Kisumu and Rwanda. Farewell to Kenya

For some odd reason 5 of us thought that - as we walked towards WEMA for another day of medical placement in the slum of Kawangware - it would be a good idea to just book a bus to Kisumu from somewhere nearby. So we booked this "western deluxe" bus which wasn't too far from Rachel's place. The thing is, it was scheduled to leave at 9pm, yet it was 3 hours late (surprise surprise) and arrived at midnight. Didn't we look like neat little targets, just sitting around in the slum with all our bags around us and the streets clearing rapidly. We were on the receiving end of many stares and laughs, and decided to stay close to the crowd waiting for the bus. At one point, a guy waiting in the crowd started punching this drunk man that was hanging around us, thinking that he was bothering us I suppose. When the bus finally did show up, we noticed a fight break out down the road and someone getting shoved into the trunk of a car. It was time to go. The 8 hour bus ride was definitely the worst I've experienced yet, but man, arriving in Kisumu in the early morning was so uplifting it didn't matter.

The hassles here were many, and the beggars were particularly rude, but I believe that the divide between rich and poor in this town is especially acute. I noticed this as we rode around in our tuk tuk looking for a hotel - We saw plenty of enormous villas set in beautifully landscaped compounds. We settled on a place called Millimani Resort, which was strikingly similar to a western hotel, with the room layout and appartment building style. There were very few options for cheaper hotels - or any at all for that matter - so we bargained a good price for this upper scale place. During our stay in Kisumu, we went fishing in Lake Victoria and were surrounded by bathing hippos and locals as we did so. We also made it to Kakamega Forest Reserve for a day trip on sunday. I'll admit, the semi-rainforest tour we had was quite dull, with barely any wildlife seen and a robotic guide, but it was a good experience. The five of us (Kiara, Olivia, Brendan, Sandy and myself) had some amazing parties on both nights we were there, both of which started at midnight and 1am after an overly long nap. One was for Kiara's birthday on Sunday.

The weekend quickly ended, and it was time for Kiara and I to make our way to Rwanda. We booked two tickets at the Starways booking office, but once we left and met the others for lunch, they called us back to inform us that there was no room on the bus. I would have thought that they'd check before booking us, but oh well. We had to head back to have our money returned. The only other bus going all the way to Kigali, Rwanda was Kampala Coach, and we would have to catch this bus at the border town of Busia - two hours away. So the guy at the booking office set us up with a matatu (passenger van with 15 or so spots) to Busia to catch our bus there, all the while attempting to squeeze as much money as he could out of me; 'forgetting' to give me proper change, not paying the matatu driver etc. but I had been in Kenya too long to be careless with money. We ended up having to take 4 - yes four - matatus to finally arrive in Busia, and one of them actually ran out of gas in the middle of nowhere on this dark highway. When we got to the booking office at 8:45pm, we were slightly freaking out because the bus - according to the guys in Kisumu - was scheduled to depart at 8pm. When we approached the booking office in Busia, he informed us that the bus was actually scheduled to depart at 11pm, and hadn't even arrived yet!

Arriving in Rwanda sparked something in me that I wasn't sure would show up upon entering this country. I had been wanting to come here for a few years now..I can't explain exactly why, it just felt like it was something I had to do. The gorilla trek wasn't the reason either, though I did really want to do one - the permits were sold out anyway. I guess I just feel that this country deserves all the tourism and attention it can get, and that people should take some time out of their busy lives to learn about - through memorials and stories etc - what happened to the country that the global community turned a blind eye to in its time of greatest need.

I must say, that I was not prepared for the sheer beauty of this country. No matter where you find yourself in Rwanda, you will be surrounded by lush green mountains and rolling hills, with well maintained roads snaking through them. There are huts perched dangerously high up on the hills, with banana, tea and coffee plantations peppering the landscape in somewhat of an orderly manner due to the more advanced irrigation systems in the country. Just seeing rows upon rows of vegetation climbing up the hills was a sight to behold. Kigali shocked me even more, and if I didn't know any of the country's history, I would not have believed that a genocide had occurred here just 15 years ago. The city is clean, there are buildings going up everywhere, they have scheduled bus systems and safer motorbike taxis with only one passenger allowed - and who must wear a helmet. The roads are also impeccable. It just goes to show what a more responsible government can do for a country, even though it may not be rich in natural resources.

I must take a brief pause to thank Erixon Kabera from TD for asking his family to host me in Rwanda. I am even more thankful to his brother Athanase for welcoming Kiara and I into his home without having ever met us before, and for absolutely no charge. These actions definitely speak volumes of the Rwandan people and african hospitality in general.

So we took a city tour, and saw a few landmarks such as the Hotel Des Milles Collines where the manager harboured genocide victims in 1994. We also stopped at the compound where 10 belgians soldiers, along with a soon-to-be transitional government member, were murdered. The bullet holes that riddled the wall are still there, as well as the famous chalk board with skull and crossbones and Roméo Dallaire's name. The highlight of the tour was the genocide memorial centre in Kigali. There is tons of information here, as well as disturbing displays of skulls, bones and clothing taken from victims. There is also a mass grave outside the centre holding over 250,000 bodies. That's right, two hundred fifty thousand. Just a little history on what happened. The hutu and tutsi people had had a few tribal issues before their independence, but it really flared up by the time the 1990's rolled around. The former colonial power and the French had been playing on tribal power relations, and since the Belgians had always kept Tutsis in the government and in power (the smaller tribe by far in terms of population) when independence rolled around and a Hutu government came into place, the tables began to turn. Feeling oppressed, a movement gradually formed with the intent to exterminate the Tutsis. The Arusha Peace Accords were an attempt to quell civil unrest and to demobilize the growing military and rebel forces, but the international community and UN limitations rendered them ineffective. So on April 7th, 1994, the Interahamwe, which were backed by the Hutu-led government began the systematic slaughtering of Tutsis en masse. In only three months, it is said that almost 1 million people were killed. Kiara and I also visited a memorial in Gikongoro, about 30km west of the city of Butare. This sickening and brutally real memorial used to be a polytechnic institute, and was the site where villagers from the surrounding area were promised shelter. When about 50,000 had accumulated here, the Interahamwe were called in, and they mercilessly slaughtered everyone with clubs, machetes, or anything they could get their hands on - but I don't think any guns were used...probably not 'cost effective' to them. There are 24 classrooms here filled with bodies exhumed 1 year after the genocide and which have been covered in lime powder. I wouldn't really recommend this place to anyone, but again, it was somewhere I felt I needed to visit for personal reasons. There is even hair remaining on some of the heads, and machete slashes and cracks from clubs are clearly evident on the bodies of the men, women, and children...a very large number of children...I can't describe what that made me feel, but it was something worse than anger.

We did do a bit of tourism in the country as well. We visited Lake Kivu in the north, but it was an overcast and gray day, so we didn't stay for long. We climbed Mt Bisoke in the Parc National des Volcans, which was a dead volcano with a crater lake at its peak at 3711 metres. It took us 4 hours to climb to the top, and I'm proud to say I was the first to make it up hehe. It was an amazing experience with a true rainforest landscape. On our way back down we had an extremely rare treat. A huge male silverback gorilla crossed the path in front of us and then sat in the bush about 10 feet away from us and just looked up at me quizzically. Truly awe-inspiring, but the guards wouldn't let us take any pictures, because these weren't the habituated gorillas that tourists are allowed to visit; they were research gorillas.

My time in Rwanda ended far too quickly, and it was time to fly home to Toronto two days after I got back to Nairobi. I had a small going away dinner with my newfound close friends and left for the airport at 5am on the 28th of July.

This experience has certainly changed me in countless ways, and in some I may not yet have discovered. I feel different living in Toronto now, and the reverse culture shock was a bit of a strange experience. I wouldn't trade this experience for anything in the world, and I really didn't want to come home so early, but all great things must come to an end I suppose. I don't think I'm finished with this kind of work, and I'm glad my eyes have been opened to this sort of experience. I have definitely become a travel addict as well, and am already planning and looking forward to my next adventure :)

I would definitely recommend this sort of experience to everyone. It doesn't have to be in Africa, and it doesn't even have to be too far from home, but placing yourself in an environment alien to your own, adapting to the customs of a new culture and dedicating some of your time to its people is more rewarding to yourself than it will ever be to them. If you get a chance to, don't think about it, just go for it.

Thanks for following my journey through East Africa, and I hope you've all enjoyed reading :D

Sincerely,

Scott Johnson