Rwanda

rwanda - the land of a thousand hills. already at the border we were reminded of switzerland: everything is so well structured and organized that we were not used to it anymore at all. and before we knew it, border crossing had already been completed. the absolute fastest border procedure of our journey so far! also, the even and perfectly shaped roads lined by walking paths for pedestrians and sometimes even by streetlamps are examples for the organized sense of the rwandans. what us impressed the most was the fact that the whole country is glowing from such a cleanness as we have not seen before anywhere, even not in switzerland. in 2008, when rwanda was still recovering from the economic and emotional destruction of the genocide in 1994, a national ban on non-biodegradable plastic was instituted. one of several exemplary actions of rwandan leaders’ revival plan. living for a while with almost no plastic was a great inspiration as searching for alternatives offers a great opportunity for creativity.

rwanda consists almost completely out of hills and is characterized by a mild yet often wet climate. it offers the ideal prerequisites for agriculture on terraced grounds. the rich green of the lush vegetation is dotted by the beautifully divers colored houses and people’s clothes made from traditional kitenge fabrics.

by passing muzanze, we drove to volcanoes national park, situated in northwestern rwanda in a spectacular scenery out of a dense forest canopy and breathtaking peaks of five extinct volcanoes. this park was the research base of the american primatologist dian fossey and, subsequently, as the setting for the film gorillas in the mist. after a cold and rainy camping night, we got up very early, strengthened ourselves with a hot cup of african spice coffee and started our walk through this impressive montane ecosystem. hidden in a bushy bamboo forest we could witness a family of golden monkeys, primates that are easily recognized due to their yellow patches, which can be seen all over their bodies. they are known to have unique characters and are a rare species that are endangered at the moment.

due to the country’s small size and its excellent roads, it is relatively easy to drive anywhere in the country within one day. and because Flora needed a tiny panhard reparation, we decided to drive to the capital city first and afterwards to proceed with exploring nature and wildlife. in kigali we took the opportunity to learn more about rwanda’s people, culture and history. an extremely heart touching and sustainable experience was the visit of kigali’s genocide memorial centre. it is one of several memorial centers spread across the whole country, serving not only as essential educative institutions but also as important memorial places for survivors to be close to their lost children, parents, partners, relatives and friends. how rwanda is handling grief, but also enlightenment and a healthy forward movement is really admirable and should be taken as an example for everyone.

still sunken in our thoughts our journey continued to the beautiful shores of lake kivu that is bordering on the democratic republique of congo and fantastically lined by green hills and dotted by small hilly islands. actually, it looks like a fjord in the southern part of this planet. it was also the place where we met our dear french friends, heloise and eliez who are overlanding from uganda to south africa. unfortunately, they faced a very serious car breakdown right after they had left our night camp. so, by the help of some local mechanics (and of course many gapers), we spent the whole day on figuring the car’s problem out. by leaving them behind because we had to proceed with our journey, we felt very sorry…

after a short night nap, we got up very early the next morning in order to attend another ape trek. after a tough hike through nyungwe’s steep rainforest (fortunately, nobody needed an african helicopter, which is a litter carried by several people), a heavy rain shower and an ant attack, we were lucky to track out our closest relatives: a chimpanzee family. watching their behavior, their mimics and gestures was such an educative and impressive moment!

touched by rwanda’s ubumuntu that means humanity – goodness, generosity and kindness, we started our long drive in direction to arusha, tanzania, where a very happy event awaited us…