Scott and Debbie made a bucket list trip to Rwanda and Kenya to visit the mountain gorillas of Rwanda.

By way of explanation Rwanda is a little country west of Tanzania south of Uganda and to the east of the Congo. In a very small country less than half the size of the South Island there are some 12 million residents. The country is very hilly and in the north there are volcanos.

 

In 1994 Rwanda suffered 100 days of genocide in which there were 6 deaths a minute literally. About 1 million citizens were killed in internecine violence. Since that genocide Rwanda has changed. Rwandans see themselves as Rwandans, not Hutus or Tutsi.

 

Kilgali the capital is the cleanest city in Africa. Why? The government has banned plastic bags and it is the only place in the world that on the last Saturday of every month the citizens have to get out in the streets and clean for 5 hours.

 

There are now no tribal differences which was the cause of the internecine violence. They are all Rwandan and not Hutus or Tutsi. Perhaps we could learn. Whist the country is doing well it is very poor but the people are proud.

 

Amongst other places Scott and Debbie visited the Nyungwe Forest National Park in southern Rwanda which is an ancient rain forest where they saw chimpanzees and other apes. Then they visited the Parc National de Volcans, the home of the mountain gorrilla which is bounded by Congo to the west and Uganda to the north.  

 

Debbie told us about the visit to the gorilla’s sanctuary. After an early start, getting up at 5.00am, they travelled to the national park and were placed into a group of 6 people with a guide and porter. There was then a 1 hour trek to the wall (which was built to keep elephants out) around the gorilla’s rainforest environment then once through the wall a 45 minute hike to find the gorillas.

 

Fortunately the park rangers knew where the gorillas were to be found having tracked them the night before. Then the gorillas appeared. The gorillas treated the humans’ present as things that occasionally would get in the way and simply carried on with life while people watched.

 

The short video that Debbie played showing adolescent gorillas playing was very reminiscent of watching ones children when they were young.

 

As well as doing the touristy thing Scott and Debbie did Rotary things. They took bits and pieces for schools to Rwanda and send money for uniforms to a school in that country. The children went from rather scruffy kids, as kids tend to be, to well-dressed school children as kids don’t tend to be.

 

Scott and Debbie commented upon the difference between visiting national parks in Rwanda and Kenya where they visited the Maasai Mara national park.

 

In Rwanda there are limits on numbers of tourists who can visit the gorillas – 80 per day. In the Kenyan national parks it appears to be open season with tourists and their guides tripping over each other to watch the wildlife. One wonders what the animals think about the unedifying spectacle.

 

 

 

David and Rosemary effectively combined two safaris with a gap in between visiting Johannesburg, Victoria Falls, the Okavango Delta in Botswana  then up to Kenya to visit the Serengeti National Park and the was complete they flew to Nairobi visiting the serengeti. Staying in camps in each of Botswana and Kenya meant that the local wildlife was free to come and go. Elephants wondered through the camps Hippos wondered through camps. One did not go out at night was one could possibly become dinner for the large cats which were common. David made the comment that Botswana has lots of elephants, too many in fact. They don’t know what to do with them.

 

Whilst visiting and climbing Mount Kilimanjaro was on offer David commented that as he gets altitude sickness he didn’t think it was particularly a wise thing to do.

 

As well as visiting the Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania and the Northern Serengeti where they saw a world best crossing of the Mara river which is an astonishing sight.  

 

David and Rosemary also visited South Africa, Cape Town and then Stellenbosch visiting Ernie Els Vineyard.  Enclosing David made the comment that Stellenbosch  as were other centres in Africa, is a contrast between rich and poor. There are many lovely and expensive houses but drive for a few kilometres outside the city and there are shanty towns.

 

Thank you for the insight into your travels Richard and Sally, Scott and Debbie and David and Rosemary. Bucket lists have now been added to or refilled.