Trifter

The Rwandan countryside is green and fertile.  Every inch of ground is cultivated.  Rwanda is more fortunate than other African countries and the rains are never known to fail.

Just about every crop you could possibly think of is grown in Rwanda.  There are vast swathes of land given over to the cultivation of tea.  When I asked our guide if his country needed to import anything he couldn’t think of anything at first.  Eventually he came up with the rather unexpected answer of “Blue Band.”  Indeed, if you ever go there, you will be given a tub of the margarine to spread on your bread!

The National Park of Nyungwe extends for more than 1000 metres across the majestic hills.  The rainforest at dawn is the place to go to hear the forest come alive with the sound of chimpanzees calling high in the canopy above.

The chimpanzees are perfectly happy for humans to stand and watch them go about their morning business. 

This little Angola colobus was happy to sit and watch us go about our business.

Some wildlife is best left alone.

Most people spend a night at the foot of Le Park National des Volcans before climbing the mountain the next day to see the gorillas…

… who may be distinctly underwhelmed by their visitors.

Music and dance plays an important role in the traditions of all Rwanda’s peoples.  The celebratory dances performed for us were accompanied by hypnotic drum music.

The people of Rwanda may not have a lot by Western standards but they are highly-skilled and put their talents to many marvellous and practical uses.

Lake Kivu is a beautiful inland sea surrounded by green hills.  Three resort towns sit beside the lake.  We stayed at Kibuye, a peaceful place reached either by boat or along a wild roller-coaster of a road through the mountains.

Our Rwandan journey ended where it started, in Kigali, the country’s rapidly growing thriving heart.

A postscript

We should not end this journey without mentioning the genocide that engulfed Rwanda for a short and terrible season in 1994.  Of course we visited the genocide museum – as everyone should.  We cried as everyone does at the sight of the memorial windows to lost children and at the mass graves.  Rwanda is a nation striving hard for rehabilitation, trying to put its past behind it without ever, ever forgetting.