30th July. Luwanga Bridge. Zambia
Charles Dickens began one of his books: ‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times’ (or words to that effect). That’s a bit like this trip is turning out.
We crossed over from Malawi to Zambia the day before yesterday, travelled 30 kms to Chipata where we stayed the night all set to travel on to South Luangwa NP the next morning. 80kms into the 130km trip to the park’s entrance we had a puncture which I didn’t pick up straight away due to the corrugations and rough road. Hence the side walls were damaged. The bolts releasing the spare wheel seized due to the dirt and dust on the thread. I repaired the damaged tyre then decided to forget the park and hobble back to Chipata on the damaged tyre where we m ay be able to buy a new tyre. No such luck. The tyres on the van are 17”, not a size used often in this country. We had the spare put on after grinding the problem bolt off and using the damaged wall tyre as a spare. Lusaka is over 500kms on but we were told we would be able to buy the tyres we required there. While getting the spare tyre fitted we noticed the front left tyre was also losing air. We found the hole which was quickly repaired but there were another 3 minute leaks in the same vicinity. I said to the bloke, I had a compressor and would put air in it when required. All this problem reverts back to the service we had in Lilongwe where they topped up the tyre pressures for me but their gauge must have been incorrect: instead of putting in 3.0 bar and 3.1 bar I realized later the tyres had 3.45 bar and 3.55 bar in. On corrugations it is advisable to reduce the pressure not increase it
Eating lunch today on the side of the road today I glanced down at the spare tyre we had fitted the day before and noticed a bulge in the side wall. The spare was damaged, we had to go on with the damaged tyre still in place. Three faulty tyres, these were the worst of times.
Luangwe Bridge is a small settlement 2/3rds of the way to Lusaka from Chipata, the Bridge Camp Site is this amazing place built on the edge of the Luangwa River. The lodge bar and restaurant has a 180 degree view of the river in which hippos can be heard and a good eye has to be kept out for the crocs that lie in the rushes on the edge. We are the only ones in the camp, the Southern Cross is very visible in a clear sky, monkeys are making a b-line to our rubbish, we have enjoyed a drink sitting around a fire in the open at the bar and after that cooking an appetising meal on the open fire near the van. It has been a lovely evening, one we will remember. The best of times.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Sunday, July 27, 2008
27th July. Lilongwe, Malawi
Hi there, sorry on the delay in getting this posted. Have been away from connections fdor a week and it is all dial up here in Malawi. Too slow to add photos.
18th July, Rumphi, Malawi.
The early missionaries found the shores of Lake Malawi a deadly base due to the prevalence of malaria. But above them rose the western escarpment of the East African Rift Valley and on finding a good water supply, moved to the top of the range. Malaria is not present over 2,000 metres. They called the town Livingstonia, named, of course, after David Livingstone. The road they built rises abruptly from the edge of the lake up the precipice. It’s a good road, rough in places with many hair pin ends but a credit to their road building expertise. Dr Robert Laws was the force behind the settlement. The building began in the early 20th Century and extended to a hospital as well as the church. The town now has a university as well as other institutions. Pulling up to the museum we were surrounded by a group of Irish visitors who were so enthused to see some Australian visitors. Sixteen of them, they were there to help construct a building at the local school. Before we knew it we had a coffee in our hands and standing for a photo shoot. They were such an exuberant crowd.
From there we travelled a further 100kms on to Rumphi where we had been told a camp site was available in the grounds of an orphanage situated on the outskirts of town. The Matunkha Orphanage is quite amazing. Set up by a Dutch couple some 10 years ago the number of orphans they cater for have swelled from about 200 to over 2600 today. Aids is the cause of most of the parent’s deaths and now they rely on grand parents and foster parents to house them of a night while they come to the school at the orphanage during the day. There are also many living at the orphanage as well. There are many volunteers visiting that help run the place but Matilde and her husband are the driving force behind it all. But theirs is just one of the many orphanages in this part of Africa that provide help to the many children suffering the loss of their parents. It is a major problem.
19th July. Nyika National Park.
Close to the Zambian border, this park resembles the Scottish Highlands so much you expect to see a red deer wander across the horizon at any time instead of an eland. Set on a plateau there are a few copses of trees but most of the rolling hills are treeless with a short grass and bracken cover. Many types of antelope are in the park as well as jackals and hyenas. As I write this I have had a knock on the door to tell us a hyena is prowling around. This is one of the few parks where it is safe to walk around. Before the park was gazetted plantations of conifers had been planted as an income earning venture. That was over 50 years ago and these are now being harvested after which the land will revert back to its original state. Alongside the camp site is one such plantation, Aerial, the bloke keeping an eye on the camp has spent the whole day cutting firewood so the 5 lots of campers can have roaring fires to keep the cold out. It is much appreciated, the night is cold.
20th July Vwaza Marsh Game Reserve.
Talk about cold. It was freezing. We were caught out somewhat. The frost was heavy on the ground in the morning. We left the park early and travelled back the way we came and have stopped off at this game reserve known for its elephants. We took an evening drive and didn’t see the herds but came upon one feeding in the middle of the road. The trees were too dense for us to creep past; we waited for 15 minutes watching him grazing away. He (or she) then noticed us and strolled along the track towards us. I don’t think it was that big as far as elephants go but when they are 15 metres away any full grown pachyderm looks pretty massive. I think he was just inquisitive because after eye balling us for a few minutes he turned away and headed into the bush. As we passed him he let out a trumpet and took off. He was very impressive.
21st July, Lake Malawi
Away from the cold for a short while enjoying the lake shore. Low surf, white sand, no bilharzia, it is very nice. We stopped off at the largest northern Malawi city, Mzuzu to stock up on a bit of food. There are small supermarkets in Malawi, a nice change after Tanzania where outside the major cities there are no larger shops, just little shops selling the same thing. Another thing we are appreciating here is being able to buy the bread that we are used to. Further north often all you can get is that sweet loaf which is bloody horrible.
18th July, Rumphi, Malawi.
The early missionaries found the shores of Lake Malawi a deadly base due to the prevalence of malaria. But above them rose the western escarpment of the East African Rift Valley and on finding a good water supply, moved to the top of the range. Malaria is not present over 2,000 metres. They called the town Livingstonia, named, of course, after David Livingstone. The road they built rises abruptly from the edge of the lake up the precipice. It’s a good road, rough in places with many hair pin ends but a credit to their road building expertise. Dr Robert Laws was the force behind the settlement. The building began in the early 20th Century and extended to a hospital as well as the church. The town now has a university as well as other institutions. Pulling up to the museum we were surrounded by a group of Irish visitors who were so enthused to see some Australian visitors. Sixteen of them, they were there to help construct a building at the local school. Before we knew it we had a coffee in our hands and standing for a photo shoot. They were such an exuberant crowd.
From there we travelled a further 100kms on to Rumphi where we had been told a camp site was available in the grounds of an orphanage situated on the outskirts of town. The Matunkha Orphanage is quite amazing. Set up by a Dutch couple some 10 years ago the number of orphans they cater for have swelled from about 200 to over 2600 today. Aids is the cause of most of the parent’s deaths and now they rely on grand parents and foster parents to house them of a night while they come to the school at the orphanage during the day. There are also many living at the orphanage as well. There are many volunteers visiting that help run the place but Matilde and her husband are the driving force behind it all. But theirs is just one of the many orphanages in this part of Africa that provide help to the many children suffering the loss of their parents. It is a major problem.
19th July. Nyika National Park.
Close to the Zambian border, this park resembles the Scottish Highlands so much you expect to see a red deer wander across the horizon at any time instead of an eland. Set on a plateau there are a few copses of trees but most of the rolling hills are treeless with a short grass and bracken cover. Many types of antelope are in the park as well as jackals and hyenas. As I write this I have had a knock on the door to tell us a hyena is prowling around. This is one of the few parks where it is safe to walk around. Before the park was gazetted plantations of conifers had been planted as an income earning venture. That was over 50 years ago and these are now being harvested after which the land will revert back to its original state. Alongside the camp site is one such plantation, Aerial, the bloke keeping an eye on the camp has spent the whole day cutting firewood so the 5 lots of campers can have roaring fires to keep the cold out. It is much appreciated, the night is cold.
20th July Vwaza Marsh Game Reserve.
Talk about cold. It was freezing. We were caught out somewhat. The frost was heavy on the ground in the morning. We left the park early and travelled back the way we came and have stopped off at this game reserve known for its elephants. We took an evening drive and didn’t see the herds but came upon one feeding in the middle of the road. The trees were too dense for us to creep past; we waited for 15 minutes watching him grazing away. He (or she) then noticed us and strolled along the track towards us. I don’t think it was that big as far as elephants go but when they are 15 metres away any full grown pachyderm looks pretty massive. I think he was just inquisitive because after eye balling us for a few minutes he turned away and headed into the bush. As we passed him he let out a trumpet and took off. He was very impressive.
21st July, Lake Malawi
Away from the cold for a short while enjoying the lake shore. Low surf, white sand, no bilharzia, it is very nice. We stopped off at the largest northern Malawi city, Mzuzu to stock up on a bit of food. There are small supermarkets in Malawi, a nice change after Tanzania where outside the major cities there are no larger shops, just little shops selling the same thing. Another thing we are appreciating here is being able to buy the bread that we are used to. Further north often all you can get is that sweet loaf which is bloody horrible.
Friday, July 18, 2008
18th July. Rumphi, Malawi
14th July, The Old Farmhouse, Southern Tanzania.
Joan’s birthday was a day of driving. The night before we had had a nice seafood platter accompanied by a Sth African Sauvignon blanc at Peponi Beach but knew we couldn’t stay another day there relaxing. Even so, it was an interesting day as the main road takes you through Mikumi NP, there is no charge if you stay on the highway and we saw quite a few animals including Masai giraffes, two elephant herds and Grevy’s zebra. We made it to the other side of the park, a distance of 540kms for the day, and stayed at a nice Tanz-Swiss hotel. While there we met a lovely couple from Narromine, close to Dubbo. Anne & Keith bought a Hilux in Namibia and fly over regularly to travel through different parts of the continent. We were able to gain good info on our southern route from them.
Today we were once more appreciative of a good road making another 245kms until stopping off at this Old Farm house where we were told offer a delicious 3 course meal. Once again we have run into fellow travellers: an English couple who drove their Toyota Hi Ace to the North Cape in Norway then are heading south via Russia and Iran to Cape Town. Also an Austrian/French couple who have hired a 4WD from Cape Town and headed north. Another option we never thought you could do if we decide there is more to Southern Africa than we can take in on this trip.
On the drive today we passed through this amazing broad valley full of thousands of baobab trees. They went on as far as you could see and it wasn’t a small valley but continued for over 20 kms. Our destination was the Utenguli Coffee Lodge. A very pleasant place, they have just expanded to allow campers. However they will need to revise their tariffs as $15 per person just for camping as considerably more than the $3-5 p/p we are used to paying. Travelling the way we are word of mouth is the main way of finding the latest good and bad spots to visit or stay, prices like they are charging will deter many overlanders.
16th July. Sangolis Resort, Lake Malawi, Malawi.
Another country, another lake laid out below us. A beautiful spot but a steep hill to get down to. The lake is fairly narrow but stretches almost 700kms down the eastern side of the country. A poor country and another one devastated by Aids.
We are loving the better roads we have been on the last week. In fact, after leaving Peponi Beach the van hasn’t missed a beat. We will still be on rough roads going into the national parks but apart from that it should be plain sailing.
Joan’s birthday was a day of driving. The night before we had had a nice seafood platter accompanied by a Sth African Sauvignon blanc at Peponi Beach but knew we couldn’t stay another day there relaxing. Even so, it was an interesting day as the main road takes you through Mikumi NP, there is no charge if you stay on the highway and we saw quite a few animals including Masai giraffes, two elephant herds and Grevy’s zebra. We made it to the other side of the park, a distance of 540kms for the day, and stayed at a nice Tanz-Swiss hotel. While there we met a lovely couple from Narromine, close to Dubbo. Anne & Keith bought a Hilux in Namibia and fly over regularly to travel through different parts of the continent. We were able to gain good info on our southern route from them.
Today we were once more appreciative of a good road making another 245kms until stopping off at this Old Farm house where we were told offer a delicious 3 course meal. Once again we have run into fellow travellers: an English couple who drove their Toyota Hi Ace to the North Cape in Norway then are heading south via Russia and Iran to Cape Town. Also an Austrian/French couple who have hired a 4WD from Cape Town and headed north. Another option we never thought you could do if we decide there is more to Southern Africa than we can take in on this trip.
On the drive today we passed through this amazing broad valley full of thousands of baobab trees. They went on as far as you could see and it wasn’t a small valley but continued for over 20 kms. Our destination was the Utenguli Coffee Lodge. A very pleasant place, they have just expanded to allow campers. However they will need to revise their tariffs as $15 per person just for camping as considerably more than the $3-5 p/p we are used to paying. Travelling the way we are word of mouth is the main way of finding the latest good and bad spots to visit or stay, prices like they are charging will deter many overlanders.
16th July. Sangolis Resort, Lake Malawi, Malawi.
Another country, another lake laid out below us. A beautiful spot but a steep hill to get down to. The lake is fairly narrow but stretches almost 700kms down the eastern side of the country. A poor country and another one devastated by Aids.
We are loving the better roads we have been on the last week. In fact, after leaving Peponi Beach the van hasn’t missed a beat. We will still be on rough roads going into the national parks but apart from that it should be plain sailing.
Friday, July 11, 2008
11th July. Peponi Beach Tasnzania
We left Nairobi in the early afternoon after having the damaged tyre re-vulcanised. They didn’t have the same size tyre as on the vehicle but have made a good job even if used as just a spare.
Road works for the first 100kms slowed us down: they do a long stretch of road reconstruction at a time, the detour is made up then left. After the rains and continuous traffic it becomes as bad as some of the worst roads we have driven on, they don’t put a grader over it once. Anyhow, come dark we were still a long way from Mombasa and looking for a place to stop the night. We pulled in to one of the gates at the Tsavo NP but the quoted price of $50 shocked us.. That just to stop inside the gate for security, with no services. I hate driving at night in these countries especially when there are zebras on the side of the road, not sure how traffic conscious they are. Made it to Voi on the far side of the NP and stopped in the Shell servo for a security charge of $3. Much more realistic.
On to Mombasa then south to the border on a good road. The last time we came into Tanzania from Rwanda we were asked top pay a road toll of $6 per 100kms. Even with a revised kilometre count it came to $150. We managed to get it down to $100 but were shocked at that rip off. This time we were apprehensive the same thing would occur but it seemed to be a standard fee of $25 this post. The road south from the border was gravel but not too bad. That was to Tanga and a further 30 kms on to Peponi Beach where we are now ensconced. The last time we saw the sea was the Red Sea in Egypt. Prices are cheapish here in Tanzania. A nice meal with a glass of wine last night set us back $9 total. Still haven’t had a nice steak on this trip, it’s usually so tough.
Road works for the first 100kms slowed us down: they do a long stretch of road reconstruction at a time, the detour is made up then left. After the rains and continuous traffic it becomes as bad as some of the worst roads we have driven on, they don’t put a grader over it once. Anyhow, come dark we were still a long way from Mombasa and looking for a place to stop the night. We pulled in to one of the gates at the Tsavo NP but the quoted price of $50 shocked us.. That just to stop inside the gate for security, with no services. I hate driving at night in these countries especially when there are zebras on the side of the road, not sure how traffic conscious they are. Made it to Voi on the far side of the NP and stopped in the Shell servo for a security charge of $3. Much more realistic.
On to Mombasa then south to the border on a good road. The last time we came into Tanzania from Rwanda we were asked top pay a road toll of $6 per 100kms. Even with a revised kilometre count it came to $150. We managed to get it down to $100 but were shocked at that rip off. This time we were apprehensive the same thing would occur but it seemed to be a standard fee of $25 this post. The road south from the border was gravel but not too bad. That was to Tanga and a further 30 kms on to Peponi Beach where we are now ensconced. The last time we saw the sea was the Red Sea in Egypt. Prices are cheapish here in Tanzania. A nice meal with a glass of wine last night set us back $9 total. Still haven’t had a nice steak on this trip, it’s usually so tough.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Hi
I missed the lower post out. From Rwanda, it makes interesting reading.
Still can't upload the photos
Gary
Still can't upload the photos
Gary
2nd July Lake Mahuji Rwqanda
Rwanda is a very hilly country. We will be leaving it tomorrow and still have to come upon a road that has a straight stretch more than 500 metres long. At least the roads have generally been good and we even ventured to say the road from Lake Kivu back to Kigali was the best we have been on in Africa. Very windy but well built, good curves and regularly maintained.
Before leaving Lake Kivu we decided to drive around the bays a little and find a place to have breakfast. Were we stopped was near a concrete plaque with writing on it we couldn’t understand. On closer inspection I realized it was just above a mass grave measuring 10 metres x 4 metres. Not even this idyllic corner of the country was spared the slaughter. We also drove back to a church that had a memorial to 11,400 people killed in the area. The grave there would measure twice the earlier one.
Two other churches have become shrines to the destruction of April 1994. Both just south of Kigali and just off a major road. The one at Ntarama is a simple structure with a Sunday school and offices in behind. 5,000 were macheted to death in these buildings. The main church has racks of skulls on one end, the pews, which are planks of wood placed on a low cement base, are still there. Around the walls are piled the clothes of the victims while each side of the alter has the provisions the people brought with them. They were there for 3 days before being attacked. The Sunday school still has blood on the walls. Davita showed us around; a beautiful sad girl, she was 10 when the attack occurred and remembers so much.
At Nyamata the church is big and modern. It would be three times bigger than Ntarama. On the pews there are piles of clothes from those killed. If there were 5,000 at the earlier church there would have been 20,000 killed here going by the amount of clothing. I am pretty sure there was a church where 50,000 had sheltered but were all killed, but am not positive that was Nyamata. The woman there could not speak English. Behind the church a crypt has been built that houses thousands of skulls and other bones laid out on trays.
The UN were in the country when all this happened but didn’t have a mandate to take up arms against the gangs. The bloke in charge said that all he needed was 7000 troops and a mandate and he could have stopped the genocide. One plaque in the Kigali Memorial said that if the troops used to evacuate all the foreigners had been used to fight there would also not have been a slaughter.
We headed east after Kigali and ready to cross into Tanzania tomorrow morning.
Before leaving Lake Kivu we decided to drive around the bays a little and find a place to have breakfast. Were we stopped was near a concrete plaque with writing on it we couldn’t understand. On closer inspection I realized it was just above a mass grave measuring 10 metres x 4 metres. Not even this idyllic corner of the country was spared the slaughter. We also drove back to a church that had a memorial to 11,400 people killed in the area. The grave there would measure twice the earlier one.
Two other churches have become shrines to the destruction of April 1994. Both just south of Kigali and just off a major road. The one at Ntarama is a simple structure with a Sunday school and offices in behind. 5,000 were macheted to death in these buildings. The main church has racks of skulls on one end, the pews, which are planks of wood placed on a low cement base, are still there. Around the walls are piled the clothes of the victims while each side of the alter has the provisions the people brought with them. They were there for 3 days before being attacked. The Sunday school still has blood on the walls. Davita showed us around; a beautiful sad girl, she was 10 when the attack occurred and remembers so much.
At Nyamata the church is big and modern. It would be three times bigger than Ntarama. On the pews there are piles of clothes from those killed. If there were 5,000 at the earlier church there would have been 20,000 killed here going by the amount of clothing. I am pretty sure there was a church where 50,000 had sheltered but were all killed, but am not positive that was Nyamata. The woman there could not speak English. Behind the church a crypt has been built that houses thousands of skulls and other bones laid out on trays.
The UN were in the country when all this happened but didn’t have a mandate to take up arms against the gangs. The bloke in charge said that all he needed was 7000 troops and a mandate and he could have stopped the genocide. One plaque in the Kigali Memorial said that if the troops used to evacuate all the foreigners had been used to fight there would also not have been a slaughter.
We headed east after Kigali and ready to cross into Tanzania tomorrow morning.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Hi
Hi there,at last we are in a place where we have a keyboard that we can understand and a speed fast enough to do any uploading.
Three posts but am having trouble doing the photos. will try again at a different internet place. The 2nd blog about Rwanda akes interesting reading as the troubles there happened only 14 years ago.
All the best
Gary & Joan
Three posts but am having trouble doing the photos. will try again at a different internet place. The 2nd blog about Rwanda akes interesting reading as the troubles there happened only 14 years ago.
All the best
Gary & Joan
8th July Nairobi, Kenya
There are 3 ways to get from Rwanda through western Tanzania to Dar es Salaam: the southern route is rough, sandy and rarely used, the middle route to Dodoma then on to Dar was good for a while then deteriorated we were told. Most advice was to travel the northern route through Serengeti & Ngorongoro NPs to Arusha then on down to Dar. 300kms longer but better roads with only about 70kms bad.
We took their advice. What they didn’t tell us was that apart from the 70kms of bad road, the 250 kilometres that ran through the 2 national parks was literally 250 kilometres of corrugations and sharp rock as bad as that in northern Kenya. The van suffered horribly and the drain in driving cancelled any enjoyment of seeing the animals. One blown tyre, 4 shock absorbers ruined, and a leaking cv joint. Hence our return to Nairobi which was only 270 kms from Arusha instead of the 750 km drive to Dar where the VW parts might have been harder to get. The van is at present in getting the work done, the Jungle Junction has a couple of rooms they let out.
We did see animals in Serengeti; the wildebeests were congregating ready for their annual migration, giraffes, cheetahs, topis, plenty of other antelopes and the wonderful secretary birds with their snake-stamping paddened feet. Yet they didn’t make up for the punishment the van went through. On checking out of the park I vented my spleen to the authorities on the atrocious road saying it was better 33 years ago, they apologised saying if I come back in 5 years it would be better. The Tanzanians I spoke to about it afterwards all agreed it was bad. What hurts was when we entered the country we were slapped with a $6 per 100km road tax and as we had to travel over 200kms through the country it was going to be very expensive. I got them down to ½ the original amount.
The southern part of Rwanda was as hilly as the rest of the country but seemed more populated with streams of people walking along the roads. As soon as we crossed into Tanzania the country took on a barren feel with less people. This was the Masai Steppes that continued for 100s of kilometres and where the herds of cattle watched over by the herdsmen roamed.
We took their advice. What they didn’t tell us was that apart from the 70kms of bad road, the 250 kilometres that ran through the 2 national parks was literally 250 kilometres of corrugations and sharp rock as bad as that in northern Kenya. The van suffered horribly and the drain in driving cancelled any enjoyment of seeing the animals. One blown tyre, 4 shock absorbers ruined, and a leaking cv joint. Hence our return to Nairobi which was only 270 kms from Arusha instead of the 750 km drive to Dar where the VW parts might have been harder to get. The van is at present in getting the work done, the Jungle Junction has a couple of rooms they let out.
We did see animals in Serengeti; the wildebeests were congregating ready for their annual migration, giraffes, cheetahs, topis, plenty of other antelopes and the wonderful secretary birds with their snake-stamping paddened feet. Yet they didn’t make up for the punishment the van went through. On checking out of the park I vented my spleen to the authorities on the atrocious road saying it was better 33 years ago, they apologised saying if I come back in 5 years it would be better. The Tanzanians I spoke to about it afterwards all agreed it was bad. What hurts was when we entered the country we were slapped with a $6 per 100km road tax and as we had to travel over 200kms through the country it was going to be very expensive. I got them down to ½ the original amount.
The southern part of Rwanda was as hilly as the rest of the country but seemed more populated with streams of people walking along the roads. As soon as we crossed into Tanzania the country took on a barren feel with less people. This was the Masai Steppes that continued for 100s of kilometres and where the herds of cattle watched over by the herdsmen roamed.
30th June. Lake Kivu Rwanda
A sobering day. Kigali has not much going for it as a capital of a country. That is apart from the Kigali Memorial Centre that gives the visitor an insight of what happened during the three months beginning April 6th 1994 when over 800,000 Rwandans were slaughtered, mostly the minority Tutsis and moderate Hutus. The Centre is broken up into 3 sections: the genocide, a section showing other genocides that have occurred elsewhere in the world during the 20th century and the most touching, ‘Wasted Lives’ that tells the stories of some of the children who were killed. Their likes, their best friends, favourite food, their ambitions and age when killed. All this below a life size photo of the child. The Centre tries to answer the question ‘Why?’ but you come out of the place still asking that same question.
Outside are concrete slabs under which lie the remains of 250,000 people killed in the Kigali area. As we left a group of 50-60 Rwandans were queuing up at the security search point most with a single flower in their hand to lay on the mass graves. They were middle aged or older, the mood was sombre, they hardly spoke. One held out a hand to Joan as we passed. It was so touching as though they appreciated us sharing their sorrow. To imagine what these people went through is difficult.
The instigators in the slaughter used rifles, machetes and knives to kill the people. They had tanks, automatic armaments and artillery at their disposal but they wanted every Hutu in the country to share the guilt. Driving along the road you look at people and wonder was he a killer? We picked up a bloke wanting a lift, could he have slaughtered those helpless children? It is amazing how the country has put aside the animosity and is rebuilding the country. What has happened is the past. Let the tribunals look after those indicted, we have a country to rebuild
We headed west from Kigali to Lake Kivu and are staying in the Presbyterian Retreat called Bethany. The room overlooks islands n this beautiful lake. It is so quiet you feel obliged to talk in whispers. Unfortunately the paradise ended at the restaurant table where the food would be the worst we have tasted all trip.
Incidentally there are no camp sites in Rwanda, bit of a shame.
Outside are concrete slabs under which lie the remains of 250,000 people killed in the Kigali area. As we left a group of 50-60 Rwandans were queuing up at the security search point most with a single flower in their hand to lay on the mass graves. They were middle aged or older, the mood was sombre, they hardly spoke. One held out a hand to Joan as we passed. It was so touching as though they appreciated us sharing their sorrow. To imagine what these people went through is difficult.
The instigators in the slaughter used rifles, machetes and knives to kill the people. They had tanks, automatic armaments and artillery at their disposal but they wanted every Hutu in the country to share the guilt. Driving along the road you look at people and wonder was he a killer? We picked up a bloke wanting a lift, could he have slaughtered those helpless children? It is amazing how the country has put aside the animosity and is rebuilding the country. What has happened is the past. Let the tribunals look after those indicted, we have a country to rebuild
We headed west from Kigali to Lake Kivu and are staying in the Presbyterian Retreat called Bethany. The room overlooks islands n this beautiful lake. It is so quiet you feel obliged to talk in whispers. Unfortunately the paradise ended at the restaurant table where the food would be the worst we have tasted all trip.
Incidentally there are no camp sites in Rwanda, bit of a shame.
28th June Lake Bunyoni
Aids was bad in Uganda 20 years ago but with a strong government effort over the years it has a better rate of awareness of the problem and doing something about it than most African countries. In almost all small villages there will be an aids/HIV clinic. Today we met a couple of the people n the forefront of trying to curtail this disease. Pisdon and Tony work at the local university hospital in the HV Research Dept in association with a university in San Francisco. They explained to us the main problem they have in the country is for people to accept that they have HIV/Aids, but, with the aid if the new drugs that are becoming available even in these countries, they can live a normal life with a few precautions. Something that we are aware of in AU but for the average Ugandan once they get the disease they are ostracized by their family and community. With the aid of ‘Expats’, people who are HIV but are living a normal life, they are getting through to the people that it doesn’t have to be a death sentence. They are doing an amazing job, something South Africa should cotton on to.
We stayed another night at this amazing place, but, whereas there has been us and a Dutch couple in the camping area, tonight an overlander bus has pulled up spewing forth an array of young backpackers setting up tents all around us. There’s the breaks. At least they are quiet and have left room for us to drive out in the morning.
Mariana & Hank are an amazing couple: maybe a little younger than us their lives are split 3 months travelling then 3 months back in the Netherlands. They leave their Toyota Land cruiser in a safe place then fly home for a break. I managed to find two countries, Egypt and Sudan, they hadn’t been to. Gives one food for thought.
Early evening we are serenaded by this chorus of frogs that make this beautiful ‘tink…tink…tink’ sound from all around the lake. Makes me think of Tinkerbell spreading her magic dust in the old 78s we used to listen to. The path to the restaurant runs along the edge of the water, it’s magical walking back to the van with such a serenade.
We stayed another night at this amazing place, but, whereas there has been us and a Dutch couple in the camping area, tonight an overlander bus has pulled up spewing forth an array of young backpackers setting up tents all around us. There’s the breaks. At least they are quiet and have left room for us to drive out in the morning.
Mariana & Hank are an amazing couple: maybe a little younger than us their lives are split 3 months travelling then 3 months back in the Netherlands. They leave their Toyota Land cruiser in a safe place then fly home for a break. I managed to find two countries, Egypt and Sudan, they hadn’t been to. Gives one food for thought.
Early evening we are serenaded by this chorus of frogs that make this beautiful ‘tink…tink…tink’ sound from all around the lake. Makes me think of Tinkerbell spreading her magic dust in the old 78s we used to listen to. The path to the restaurant runs along the edge of the water, it’s magical walking back to the van with such a serenade.
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