I started the break by making a trip up to the Northern Provence to visit some friends. The North is known it's volcanoes and the mountain gorillas that live on them. I didn't not go to see the gorillas, it costs about $500 but is worth every penny I've been told but did hike up a mountain that's literally in my friends backyard. There was a group of 6 of us and one Rwandan leading the way. We Americans were of course huffing and puffing the whole way up while my friend's Rwandan collegue climbed in his traction-free dress shoes while carrying 3 bags and stopping often waiting for us to catch up. I now understand why Africans win all the marathons. We took a break at the top to have a picnic lunch. We sat overlooking the village in the valley and had a perfect view of three of the five volcanoes in Rwanda. Going down was nearly as challenging as going up but thankfully we all made it back safely. The funny thing is that while this was a difficult hike that went nearly straight up over rocks and uneven terrain, this is just the road to many people's homes and fields.
After the hiking trip I headed back home. It was actully seemed a lot quieter in my village without all the students which was nice. I spent time reading, playing with the kids, visiting friends, and just relaxing.
After about a week at home I had a few other volunteers come visit and then I went with a group of about 20 other PCVs to Akagera National Park. All of us decended on a small town outside Akagera and then piled into a matatu which are small vans that are used as buses all over the country. If we were in the states it would seat 15 comfortably but since we are in Africa we cram in 19 and for this trip we had 21 along with all our backpacks and supplies. It was an interesting ride to say the least but we only broke down once and made it there safely. When we got to the park we went to our camping site for the night. It was dusk when we got there and they had already started a fire for us. The site was right next to the lake and all through the night we could hear the hippos grunting and snorting in the water. Apparently hippos can be quite vicious but the ranger assured us that as long as there was a fire they wouldn't go past it which thankfully seemed to work. The next morning we were picked up by 1 van and 2 land rovers to drive us through the park. The vehicles each had roofs that popped up so we could stand and get a good view of everything. Periodically someone would shout "tree" and we would all quickly duck back down into the car to avoid getting hit by an overhanging tree and I still have bruises from being bounced around but it just added to the adventure. I got lucky because I was in the car with the ranger so we had to go first so he could direct where to go. As a result we were able to see a lot of the wildlife before we scared it off. We were so excited every time we saw a new animal and we really did see quite a variety. There were hippos, crocodiles, lots of impala, baboons, monkeys, warthogs, and many of different birds. Then when we were getting towards the end we came to an area of open savannah. We could see in the distance there were giraffes and we thought this was the best we could do but the ranger took us right up to them. We drove through the field where there were giraffes, zebra, impala, spring buck, and others just grazing and milling about. We stopped about 50 yards away from the giraffes and they just sort of looked at us and kept doing their thing. It was pretty amazing. The only thing we didn't see were the elephants and of course we hoped to see lions but the ranger said he has worked there for 12 years and has only seen a lion 3 times. Even if we hadn't seen any wildlife at all I would have been satisfied by the scenery alone. It was absolutely breathtaking!
So after Akagera I, along with all the other volunteers from my training group met in Kibuye for our in-service training. It's the first time we were all back together since swear-in. It was strange seeing everyone at first but then it quickly seemed as though we had never been apart. We stayed at a beautiful hotel right on Lake Kivu. Our days were spent in sessions talking about our challenges, successes and sharing ideas. At night we sat on the beach in the moonlight listening to music, talking and just relaxing. In the distance across the lake a volcano that's in the DRC (Congo) is visible and at night you can see a red glow from the lava. On our last day we took boats out to an island on the lake. We ate, drank, and relaxed in hammocks. I could have sworn I was on a tropical island! It was a great week and I came away from it feeling energized and excited with new ideas to start the next term. It was reassuring to hear that other volunteers are having the same struggles and challenges that I have and learn some new solutions and coping strategies.
Tomorrow the term begins. I wish I had prepared my lessons a little bit more but I feel pretty good about things and look forward to seeing all my students again.
I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter and is celebrating with those they love!
All my love,
Annie
Here are some pictures, if you aren't already convinced you need to come to visit me here these should do the trick!
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What an awesome experience Annie! I am so happy for you!
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