Driving in Rwanda is very similar to driving in the Alps. Well, except for a few minor differences. When the posse and I decided to see the mountain gorillas in Rwanda’s volcano national park, we packed up the 4x4 and decided to brave the hilly ride. I was getting really good at dodging the pot holes and down-shifting on really steep down-hills when I came up behind another vehicle with a cracked rear window. It was swerving from side to side in front of me and then (gasp!) its passengers started throwing banana peels out the window. Luckily, I’ve played Mario Kart a gazillion times and knew exactly what to do. Since there is a sincere lack of sidewalks, dodging people and bicycles as well as occasional rocks laid out in the middle of road was part of the adventure. You know those big rock things that drop down on you in Mario kart and if you’re Toad (my Mario kart character of choice) you get squished and then probably run over by some brute, like Bowser. Well, long story short, I manoeuvred like a sly toad and managed to pass the motherEFer AND won the Star Cup by arriving in good time in gorilla country. Mom and dad, I’m exaggerating; it was totally safe!
Rwanda is stunning. No wonder people say that it’s the Switzerland of Africa. It really does looks like the Alps. The mountains are covered with temperate forests and the people are incredibly organized, relatively speaking. The plots of cultivated land are neatly divided into rectangles covering entire mountains and the streets are surprisingly smooth and clean. People take a lot of pride in beautifully manicured gardens with beautiful flowers and bushes of all kinds. The whole country is very clean and hardworking. In some other African countries you see a lot of people lounging and observing the day, while in Rwanda everyone is busy working, carrying bags on their heads, or lugging carrots to the market. And driving through Rwanda is incredibly fun. The roads are full of cliffs and snake around mountain passes with some of the most silver-glistening trees lining the sides. If you squinted and imagined Heidi and Peter running around with the goats instead of a Rwandan youth balancing bags of shoes on his bicycle, you’ve got the Alps hands down. All these stunning landscapes and an incredibly organized population are strange backdrop to the genocide.
Gorillas are a funny bunch. They are really docile and, well, seem to enjoy a good life in the mountains along the Ugandan, DR Congo, and Rwandan border. I can definitely see why Diane Fosse was able to get so close to them. The group that we were observing allowed their babies to get very close to us—1.5 metres. So trusting! The best part was that the babies wanted to imitate the silverback and practised pounding their chests, subsequently losing their balance and tumbling to the ground. The silverback, who actually had silver hair on its back (I know crazy concept), was essentially asleep the entire time we were there. We sat in the bush for about an hour watching the little tumblers while the Canadian Ambassador and his wife were playing paparazzi. Why is it that tour guides are able to walk up and down these steep, tangled mountain slopes in Wellingtons, as though they were walking up and down stairs, while I was tripping over vines, struggling to find my footing, and getting stung by stinging nettles? My theory is that my baby toes turn inwards and don’t provide me with the same level of balance as those of other human beings. Did you know that gorillas eat about 30 kg of greenery from which they draw over 10 L of water per day? AND they have little unique scratch-marks above their noses that provide their identity to scientists and trackers? AND they’re really good at Mario kart. No, wait, that’s me.
Driving in Rwanda is very similar to driving in the Alps. Well, except for a few minor differences. When the posse and I decided to see the mountain gorillas in Rwanda’s volcano national park, we packed up the 4x4 and decided to brave the hilly ride. I was getting really good at dodging the pot holes and down-shifting on really steep down-hills when I came up behind another vehicle with a cracked rear window. It was swerving from side to side in front of me and then (gasp!) its passengers started throwing banana peels out the window. Luckily, I’ve played Mario Kart a gazillion times and knew exactly what to do. Since there is a sincere lack of sidewalks, dodging people and bicycles as well as occasional rocks laid out in the middle of road was part of the adventure. You know those big rock things that drop down on you in Mario kart and if you’re Toad (my Mario kart character of choice) you get squished and then probably run over by some brute, like Bowser. Well, long story short, I manoeuvred like a sly toad and managed to pass the motherEFer AND won the Star Cup by arriving in good time in gorilla country. Mom and dad, I’m exaggerating; it was totally safe!
Rwanda is stunning. No wonder people say that it’s the Switzerland of Africa. It really does looks like the Alps. The mountains are covered with temperate forests and the people are incredibly organized, relatively speaking. The plots of cultivated land are neatly divided into rectangles covering entire mountains and the streets are surprisingly smooth and clean. People take a lot of pride in beautifully manicured gardens with beautiful flowers and bushes of all kinds. The whole country is very clean and hardworking. In some other African countries you see a lot of people lounging and observing the day, while in Rwanda everyone is busy working, carrying bags on their heads, or lugging carrots to the market. And driving through Rwanda is incredibly fun. The roads are full of cliffs and snake around mountain passes with some of the most silver-glistening trees lining the sides. If you squinted and imagined Heidi and Peter running around with the goats instead of a Rwandan youth balancing bags of shoes on his bicycle, you’ve got the Alps hands down. All these stunning landscapes and an incredibly organized population are strange backdrop to the genocide.
Gorillas are a funny bunch. They are really docile and, well, seem to enjoy a good life in the mountains along the Ugandan, DR Congo, and Rwandan border. I can definitely see why Diane Fosse was able to get so close to them. The group that we were observing allowed their babies to get very close to us—1.5 metres. So trusting! The best part was that the babies wanted to imitate the silverback and practised pounding their chests, subsequently losing their balance and tumbling to the ground. The silverback, who actually had silver hair on its back (I know crazy concept), was essentially asleep the entire time we were there. We sat in the bush for about an hour watching the little tumblers while the Canadian Ambassador and his wife were playing paparazzi. Why is it that tour guides are able to walk up and down these steep, tangled mountain slopes in Wellingtons, as though they were walking up and down stairs, while I was tripping over vines, struggling to find my footing, and getting stung by stinging nettles? My theory is that my baby toes turn inwards and don’t provide me with the same level of balance as those of other human beings. Did you know that gorillas eat about 30 kg of greenery from which they draw over 10 L of water per day? AND they have little unique scratch-marks above their noses that provide their identity to scientists and trackers? AND they’re really good at Mario kart. No, wait, that’s me.
