Luke’s experience, January 9, 2018

Rwanda, the country of 1000 memories                                    

Written by: Luke Jessiman

For the first time in my life I can say that my feet are firmly planted on African soil. Lucky for me, the soil in which I stand is in Rwanda. From the beautiful and sprawling thousand hills of Rwanda, to the wonderfully humble and kind people that live upon them, this country is nothing short of spectacular. Here are my experiences thus far in Rwanda.

Since last May my friend Daniel and I have planned on going on an adventure halfway across the world. Our initial plan was to travel to Southeast Asia, mainly focusing our time in Thailand and Vietnam. We planned on making the trip during late October, however Dan’s mother (Patty Livingston) proposed a once in a lifetime opportunity; making our first stop Rwanda. We greeted this opportunity with open arms and decided to reschedule our trip just after the New Year. Before we knew it, the time had come! On December 30^th at 7pm, Dan and I boarded our first (of many) planes between home and Rwanda. The first leg of our trip involved a quick stopover in one of the worlds most luxurious airports; St John’s (not). After re-boarding the plane we flew across the Atlantic and landed in one of the busiest airport; Heathrow (actually though). Dan and I strategically planned to have a thirteen-hour layover in London (never again) so that we could have time to have a quick visit to the city. In London, we visited the classic touristy places; Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park, Saint James’ Park, Big Ben and the London Eye. All of which was a great experience. By the end of the day we were both zonked. From there, we boarded our seven-hour flight to Ethiopia. After arriving in Ethiopia, we spent six hours in arguably one of the dullest airports that we’ve both ever visited. Once we passed through security all that was provided was an under construction washroom and a water fountain. Following an extra one-hour delay due to a system malfunction to the plane, we finally boarded our flight to Rwanda, which had a quick stopover in Burundi (It never ended…). After forty-hours of travel time, Dan and I happily and thankfully reached our destination.

My first views of Rwanda were nothing of what I had expected them to look like. My ignorance had painted a picture of a dry, poor, dysfunctional and dangerous place. However entering into the Capital city of Kigali completely turned my world upside down. There were endless hills with a bustling city that not only had remarkably well built infrastructure, but also a beautiful, lush green landscape as far as the eye could see. With many different species of trees, shrubs and gorgeous tropical flowers. The streets were full of well-dressed people out for an evening stroll, who were waving and smiling as we rolled by on route to the apartment that we were calling home for the next couple days. During the drive we passed through a number of different neighborhoods that make up the city, shortly before arriving at our destination; Nyamirambo (also known as the Las Vegas of Kigali). The apartment wasn’t the most posh place we had ever stayed in. Unfortunately there was no running water when we arrived, which wasn’t too uncommon in the area, or so I had been told. The plus side is that we all had a comfortable bed to sleep in (Dan and I had to get snuggly), there were washroom facilities and most importantly; drinking water. Later on that night we had the absolute pleasure of meeting Michelle and Yvon, a lovely couple from Halifax who joined us on our travels. After spending the night having a snoring battle with Dan, we travelled to the Serena Hotel (one of the fancy hotels in the area), to have a day of detoxification after our lengthily travel. At the Hotel we had a wonderful breakfast buffet, soaked up some sun by the pool and received a massage by the lovely ladies at the Maisha Spa.

The next morning we woke up bright and early to start our journey the Gisenyi, a mid-sized town that borders the Congo and Lake Kivu (9^th largest lake in Africa). That morning I had the pleasure of meeting our driver for the trip; Emmy. Dan and Patty have known Emmy for many years, not only as their trusted driver but also as a family friend. Emmy is a real a character. He always has a joke and a smile on his face. He is easily one of the funniest people that I have ever met. I can safely say that we are already good friends. He’s been a great driver for us over this trip, making sure that we get everywhere safely, although he does drive like a slug when he gets talking. After meeting Emmy we started our journey to Gisenyi. The views on the drive were some of the best that I had ever seen. They really showed why Rwanda is called the country of 1000 hills. As we travelled through the country, we experienced many different landscapes, showing how diverse Rwanda is. The only common dominator was that there were hills and agriculture everywhere. Showing that people in this country worked hard to earn their food, clearly reaping the benefits of the rich and fertile land. The drive took almost five hours, but felt like two, as there was never a dull moment. Easily the best car ride I’ve ever been on.

Arriving in Gisenyi, we checked into the Paradis Malihide Hotel, a rustic take on lakeside hotel. Each room had its own bungalow, the beds were comfortable, but again; no water… The next day Dan and I woke up at 5am to catch a ride from Emmy to go see the Golden Monkeys in the Volcanoes National Park. The Volcanoes National Park is one of the few places in the world to see Mountain Gorillas in their natural habitat. Unfortunately due to popular demand, the price of the gorillas has skyrocketed in recent years and was way out of our price range. However, to our delight, there is a group of 150 golden monkeys that live on the edge of the park that can be visited for a much more reasonable price. We arrived at the park, hiked about 30 minutes through farmland to reach the edge of the park. We were greeted by a large group of golden monkeys, who ranged from full-grown adults to little newborns. Entering the forest, the monkeys were everywhere, jumping through the trees, eating bamboo and playing with each other. They were fully acclimatized to humans, as they could care less that we were there, which helped make for great photographs. After around an hour we hiked back down the hill where Emmy was waiting to pick us up. We returned to Paradis Malihide to hear the wonderful news that we were getting an upgrade to the newer Paradis Kivu, which had running water. After not showering for 3 days, we were quite excited to wash the smell and dirt off. Paradis Kivu has to be one of the most gorgeous hotels I’ve ever stayed in. The view was incredible and having my own villa wasn’t too shabby either. This is where we got to meet Emmanuel, who was one of the servers/caretakers for the hotel chain. Greeting us with his signature high-pitched voice and big smile every time we saw him. He is a reason in itself to visit Rwanda, just a spectacular human being and host. After getting cleaned up we enjoyed a nice lunch and headed to a local soccer game. Michelle being a big soccer star and frequenter of Rwanda brought soccer jerseys and equipment for a local team, which she does every time she comes to the country. We enjoyed a fast paced game put on by the Black Eagles, a local team from the area, and a team of local fishermen playing before they worked on their boats all night. It was an amazing experience to attend this game and to see how grateful all of the locals were that Michelle had been so kind to bring all of this equipment for them. Once the game finished we returned to the Paradis Kivu where Emmanuel was waiting to take us on a sunset boat ride to dinner. We had a great lakeside dinner at Paradis Malihide, enjoying homemade pizza and delicious local beer called Mützig. Following dinner we returned to the hotel for some much needed rest.

The next day we drove to the Top View Hotel just outside of Nyungwe Forest National Park. The slightly posh hotel sported gorgeous views of the surrounding countryside and rolling hills from quite a ways up (the name checked out). It kind of reminded me of looking over the Annapolis Valley in Nova Scotia, except with much larger hills and tea plantations instead of corn. After arriving at the hotel, we drove to the Nyungwe National Park headquarters, picked up our guide and travelled to the edge of the park. From there we went on a long hike to a hidden waterfall deep in the rainforest. The hike was down the steep side of a cliff that seemed like it was never ending as we became immersed in the trees of the rainforest. We crossed rivers and bridges, climbed up and down slippery rocks, until we eventually arrived at a beautiful waterfall surrounded by large caves and thick vegetation. We spent some time taking pictures and admiring the beauty of the waterfall, before heading back the same way we came, which was a much more difficult hike than on the way there. I think it’s safe to say that I was huffing and puffing when we finally made it back. The hike in total was just over 6km with altitude changes that amounted to 84 flights of stairs. The waterfall hike is something that I strongly recommend to any able bodied person who likes a good workout and being submersed in nature. Following the hike, we returned to the hotel for a large buffet dinner, a couple large Mützig’s, and bed.

On Saturday morning we woke up and had a big day planned ahead of us. One of the main reasons why we came on this trip was because of a dear friend of Patty’s named Christophe, who was getting married to his fiancé Solange about an hour from the Top View in Kemembe. I met Christophe for the first time at the apartment in Kigali and immediately felt his love and friendship. After hearing Patty and Michelle speak to him, I could tell how important of a person he was in their lives and they were in his. It was hard for me to understand how excited he was that Dan and I were attending his wedding after meeting him less than five days prior. Regardless, we felt honored. So we got ourselves dressed, looking as good as we could living out of one knapsack. At around 9:30 we arrived at the wedding. There were hundreds of people waiting outside to get in, a much larger turn out than initially expected. The wedding had a beautiful setup. There were two seating areas on either side of the main stage for each family to sit and watch the proceedings. When we were seated, we were put in the front row of Christophe’s family’s side, sitting with his parents. We were considered to be guests of honor. This shocked me, as I barely knew Christophe, his parents, or the rest of their family. I really did feel like a guest of honor and even a celebrity.

Rwandan weddings are very traditional, having five parts. The first is called the giving of the dowry, where a representative from each of the families duel it out. The brides side giving reasons as to why the groom’s side is not worthy of their bride. The representatives traded a number of gifts to welcome each other as new family members. Eventually the bride’s side, as payment for their daughter, accepted the dowry, which was believed to be eight healthy cows. This was quite the cultural experience, although I had no idea what was going on for most of it (my Kinyarwanda isn’t very good). After the dowry was accepted there was some dancing and food was given out, which was a number of different traditional and delicious Rwandan dishes. Following the giving of the dowry, there was a church service. To my surprise the service was not only for Christophe’s wedding, but also for another couple that was getting married the same day. Pictures were taken after the church service and then a reception. The reception was full of music, gift giving, speeches and more delicious food. At this point it was around 7pm and we were all quite tired. We congratulated Christophe and Solange and thanked them for inviting us to their beautiful wedding. This was a once in a lifetime experience for most of us on this trip. I can confidently say this may be my last traditional Rwandan wedding, so I am glad we got to attend.

The next morning we woke up at our usual time of 5am and headed to the local airport where we flew back on a short flight to Kigali. Yesterday was an interested day for Dan and I. Emmy, our driver and friend, took us to two very interested landmarks in the city. First, we went to the first house ever built in Kigali. A man by the name of Richard Kandt, a German writer and physician, built the house in 1907. Nowadays it is used as a natural history museum to teach people about the history of the Rwandan people and how the different groups of Europeans colonized the country over time. In the back of the museum was a snake viewing area where they kept pythons, cobras, adders and the most dangerous snake in Africa and even the world; the black mamba. I don’t mind snakes, but it was pretty terrifying that a piece of glass separated us from an almost certain and swift death from a black mamba. The second place we visited was the Kigali Genocide Memorial. The memorial was somewhere I certainly wanted to visit throughout the entire trip. I felt every type of emotion walking through each exhibit, taking my time to read every detail. Some exhibits were gut wrenching, but by the end of the tour, it was easy to realize how Rwanda has changed in so many positive ways following the genocide. It was a great educational experience that I think is a must if you are visiting Rwanda.

My experiences so far in Rwanda have been extremely powerful and rewarding. We travelled through a big part of this country, experiencing every corner that we could reach in such a short period of time. The biggest thing that stood out for me was the people here. Everyone has been so kind and welcoming to us, something that is hard to come by. When I first thought of Rwanda, my mind assumed it was dangerous country, mostly steaming from the genocide and other unstable countries in Africa. Now that I’m here, I’ve realize that even though the genocide occurred only 24 years ago, Rwanda has moved passed it and learned from it, becoming a safe country that I will almost certainly return to at some point in my life, encouraging others to do the same.

Visiting Rwanda has opened my eyes to a lot of things that I take for granted in my life; such as clean drinking water, electricity, running water, and food security. It has also given me the opportunity to meet many wonderful people on this trip such as; Michelle and Yvon, Franco, Christophe, Emmy and Mary, Adam, Stew and Alison, and of course Emmanuelle from Paradis Malihide. Luckily we still have a couple days left here, and then off to Thailand for another. I would like to thank Patty Livingston for graciously inviting me on this trip with her, Dan, Michelle, and Yvon. She has given me such a memorable and meaningful experience that I will remember for rest of my life. Thank you and Saluti!