seemed to just disappear in front of our eyes and at one point we found ourselves driving through grass as tall as the vehicle! The lads sat on top of the vehicle for most of the day so will suffer the effects of sunburn, sore bottoms and thorn scratches tomorrow!

As we drove through the day and climbed the hills to enjoy panoramic views from the top we saw different animals including impala, elands, reedbucks, warthogs, more buffalo and zebra, oribi, roan antelope, topi and a wide variety of birds. We stopped at 4pm for a picnic lunch at the top of the highest hill but could not hang around for long as we needed to exit the park before dark and we still had 1 ½ hours to go! As we continued suddenly James asked the driver to stop. He had seen some baboons across the nearest valley. Again I don’t know how he did it – the blended into the background so well. We finally returned home at 7.30pm – tired but having had a good day.

Football

Saturday was a busy day! After our trip to the market we were invited to join the hospital staff for a game of football. Thinking it would be a friendly kick around we went along. As we approached we realised that it was just a friendly kick around… it was serious business! It was a match between the hospital staff and the teachers of the local secondary school and pride was at stake. Each team had official strips and many of the players had football boots. The pitch itself was more interesting – part of it was covered in grass of different lengths, part of it was bare earth and all of it was very uneven. I was given a hospital shirt which I duly but on and joined in with the warm up, team photos etc but when I realised how serious the match was left most of the playing to the guys. I did however make an appearance on the pitch in the second half. The final score was a 2 all draw and only a couple of injuries sustained.

To market to market

Saturday was Labour Day, a public holiday but they don’t roll them forward to weekdays here. We went to one of local markets on the taxi bus. Two ladies were kind enough to show us the way to the market once we got off the bus. En route we were stopped by police asking us to identify ourselves- fairly common when you’re travelling in a car/taxi etc but less common on foot but we all had id with us so were allowed to continue. There was a large group of people sitting by the side of the road who we assume didn’t.

The market was bustling. It was an open air market covering several streets. The traders were arranged into sections according to what they were selling. Fruit and veg in one section, random hardware in another, clothing in another, meat in another and so on! We were a tourist attraction for the locals, particularly the children and ended up with a large crowd of kids following us. At one point when we were in the clothing section it started to rain. I have never seen so many people move with such determination so quickly to pack up their goods. The rain never really materialised and they were back trading very quickly. We managed to negotiate buying a few bananas between us but were very glad we didn’t have to rely on our Kinyarwanda and bartering skills to do the weekly shop!