This weekend I went to the Rain Forest to hike. It was my first excursion in Rwanda besides
the memorial. It was definitely an
adventure.
It started out on a bus….you know how I hate buses. I asked my ticket guy at Sotra (the bus line) to
tell the driver that I needed to be let off at the ranger center in the rain
forest. The drive was 2 ½ hours. I definitely wish I would have brought my noise cancellation headsets.
We were driving fast as usual and I was trying to enjoy the
view. On the way into the forest there
were mountain monkeys on the side of the road.
We were driving through all the beautiful forest and I noticed a sign
saying we were leaving the forest. What
happened to letting me off!~~~~.
I asked the driver and he said I should have told him. I said that the ticket guy was supposed to
tell him. He then told me I should have gotten
off a while ago and he would have a moto take me back. Now, motos (motorcycles) are even worse than
buses, if you can get any worse than buses.
I said he could leave me off at the tea factory. He got mad and said: you are telling me two
places. Where do you want to be let
out…. It was starting to get ugly!! And there was a bus full of people watching us.
Finally, he pulled over at some center and said I could get
out here. I had no idea where I
was. I walked in and no one was there, but I heard voices in the building next door.
So I walked down there and asked the guy at the desk where I was…. Here
is the good luck… he said I was at the hotel that I am staying at…. I thought I
would have to take a local bus from the bus stop to this hotel….. The guy
behind the desk told me how lucky I was.
I had some coffee and waited for the Waterfall trek at 1pm.
While I was waiting, I met some Koreans that were going on the trek with
me. They were transferring to this really
posh lodge… the cost equals what I am spending for 26 nights at my hotel in
Butare… I took a ride over with them to
check in… I was served a drink and a hand towel…. What a great way to start the
weekend.
The waterfall trek was beautiful. Claud, our guide, was so cute. Every time we saw water, even a trickle of
water in a puddle, we would ask him if this was our waterfall. He said it was a bonus waterfall.
When we finally arrived at the waterfall it was
beautiful. The waterfall wasn’t what was
so spectacular; it was the way the breathtaking plants moved around the
falls.
I told Claud that I really wanted to see monkeys… wouldn’t
you know we saw blue monkeys. They are
amazing. They just fly in the air to the
next tree. It was a great 4-hour
hike. Good Luck again!!
I met some great people at the hotel besides the
Koreans. I spent time with a young
couple from London, who in the morning took me over the center where I was
suppose to exit the bus in the first place.
I met a mother and daughter from Germany, who tried to convince me to
stay one more night and they would drive me back, so I could go bird watching
with them. Turns out you have to have a
car for bird watching, so I could not go in the morning. I met a lady from Canada that is trying to
help the street kids in Kigali. More
good luck!!!
The next morning I took another hike in the rain forest, but
definitely did not match the Waterfall hike.
Now the bad luck…. Wouldn’t you know it would involve a
bus!!! I had purchased a ticket for the
return ride, my first mistake. I was
done early, so I did not think it would be a problem to go on an earlier bus…
not true. So I was waiting there for
about an hour as two buses went by and would not take me. Then the real bad news!!! Torrential rains!!!
I am standing at the side of the road for an hour in a major
downpour… remember I am in a rain forest… under a very small umbrella. Can you just picture me? I was soaked.
The umbrella could not hold any more water and it started to drip on my
face. I was trying to protect my
backpack, but it was really getting soaked.
I wish I had a picture.
Finally an Impala bus stopped. I had a ticket on the Sotra bus. The guy was going to charge me 4000 rwf to
take the bus. I had already paid 4000rwf
(equivalent to around $8) for Sotra. I told him NO. I would stand in the rain… now, I really have
to have my head examined. For $8 I would
continue to stand in a major rain downpour at the side of the road. He came back with 3000 rwf, which is
around $5. I said yes…. Thank God!!!
When I got on the bus I was completely soaked, in the
makeshift seat (all the regular seats were taken), and there was this terrible
smell (turns out it was some type of stale cooked cabbage). It was making me sick. I just went into a Zen mode and decided that
I could do this. I put my jacket over my
nose and tried to meditate. Remember
this is a curvy road in a bus going at record speeds and I am moving from side to side with nothing to hold on
to. It was a true test of meditation.
Finally I arrived in Butare…
I definitely was going to try and recoup my money from the Sotra bus
line. We had a big discussion, but I
lost. Oh well, I think I can afford $5.
I am ready to get back to work tomorrow. It was really a nice weekend, but the
security of my Mont Huye (the other name for Butare) motel is very comforting.
Have a wonderful day, Paula
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