August 25, 2011
Woke up to a hazy day in Rwanda. Even under the haze of early morning light, Kigali is an impressive city. Neither Liam nor I could get over how clean the city was. It was a nice change from the other East African countries we had been in. I was a little saddened by the haze because I wanted to take a few pictures around the lodge we were going to of the volcanoes and surrounding lakes.
We checked out of the hotel, obtained our gorilla permits, and headed out of town to the lodge. We wanted to get there early and take advantage of everything it has to offer. As we were driving, we hit about 118 km outside of Kigali. At this point we should have been in Ruhengri. However, we were on the other side of the country and rapidly approaching Burundi. Not such a good thing. Apparently, Burundi isn’t so safe. As soon as I realized we missed a turn, we back-tracked and ended up driving through 2/3 of Rwanda. Which I’m not going to complain about. The roads were brand new, some didn’t even have the lines painted on them yet. There was a complex drainage system in place. Something tells me China has been working on tea deals by trading road construction. Either way, we benefited from nice smooth roads and beautiful scenery.
After turning off the paved road and driving around and uphill on a dirt road, we arrived at the lodge around 1600. Settled into our room and had a drink at the main lodge. It’s such a quaint place. Very quiet. Limited electricity. Overlooking Lake Bulera and Volcanoes National Park. It was still a hazy day, but you could see the outlines of the hills against the horizon. We were able to get a few great shots, but there was a stubborn side of me that already told Liam we were coming back just for photographs. And to relax in this fantastic little lodge. Here’s their website http://www.volcanoessafaris.com/safari-lodges/virunga-safari-lodge/
The chef came by to take our order for dinner. Then, we went up a hill to an open area of the lodge and watched a local tribal dance for the king. The basic jest of the dance was to thank the king for giving them the land to grow their crops. It was fun to watch! The dancers were local school children. The lodge places a heavy emphasize on using local products for construction materials, local foods for meals, and local people for staff. That’s part of the appeal. It’s a small company with four lodges in Uganda and Rwanda. I really felt like they were trying to improve the community. 
After the dance, we came back to the main lodge and had a few drinks around the fireplace while we were waiting for dinner. We interacted a lot with an Indian couple who live in New York. Then, off to dinner the four of us went. Food was delicious. I ate every bite.
Walked back to our banda in the dark (we forgot the flashlight, oops) and Liam sat around playing his drum. He was so happy playing out of tune and sipping a glass of wine. I couldn’t help but giggle at his childlike enthusiasm. He just makes me laugh. I picked my mate well.
1 comments:
Despite the Chuck Taylors worn during the "authentic tribal dance" Virunga was quite impressive. It made me laugh watching the dancers jump around in Cons.
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