House guests & Cyangugu

1st – 3rd May

Woohoo for Labour Day! I get up around 6.30am to sort the house then fit in a quick run before the guests arrive… Around 9am Charlotte’s here bright an early. She manages to get the express from Gitarama which takes the usual 2 hours but we’re worried about the others who have decided to try the taxi buses. Our concerns are confirmed when a text message arrives from Kerry saying they’re still waiting for a bus at 11am. Even if the bus doesn’t stop everywhere (which it inevitably does) they’ll still be another 3 hours so we decide to head for Sheila and John’s and see if they can catch up with us later. We take the dirt road up to Cyanika and are pleased it’s not actually that hot since it’s a good hour’s walk. The scenery is beautiful and everyone we pass seems really pleasant so we’re shaking lots of hands and exchanging greetings as we go.
As soon as we get to John and Sheila’s we realise that we don’t actually know they’re address and there seems to be a problem with text messages. Of course, this isn’t a problem as everyone seems to know them and we’re escorted all the way by an enthusiastic group of children who for the duration of our time there remain around the gates. Occasionally they sing to Sheila and John but today they were too busy asking how we were every two minutes or explaining that they ’were fine thank you’ in regimented unison.

After a quick drink at their local kiosk, we head back to the house for an amazing dish of fish cakes on a bed of bok choi with the most delicious dressing. With the limited ingredients here, having anything other than a ‘tomato-based pasta dish’ is a treat indeed. I am so impressed with the presentation too- it’s all served on a banana leaf, really creative and no washing up, great! The house is big but doesn’t have electricity or currently any running water but they’ve done wonders with the garden and have an enviable vegetable patch which unlike mine was not already there but is the result of their own green-fingered expertise, great!

After a bit of a nightmare with buses, the girls eventually make it to Gikongoro but too late for lunch so we tell them we’ll meet them in town. On our way down we pass lots of people selling produce from their home and stop to chat to some of them. I normally run around here but don’t usually have a chance to take in what’s being sold so it was nice to do it today. Managed to buy some nice beans J.

We met the girls at the Golden Monkey. It’s a new hotel (yes hotel!) that’s just opened in Gikongoro. It actually looks really nice but they’re having a few teething problems at the moment mainly due to the fact there are no guests…Thing is they’re not helping themselves too much. I’ve been in a couple of times now and the service is really slow and they keep changing their prices too. I thought they were improving when I suggested that filter coffee would sell much better than the Nescafe on the menu. Anyway, the next week they had changed it. Thing is it was so weak I’d have taken the instant... Of course, I let them know so hopefully things will get better because it’s got potential and as an alternative to Butare, Gikongoro could be the next big thing. They also offer a sauna and massage which I will definitely be trying soon.

After a few beers there, we all trek it back to mine. The town seems almost excited as me at having some visitors. Once home, everyone who hasn’t been before seems amazed at how spacious the house is and love the garden. I set the stoves up on the veranda and after some roasted corn and Charlotte’s fantastic guacamole I begin the cook off. As there are 7 of us though, I’m afraid I go for the safe option of the ‘tomato-based pasta dish’ I talked of earlier. Still, with more than a hint of spice and a couple of tins of sardines it is unique in its own way :0). We had planned to go out for beers but in the end, it’s a lovely evening so we stay in the garden till dark. John manags to get Latislas to fetch some beers so everyone is happy, especially him since John slipped him a few for his trouble. As it gets chillier we make our way inside for a tournament of Uno before bedtime although how we ever get through a game is beyond me. Our concentration levels are atrocious and this combined continuous cries of ‘is that blue or green’ make a simple game seem like something off the Krypton Factor…

At breakfast we were joined by Jack, a jack fruit to be precise which is the ugliest fruit I have ever seen and less a fruit more a ‘thing’. Charlotte thought it would be a nice change so had bought it at the market. So after the doughnuts, chapattis and fruit we decided to tackle Jack. We should have known he’d be trouble from the smell he gave off through the night. It wasn’t unpleasant, just really strong, a bit like hubba bubba which should have been a hint of things to come. He got his own room for that - it was so overpowering. So anyway, Charlotte begins the operation and starts slicing through until there are two halves. Apparently you eat the flesh and discard the pips which are the biggest seeds I’ve ever seen. Again, it wasn’t unpleasant but just sooo much hassle that we eventually gave up. The thing which was really disgusting though was right inside there’s this kind of gluey substance, like chewing gum which I managed to get all over my arm. So all in all I won’t be asking jack back.

Moira, Kerry and Sarah were heading back today but the rest of us were off to Nyungwe. At the taxi park in Gikongoro, we bought our tickets, said our goodbyes and headed for our buses. Before I left, I had managed to speak with Yves, a park guide I’d met when getting my green card. He was really helpful and let me know cost and location of the main camping bit. In the end though, we decided to leave the forest and stay on until Cyangugu. This is one of the towns on the border with the DRC and is meant to have amazing views of Lake Kivu which indeed it did. It was absolutely stunning. It’s really hard to believe there are so many troubles there and staring across at it from where we were we became decidedly jealous of fellow passengers who were to continue their journey over the border…Once in Cyangugu, we took a quick tour of the town and market before heading for the nearest bar-probably the nicest one in town. The brochettes were to die for! After a fantastic lunch, we checked into ‘Peace guest’ house which was every bit as chilled as its name suggests and overlooking the lake proved a good choice. At just under 12000rwf a room, including brekkie and, oh my god, hot showers, it was a bargain too! In the evening we took a stroll down to the border for drinks and then made our way back up to the bar where we’d had lunch and ordered dinner. Me and Sheila spotted some cheap red wine so got stuck into that while Charlotte and John tried some banana and pineapple wine (yuk!). A fair few glasses later we were ready for bed so made our way back to ‘Peace’.
Keen to get the most of the views, me and Charlotte spent 2 hours over breakfast before making our way back into town for the bus home. John and Sheila were having another night here but as I need to be back we both reluctantly got the tickets back to Gik and boarded the bus. Despite a very confusing boarding (seats were numbered but people had just sat anywhere and so the game began!)Despite this, the journey wasn’t that bad. We were really impressed with the music too and because we knew most of the words treated the rest of the bus to some choice karaoke from the two of us. I also managed to ask a fellow traveler why Rwandans seem so averse to a bit of air in the bus. As soon as the bus moves, no matter that it might be stifling outside and therefore unbearable inside, they insist keeping the windows closed. Anyway, I asked this bloke and apparently it’s because of the ears-the breeze is bad for the ears, if it gets in you’ll be terribly ill. Mmmmm. Thing is, it’s pretty common for you to be vomited over on these buses by your fellow passengers. Most people have had it happen to them or witnessed it anyway. In fact it’s so frequent no-one really pays that much attention and the unlucky person just wipes themselves down, like it’s just one of those unavoidable things which happen when traveling. With this in mind, surely a little bit of air would not be a bad idea. However, when I tried to extol the health benefits of fresh air to my friend, though he listened patiently to my ‘crack pot theory’, he clearly thought I was mad…and so the window remained firmly shut.

Arriving home, we chilled out in the garden for a bit before Charlotte had to get back on the bus for the last leg of her journey. It’s been a fab weekend so I actually feel ready for tomorrow’s training, whatever surprises it might bring…