Rwanda & The DRC

Rwanda Part I

Happy to be back on the road, but dreading another border crossing, we decided to take the longer route through the Uganda mountainside. Not only was this a more scenic drive, but it would take us to our favorite type of border — an uncrowded one! Getting out of Uganda was fairly straightforward (other than a police officer asking us if we would buy him a soda) and entry into Rwanda wasn’t too bad either. Add that to the nice restroom facilities and this may be one of our favorite borders yet.

One thing we had to make sure to remember as we entered Rwanda was which side of the road to drive on. This was country number 11 for us in Africa and was the first right-hand side drive country we’ve visited. Now we had to drive our right-hand drive car on the right-hand side of the road — talk about confusing! We also had to be careful of the people. We’ve grown accustomed to people, animals, bicycles, carts, etc. being in the road at all times, but Rwanda took this to another level. There were people everywhere. Forget driving on the right side; we were basically in the middle of the road. After a couple hours of driving we reached our campsite at Red Rocks, a chilled-out hostel-type campsite that was a big supporter of the local community. They had plenty of local artwork, crafts, and even banana beer for sale (which was cheap, strong, and delicious). They also had some pretty eerie sculptures sprinkled around the campsite.

We passed the afternoon chatting with a girl from France, cooked a nice meal in the kitchen, and hung out at the campfire for the evening.

The next morning we were up and on our way to Gisenyi, where we would be leaving PJ for a few days while we ventured into the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). We found a nice hotel near the water that let us camp in the backyard, let us pick up fallen avocados, came with a delicious breakfast, and let us leave our car for free while we crossed the border on foot. We spent a rainy day inside taking advantage of their WiFi and then the next day we shouldered our heavy bags and set out for the border.

Virunga National Park

Not having a car made the border much smoother, and the National Park office helped us with the DRC visa process. Once we finished the formalities, we hopped in an old-school Land Rover and began making our way north through the hectic streets of Goma. After a couple of Ebola stops to wash our hands and get our temperature checked, we picked up our armed escort who would be with us at all times while we were in the country. After five months in Africa with no guards, this had the unintended consequence of making us feel less safe. Why do we need guards now?

We made it to Virunga National Park without incident and arrived at Kibumba Camp, our home for the next two days. We’re not sure if safari-chic is a style, but if it is, these guys nailed it. The main building was a beautiful, open-aired structure with a bar, a dining hall, multiple fire pits, and a great view of the volcano we would be climbing in a few days. Our tent came complete with a porch, a king bed, and an attached bathroom with a hot-water shower (although the tiny drain did little to prevent the water from invading our tent). All of our meals were included in the price and the three-course dinners were fantastic. We even returned to hot water bottles in our bed to ward off the nighttime chill!

That evening, before dinner, we received our briefing for the gorilla trek. Informative and entertaining, we learned quite a bit about the endangered eastern mountain gorillas we were about to visit. We were assigned to the Welungula tribe, a large family of 44 gorillas with five silverbacks and a wide array of young’uns.

Up early and with a shockingly on-time departure we set off into the jungle. Our ranger team consisted of 10 rangers – five had gone out hours earlier to find the gorillas and relay their position while the other five would accompany us on our trek. We were lucky and our family was only an hour away. Since the families are always moving, we could have had to hike up to six hours to reach them. Given how dense the jungle was, an hour was enough for us.

We stopped just before the family to put on our face masks and get out the camera. Gorillas share 98% of our DNA so they are very susceptible to diseases. In addition to the face masks, we weren’t allowed to eat, drink, or spit anywhere near them to minimize our impact.

Then, we turned the corner and were immediately greeted by 5-10 gorillas of various ages going about their morning routine. Kourtney’s eyes immediately welled up as the rangers motioned us closer. We were told during our briefing that we would need to stay seven meters away from the gorillas but apparently the rangers didn’t get the memo as we got MUCH closer.

A couple times the smaller gorillas would start coming towards us, beating their chest, only to be turned away by a ranger. We spent the next hour visiting different groups of the family and following them through the jungle as they foraged for breakfast. We got within ten feet of the dominant silverback – he was huge!

Watching the gorillas in their natural habitat was incredible. The younger ones are incredibly rambunctious, alternating between wrestling and climbing trees that they would come crashing down out of. The larger gorillas were equally active, crashing through the jungle without a care as they searched for the perfect leaf. All too soon though, our hour was up, and we bid the gorillas farewell and returned to the lodge.

We were up early again the next day as we jumped back into the jeep, picked up our armed guards, and headed towards Nyiragongo Volcano. Our packs were fully loaded and we set off into the jungle, again with armed guards, to hike the 11,380 feet to the rim of the volcano.

Waiting for us was the largest lava lake in the world. The hike up was steep, but we managed pretty well with some long breaks that seemed more for our guards’ benefit than our own. Once we got to the top we were treated to a clear view of the lake a couple hundred feet down in the crater. Hissing, bubbling, and steaming – we couldn’t wait for the sun to go down for the real show to begin.

As she so often does, Mother Nature had other plans. Once it started to get dark, heavy clouds rolled in and we were soon forced into our A-frame shelter as lightning and thunder crashed above us. As cool as it was, we were a bit bummed that we couldn’t see anything other than a red/pink haze from the crater.

Determined to see the lava lake in all its night-time glory, Coons set an alarm and got up every two hours to check the weather. Finally, at 3:00am, we were rewarded with a perfectly clear night sky and an amazing view into the crater. We spent a half-hour enjoying the view and taking some pictures and videos before cold and exhaustion sent us back to bed.

The next morning we had an uneventful hike down, crossed the border back to Rwanda, and walked back to our campsite.

Kigali

Since most of the tourist activities in Rwanda were well above our budget (gorilla trekking is $1,500 vs. $200 in the DRC) we decided to spend a few nights in the capital. Whenever you think Rwanda, one of the first things that comes to mind is the genocide that took place in 1994. On our first day in the capital, we went to visit the Kigali Genocide Memorial — which doubles as the final resting place for 250,000 victims and a museum to learn more about what happened. The most remarkable thing, beyond the capacity for violence committed by the Hutus, was the way the nation went about healing itself.

Rather than bog down the courts and prisons for years with trial after trial, local trials, called Gacacas, were established to mete out justice within the community. This was a place for victims to be heard and face their attackers and gave those who committed the atrocities a chance to seek forgiveness. The jails still ended up with their fair share of inhabitants, but these trials jumpstarted the healing process and set the country on a better path. We also learned that despite the fact that the genocide left thousands of children without parents, there are no orphanages in Rwanda. Extended families, religious leaders, and community members all came together to ensure that every child had a place to go. It was a powerful memorial, punctuated with plenty of video and interviews with survivors and left us in awe that the country could put itself back together so quickly.

On our last night in Kigali, we decided to use Mimi’s Thanksgiving gift a few days early to take advantage of the dining scene in the capital. We went to a fantastic restaurant near our hostel and feasted on steak and pork belly. It tasted especially good after a month eating maize meal and beans in Uganda.

This was an amazing detour that we made, thanks in big part to a wedding gift from Mimi & Papa; the day with the gorillas and the night on the volcano are memories that will stick with us forever.