Jane has just beaten off an attack from the Great African Turkey who lives in our Kigali campground with his wife and 7 chicks.
Following our game viewing we were in Nairobi where the unexpected highlight was it's glorious National Museum. We were tipped off by a shop owner on Bishahara Street who gave the recent rebuilding rave reviews. It covers a lot of areas, natural history, Kenyan history, Kenyan modern artists, all beautifully done. Of special note is "Ahmed" the elephant with the perfect tusks who had personal body guards for the last two years of his life. The museum has his mounted skeleton and a beautiful fiber cast. The exhibit that would rival any museum was the incredible collection of fossilized skulls of early man ranging back as far as 2.7 million years. With this was an outstanding presentation tracing evolution , ending with a comparison of modern man and primates.
Leaving Nairobi a two day drive was broken up by an overnight at a quirky campground that was very proud of having hosted Bill Gates. It was scattered down a steep hill with a long tunnel to a spacious bar lounge area. Our drive featured stunning views over the Rift Valley, with a backdrop of imposing volcanoes just visible through the haze. The valley itself is lush and rolling , with terraced fields wrapped around the hills.
In Kampala we camped at the endearingly named Red Chili; and spent half a day with Hudsonite Katie Corker.who is presently working there with Action Against Hunger. We visited her house and offices followed by lunch at a super restaurant with stunning views over Lake Victoria.
Another two day drive followed ( the first 12 hour marathon starting at 6 am ) which took us over the Rwanda border. Again dramatic switch back roads and mountains, mountains everywhere.
This brings us to the gorilla trek; using permits that we had long before leaving Canada. Our starting point featured a group of local musicians who set the tone- thundering drums and wild dancing. Eight of us were assigned to Francois, a burly older guide who had been tracking gorillas for over 20 years. Each group is allowed to visit one gorilla family for one hour per day. We set off across a potato field and on into a thick sloped bamboo forest. Francois had already shown himself as character with animated growls and actions. He managed to tear strips of bark from a eucalyptus tree so we could try the tasty fibers beneath.
Diane Fosse was given credit and he pointed out where her grave is. There are only 700 mountain gorillas left, all in this general area which is shared by Rwanda, Uganda and unfortunately the Congo. We were just a few kms from both borders. In less than an hours trek through the jungle we met 4 trackers who had been out early tracking our family. Gorillas build a new nest every night and can move up to 2 kms each day. We scrambled off the narrow track and 10 meters into the bush there they were. We crouched down to view five gorillas sprawled about in a small clearing.
It soon became apparent there were more as two young tumbled out of the bush. They seemed oblivious to our presence as photo after photo was taken. When they started to amble into the bamboo thicket Francois encouraged us to follow. The young were playing above our heads, showering us at times with twigs and leaves. A brief confrontation between the two silverbacks was quickly settled as the larger , about 450 lbs, established dominance.
We have had such wonderful wildlife experiences, elephants and buffalo outside our tent, lions and their kill three feet away , but this takes us somewhere quite different. There is so much of us in them ...or perhaps it is the other way around.
Our drive to Kigali must be one of the world's great drives. Twisting mountain roads where we perched on the spine of ridge lines, looking down on carefully tended fields 800 meters below. The road is under construction and we often edged past heavy machinery, trusting in Rogan to judge the cms he had to work with.
Much Like Kampala Kigali is a city of hills. There has been a lot of recent modern construction. Our campground is run by a non-profit organization that provides prosthetics to genocide victims. The Genocide Centre is a thoughtfully designed building set in beautiful gardens terraced down a hillside. The centre traces the story from colonial times through the horrifying events of 1994 and on to today. Personal stories and artifacts create a deep and lasting impact. They chronicle other genocides of the 20th century, starting with Namibia, through the Armenians, the Holocaust, Cambodia, Bosnia and others. Romeo Daillaire is sympathetically presented, the UN's apology for its' lack of action is noted, and the French are held accountable for their supply of arms and misguided support.
A quiet day in Kigali....we soon start the long road north.
Jane and Mike
