Rwandan Road Videos

Just blog to show off some video taken while in Rwanda. The video isn't always the best quality, but
Enjoy!

This first video is from the back of a mototaxi riding into downtown.


The second part of the adventure we climb the last part of the hill and arrive in the city center.


Next up is a sunset drive through Kacyrui village in Kigali. The American Embassy can see to the right at the top of the video. The audio is a bit loud, so turn down your audio before watching.


The final video is a bit bumpy but it give you a look at village life in Northern Rwanda.

Ugandan New Years

For the end of the year we headed to Uganda for a visa run and to enjoy some time outside of Kigali. It was a real treat! Things in Uganda are so much cheaper, maybe even half price. It really reminded us of how much things cost in Rwanda. Being a land-locked country, 2 times removed from the sea and without a manufacturing industry Rwanda is in a though spot. They have however recently joined the East Africa Community and the trade agreements and lowering of barriers should help. Since we have been here we have noticed an increase of products and goods on the market.

So anyway, we hopped on a International Bus headed to Kampala. The boarder crossing was much more simple and easy going than the first time around. They stamped us out on the Rwandan side, we crossed a bridge over a dried out stream, we paid our $50 and were welcomed back into Uganda. We hopped back onto the bus where the driver switched from driving on the right side to driving on the left and we were off! As the bus flew down the road we tried not to look at the cars passing to our right. About 20 minutes later we were at our "stop" in Kabale. The bus slowed down long enough for us to jump off at the 3 way intersection. From there we hired a car to take us the remaining 15 km to lake Bunyoni. As we wandered down the hillside the lake revealed itself and stress of the journey evaporated. The deep lake is surrounded by green hills and dotted with small resorts.

Ours was the Lake Bunyoni Overland Resort. We had rented a Safari tent for 5 nights. Each tent was covered by a steal roof and sat upon stilted platforms. The view from our tent was of the lake. From the restaurant, when the sky was clear, we were able to see on of the volcanoes of Rwanda. The home of the Mountain Gorillas.



We spent our days enjoying the view and we treated ourselves to a few beers (which actually aren't the much cheaper but perhaps twice as tasty). One of the nights we were actually able to watch the Vikings play the Eagles on the dish. Neither of us knew the outcome, so it was a delight to watch Webb run over the Eagles.
On our second full day we rented a dugout canoe.
The dugouts are made from huge eucalyptus trees, which are not native to the region. (The eucalyptus and pine trees were brought to Africa by colonizers for "re"forestation purposes and have since taken over the natural flora and fauna of the region.) Being that neither of us are proficient paddlers we decided to hire a man to help us with the journey. After 45 minutes of paddling around island and past bays we arrived on the Bushara Island Camp. This is a lovely peaceful island filled with birds and wild flowers.

The Irish housemate and her sister arrived in Bunyoni just in-time for New Years. We ventured down the road to the newly opened Bird's Nest and enjoyed a New Year's feast. After dinner we enjoyed a huge bonfire with the sounds of drumming floating over the lake. On walk back to our resort the village was filled with excitement and children ran up to us to wish a Happy New Year.


Back in our resort we brought in the New Year with a bit of Ugandan rum and whiskey. Some of us were in the view that it wasn't as bad as expected, while others thought it was better than expected. I guess there really is only one way for you to find out.

Whew!

We finally made it to Kigali. Our time in Uganda was wonderful. I fully recommend the country to those looking for a trip to Africa in a bit less traveled country. The countryside is amazing, the people are friendly and the food is... well starchy (but not so bad in flavor). We didn't have enough money to do they typical things such a visit the National Parks and go on Safari, but we managed to squeeze in a few
amazing days mixed with a few days of pure relaxation.

We are very saddened about the bombings in Kampala. We were lucky not to be in Kamapala during the bombings. Uganda is struggling to find a legitimate lot for itself. The bombings were from terrorist outsiders and do not reflect the general safety nor tone of the country. It has been nearly ten years since any violence of this magnitude has happen. Hopefully Uganda will be able to move forward and tourist will still come.

To save some cash and for the sake of adventure Emily, Joss and I hopped on the Jaguar bus from Kampala to Kigali. The bus departed at 3 am, so we were up at 1:30 and out of the hostel gate by 2:00 am. The bus was full and it was a struggle to fit our LARGE suitcases under the bus. Thankfully after adjusting the sacks of flour, jugs of juice, americandy and cardboard boxes they were able to spare our luggage from riding the 12 hour journey on top of the bus.

It took about 6 hours to reach the boarder. From there we were stamped out of Uganda and sent over the walking bridge to Rwanda. As an American it was easy to get into the country. I was given an entry stamp and sent on my way. Joss and Emily each had to pay $60 dollars and smile nicely. While we were at this, everything was removed from the bus for inspection a process that took an hour and a half. They set the "muzunga" (white person) suitcases aside to be looked at first. They opened the first suitcase and asked us to describe what was inside, but before we could say anything another man came up and said something in Kinyarwandi. Turns out they made the decision that there were airplane luggage tags on the bag, so they must have been inspected by the airlines and are therefore fine. They then put our things back on the bus and sent us on our way.

We were told it would take about 2 get to Kigali, but it was much closer to 4. Either way we were happy to arrive in one piece and with all of our things. We hopped in a taxi and headed to our new home. We were lucky to find a place before arriving. It is a lovely little home on top of one of the many hills in Kigali. The house comes with a man named Esron. He is a guard, cook and cleaner. He is learning English and has agreed to teach us a bit of Kinyarwandi. Today he showed us how to use the taxi buses. We managed to find the 1 and only ATM in the city and thankfully it took our cards.

There are more photos and stories to come. Emily and I are on our 2nd of our Internship in Rwanda and it has already been an adventure!