and the most improved award goes to...

“Are you crazy? You are just asking to get kidnapped by going to Rwanda. They kill people in Rwanda.” I won’t attribute this quote to a particular person, mostly because there wasn’t just one. SEVERAL people upon hearing about the adventures in Africa I had planned chose to pass on this peril of wisdom. It actually got to the point where I was a little nervous…those fears were quickly dissipated upon arriving in this tiny, landlocked country, and all preconceived notions were shattered within a few hours.

Today I am not writing about a misadventure or blunder, although I had my share of those in this country, I am writing today to tell you about this unique locale. Rwanda has had more than its share of problems in the past 20 years or so, and that is saying it mildly. It’s easy now to sit back and look at the chronology of events that lead to the 1994 and predict that a violent end was imminent. Hindsight critique is always easy. One man, General Romeo Dallaire, the Canadian United Nations Force Commander in Rwanda at the time actually predicted it before it occurred. His attempts to stop the genocide both before it started and during its 100 day course are well documented, but were sadly discarded at the time.

We had the opportunity to wander through the genocide museum in Kigali; it was here that I learnt probably the most disturbing aspect of this genocide. It was not the number of dead (over 800,000) or the horrible torture methods used…it was that the genocide was planned. When I say this, I mean planned in the same way you would organize a wedding, right down to rehearsals. Who plans genocide? How does the world stand by and let this happen?

The issues before, during and after are too complex for a simple girl like me. To their credit; France, Belgium, the United States and the United Nations have all stepped up and publically announced how their actions at the time contributed to an increasing number of dead Tutsis and pro-peace Hutus. Bill Clinton stated in an interview given years later that he believes 5,000 US troops could have saved 500,000 Rwandans. Over 2,000 women and children were slaughtered in a school when the Belgium peacekeepers guarding it walked away after a change in orders – the Hutu were standing by, drinking and cheering their departure. The examples go on and on. Anyway, it seems like any country could have done something, and no country did.

The truly sad part is that the effects of the genocide are not over. Thousands of women raped during those 100 days were infected with HIV. The first Congo war started a few months after the influx thousands of Tutsis…the country remains war torn to this day.

I had actually intended this to be a positive piece, but I think that knowing a small snippet of their history will give you a greater appreciation of what I am about to share.

I grew up with a wall full of ‘Participation’ and ‘Most Improved’ ribbons. As a kid, I viewed these as failures, always wishing for that first place ribbon that went to kids that made it look so effortless. ‘Most Improved’ in my mind was a polite way of saying, “nice try loser”. As I so often type, I was wrong. ‘Most improved’ is commemorating the vast strides that one makes, and it is a ribbon that I feel should be pinned on Rwanda.

Less than 15 years ago their world was undergoing one of the worst genocides in modern history, today Rwanda sits poised to be an African leader on both the environmental and technological fronts.

It’s a lofty goal, especially since the country still suffers from lower levels of literacy, poverty and education, but the aim is that all children attending school will be issued a laptop by 2020. This computer will be able to access the internet through the wifi system that they are working to implement through all the cities (I saw them laying cable with my own two eyes!). The One Laptop Per Child program is just one to the initiatives that President Paul Kagame’s government has implemented.

My personal favourite is the country wide ban on plastic bags. No plastic bags anywhere – I met one guide who once was caught with a plastic bag…he was sentenced on the spot to pick up trash for 4 hours…and place it in his bag. There really isn’t that much garbage to pick up though because of Nationwide Clean Up days – they are on Fridays. A nation where everyone tidies up once a week makes for a very attractive, and environmentally sound, countryside. Their commitment to ‘green’ is also seen in their strides to develop alternative energy sources in the areas of solar power, hydropower, biogas and methane gas.

Rwanda is striving to catch up to their more popular East African neighbours in the tourism arena. Although there are only 3 countries in the world where trekking the mountain gorillas is possible, and one of these is the war torn Congo, Rwanda lacks significantly behind Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Botswana in tourism numbers and dollars. I was impressed that these strides to improve tourism were not at the expense of the animals involved; the gorillas are definitely recognized as a commodity but were treated by all with the utmost reverence. My guide for both the Gorilla and Golden Monkey trek was a Rwandan native named Patience. Patience was fantastic and spent much time answering my questions about Rwanda, he was a proud man who wanted me to go out and encourage others to come and visit his country.

I cannot seem to come up with the right words to end this…so I will turn to the quotes of others…

“Rwanda has the best of Africa for your family and friends. We have the Gorillas here in Parc National des Volcans, the chimpanzees can be trekked in Nyungwe national park and you can find the Big 5 in Akagera National Park. Please tell them…come to Rwanda.” – Patience

“It didn’t happen under my administration. It happened under me.” - Former US President, Bill Clinton

“Please, come to my house for tea.” – a stranger I met in the streets of Ruhengeri

“The dead of Rwanda accumulated at nearly three times the rate of Jewish dead during the Holocaust. It was the most efficient mass killing since the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.” – US journalist Philip Gourevitch

“We are friends now, for you have come to Rwanda.” - Shop proprietor of the Nice Shop in Ruhengeri.

Who's tracking who? (posting from the road)

Electing to maximize our experiences in the remote corner of Rwanda home to the mountain gorilla, 4 of us set out in search of another endangered primate - the Golden Monkey. A subspecies of the Blue Monkey, the Golden Monkey resides only in the Parc National des Volcans and the only opportunity to see them is with the support of a full trekking group.

Similar to the gorilla, the monkeys are left to their own devices at night and trackers resume the search in the early morning. Once their position has been ascertained it is communicated to a team of researchers and the guides with walkie-talkies. So we set off again; guides, porters, armed guards and us. This time we were traipsing through a bamboo forest, much easier than the vine covered areas the gorillas had frequented, in search of small monkeys.

Unlike the more popular gorillas, the golden monkeys are still somewhat of a mystery to the outside world. There are two troops in the park that have been habituated and they are utilized for both research and tourism. The regulations surrounding the monkeys is not as strict as the gorillas with the exception of the time limit...still followed to the second. Patience, my gorilla guide, switched and was able to lead me again - this is good because he is familiar and fantastic but he is an absolute bear about the time.

Once we reached the monkeys staging area (an open field near the troop), the researchers came away from the monkeys and we dropped our bags and made our way to them armed with only a camera. Then the rain started. No surprise really, the lush green needs to come from somewhere but trying to take photos of small, high in the tree primates in humid and now
precipitous conditions proved to be too much for poor Canon camera. The lens fogged up as if to say..."leave me alone, I need a day off from your paparazzi style vacation".

So I did something I rarely ever do...I sat and enjoyed the monkeys WITHOUT photographing them constantly. It was liberating just to sit and watch the monkeys at play. After our time was up, we made our way back to the staging area to retrieve our gear and then a very unusual thing happened. The monkeys appeared. It seems they were curious about us...the tracked us!

Patience had a small coronary that morning with all the extra time that we spent with the monkeys but because the rain had finally stopped it gave me the opportunity to snap a few pictures to share with you all...enjoy...

Always a bridesmaid...(posting from the road)

I cannot recall the exact circumstances that led to me wandering around alone in the town of Musanze Rwanda, but that is where fate took me. Despite a fledgling tourism business, specializing in gorilla trekking, pale faces wandering around the town still draw attraction.
Wanting to escape the constant stares I popped into a store called the "Nice Shop". vPretty hard to go wrong there eh? French is the predominant language of Rwanda so this visit also gave me a chance to practice my second language (no doubt my bilingual siblings are rolling their eyes about now). I chatted with the very nice lady who ran the shop for a few minutes, namely about the weather and where I am from, two subjects of my language expertise - I could have also discussed what time it was, should the topic have arisen. Anyway, my language skills almost fully exhausted I started to browse through the different items in the "Nice Shop", which seemed to be large pieces of fabric and candlesticks.

My gaze must have lingered on this zebra print material for too long because the lady rapidly yanked it from the shelf and presented it to me. I tried to ask if it was material that was to make a dress out of, but I think my French failed me because before I knew it the lady had draped me in the material and strategically tied it to form a sort of toga.

We spoke at each other for the next few minutes; me trying to explain that it was lovely material but that I really and truly have no need for a large square of fabric that resembles the hide of a zebra and her telling me how beautiful I looked. Of course I bought the material/dress. After I parted with the few dollars, the kind shopkeeper proudly showed me the photo. Apparently the style of dress/toga I was wearing is a popular bridesmaid dress in Rwanda. In fact she happens to have a photo of a bridal party where the bridesmaids are decked out in my EXACT zebra print dress. The main difference...they are tall, thin, and African - I am none of these things.
Attempts to take the dress off were thwarted as the lady kept telling me how good it looked and that I would be crazy to take it off. I smiled and nodded, fully intending to remove the garb as soon as I stepped out of the shop but the woman was so excited that I liked her dress enough to wear it that she gave me a gift, a carved statue of a gorilla. I just couldn't, in good conscience, remove the dress. So I wore it. All the way home.

Two kilometres is not far, in most circumstances; when you are dressed in the silky hide of a faux zebra it is. But I did it - I wore my bridesmaid dress through the town. I felt and odd combination of pride and humiliation but I waved to curious onlookers and smiled at the boys and old women who commented. In hindsight, I think I received more compliments on that outfit then any other outfit I have ever worn.

After all is said and done, all I could think was that if I studied French harder I wouldn't be dressed like a zebra today.

And you said I wasn't special....(posting from the road)

One of my main reasons for selecting this trip was the promise of getting a chance to see the endangered mountain gorillas in their natural habitat. What I thought would be a highlight of the trip turned out to be one of the best days of my life.

The day started early (I really should stop typing that - all days start early) as we piled into 4x4's and headed to Parc National de Volcans in Rwanda for the start of our trek. There are many rules that surround viewing the Rwandan gorillas, one of the first is that the group limit is 8. A rule strictly followed. The need for a hasty division meant that I ended up in a separate group from my travel partner Leila. Although initially sad, it all worked out beautifully in the end.

The ride up to the base of the volcano was one of the worst I have ever experienced, it was really just large rocks that had been removed from the fields dumped in a large pile. We bumped along this road, me sussing out my trekking group which included, among others, the Australian transvestite and the world's most negative woman. By the time we reached to troupe of gorillas our group had swelled to 17; 8 tourists, 2 guides, 2 armed guards, 4 trackers and 1 anti-poacher. This size of a group is a tricky thing to navigate through dense jungle with the threat of forest elephants, cape buffalo and poachers looming. It is amazing that the National Park pulls it off so flawlessly day after day.

Parc National de Volcans is home to 18 troops of habituated gorillas, approximately 70% of their total gorilla population. Eight of these troops are used for tourism and the other ten are strictly for research. EVERYTHING to do with the gorillas is strictly regulated. Tourists are permitted to only spend 60 min in their presence, and this is followed to the second - longer has been shown to cause the animals stress. No eating near the gorillas - they have never been exposed to any sort of processed foods. No loud noises or pointing as these can been interpret ted as threatening, an upset silverback would be an unfortunate sight. Following the direction of the guides at all times is mandatory - these guides actually make noises and communicate with these animals.

At all times ALL people are to remain 7 metres away from the gorillas (it turns out this is easier said then done) in order to prevent the spread of disease. Gorillas are genetically similar to us but have never been exposed to our illnesses - something as simple as a common cold could wipe out this species, so I am told. Well 7 metres in an open field is a simple thing to achieve, 7 metres in a jungle is hard when a family of 20 mountain gorillas are simply trying to go about this business. The guides are constantly trying to reposition the tourists to get good photos yet remain a safe distance.

There was another girl in my group that I haven't yet mentioned...her name is Wendy from Toronto. Wendy is great but a little on the clumsy side and doesn't always follow directions - this worked in my favour. We were about 30 min into our adventure and the guides were moving us to a different area, we were all to follow Patience but Wendy wanted to take a few more photos...so she was lingering on the narrow path snapping shots of a female gorilla over my shoulder. I was pressing her to move on simply so we did not get in trouble at all. As I mentioned, Wendy is clumsy, not saying that I am graceful gazelle but I do seem to remain upright more often then not. As we started to proceed down the vine covered path, Wendy became tangled and fell. I was assiting her when out of the corner of my eye I noted Lisinga, a 7 y.o. female gorilla starting to climb out of her tree.

I wish I could say I handled it calmly, instead, in a loud whisper I just kept saying "she's coming, she's coming" while trying to extricate Wendy. Then I felt a tug. I looked down and into the eyes of Lisinga who was gently tugging on my jacket. It seems she wanted to get by on the path where Wendy was sprawled. I gave her an apologetic look and frantically yanked Wendy upright. Lisinga seemed thankful and swiftly made her way down the path and out of sight.

There are no words to describe the incredible feeling that I had. Wendy took a photo of me - stating that I looked like a huge ball of excitement. The guards and guides rushed over upon hearing what had happened, curious to know the circumstances and wanting to ensure that I was fine. Once Lisinga was at my side I felt absolutely no fear. She was gentle and in no way threatening. I honestly believe she was simply trying to tell me to get the hell out of the way.

According to the guides it only occurs about twice a year that a gorilla gets close enough to touch a tourist - it certainly is not an ideal occurrence. Patience informed me that Lisinga must have chosen me because I was special...I just hope she doesn't contract some horrible illness and die now because of it...I would hate to be the one responsible for the destruction of a species...