Parc National Nyungwe Forrest - Full Post

After leaving Gikongoro I’m approached by a moto driver and I agree to a ride to the top of the hill. At this point I just want to get away as quickly as possible. I forget that Athanas had told me that I must go back to the matata place. After a couple of them go by totally full I realize he was right, but there are no motos or bicycle taxis now so I walk back through the town. When I get there they are anxious for me to get in the van-bus. I’d have liked to get on one of the big buses but none are in sight so I squeeze in. I ask how much and they want to know how much I want to pay. I protest quickly and loudly that bartering is for taxis and motos not buses on routes, , , they should tell me what the price is & I’ll pay it. Athanas had warned me it might be considerably more than the $400 FRw I’d paid to get this far. After a huddle they decide I should pay $2500 FRw. I protest again loudly, $2500 is more than the fare from Butare to Cyangugu and I’ve already traveled a considerable part of the route and I’m getting off 65 Km shy of Cyangugu! "Well how much will you pay??" I complain again about fairness and set prices. They drop it to $1500 FRw and if I won’t pay that amount I must get off for they want to leave. I give them the money and pout. Later that night I’m embarrassed that I fussed over two U.S. dollars when I really did need a ride of about 50 miles. I decide I was hungry, disturbed, hot and just plain cranky, , , regardless, I’m now embarrassed.

It’s not far and we enter Nyungwe Forest. For only the second time since I’ve arrived in Rwanda, I look at country side and do not see a house (or for that matter any cultivation). We stop a couple of times to drop people off and pick up as many as we drop off. The next day the ranger tells me that sometimes they come to wait for a bus and are never able to board and end up walking back home after spending an entire day waiting. After a bit, the porter dude begins a conversation and I realize that though the bartering bothered me greatly they were over it and wanted to be friends. We see many military men carrying automatic weapons and patrolling the roads on foot.

The ranger station - Entry place is called Uwinka. I’m happy to get out of the bus because I was sitting with my feet crammed against the engine cover and my feet were as hot as I could have possibly stood. A short walk and up some steep stairs & I’m here!! The rangers seem surprised to see a visitor @ 3:30 p.m.. They direct me to registration.

Isaiah is a tall, handsome man who speaks English very well with a really cool accent. He says Yes we have camping, You have no tent , , , No problem , , , we can rent you a tent and even a sleeping bag. God is good!! I’m so relieved to not have to go elsewhere to find a place. The fees for foreign visitors are quite a bit higher than for foreign residents which are quite a bit higher than for Rwandans. Once we’ve added park Entry fees, hiking fees, tent rental, and guided Chimp tour it’s an even crisp $100 bill (in US currency). The guide book had warned me about the price and the US currency so came prepared. One hundred U.S. is a lot of cash and if I’m willing to forego the Chimp tour I can knock it down to $50. But I don’t know if I’ll ever get to see chimps in the wild and I’m here so... Suck it up and plunk it down and stop brooding cause I’ve worked hard to get here!

The tent is a quite nice modern two person tent. I get to choose between any of the four camping spots, as I’m their only guest. The rangers insist on setting the tent up (which happens quickly once I’ve decided which site). In no time flat I’m settled and eating my lunch. Then out for a walk down the trails which are immediately adjacent to the camp sites. There is a mountain monkey visiting nearby. The rangers had warned me /asked me not to feed it and to keep my food stuffs out of sight.

The trails are steep and very shaded. There is a profusion of flowers and I feel like my friend Eric Tanner as I take close up picture after close up picture of the various flowers. I can not seem to capture the steepness on pictures. The effect evades me. I do not see very many butterflies or any bees (though I’m told that chimps enjoy eating honey using sticks). I’m cognizant of the time and try to stay relatively close to camp taking care to remember that all of these easy steep down hills are going to be accompanied by an equally difficult steep uphill return.

I get back in time to have a relaxing supper before dark and to play my recorder for a while. The rangers offer to setup and start a campfire for me but I decline. I’m supposed to be in my boots ready to go @ 6:00 am for the chimp trekking. I spend about 30 minutes after dark reading the guide book again with my headlamp before heading to bed. I’m getting ready when I receive two phone calls. One from Diogene (from King Faisal) checking on me and the other was the promised call from Athanas making sure I wasn’t stranded. I felt all warm & fuzzy that someone was concerned for my safety. Sleep was good with a perfect temperature. It rained several times in the night but I was dry and warm and snug as a bug in a rug.

My phone alarm went off @ 5:00 am. So I arranged my stuff, ate my breakfast and was in my boots ready to hike @ 6:00 am. I think that they sent two guides because if they needed to haul that fat muzungu out, , , they’d have more help to do it. But they said that Antoine was accompanying Isaiah to learn to be a guide (he’s been a ranger now for two months). I’m given a walking stick which I try to refuse but am politely insisted to take. We walked very quickly down the road I’d driven up on the bus the day previous, past two of the bus stops. The whole time Isaiah was on the radio with the trackers (who kept urging us to hurry lest we miss the chimps)

The trackers live in the woods with the chimps. They carry charts where they log activity, interactions, food consumption and movements. I’m told that they move when the chimps move and once the chimps go to sleep they make camp and then must be up following them at dawn. I’m also told that they love their work and they have an additional function of habituating the chimps to human contact. We hustle about 6 Km down the trails to the first tracker and chimps. Shhh please no sudden movements ,, ,shh please your camera, , , shhh no flash please, there about 200 yards away is a chimp in a tree eating the flowers. With the camera zooming as much as I can the chimp is a black spot in the middle of a fuzzy tree. I use the walking stick to help the camera motion and I do get a few pictures where you can tell that the primate does not have a tail and thus is a chimp. More talking on the radio and we walk quietly down the trail to a location where a blue monkey and a mountain monkey are both in a tree also eating flowers. They are about 120 yards distant. A bit bigger black spots in camera lens.

A bit further down the trail we meet a different tracker who starts us down the hillside. I’m happy for the stick now because this is really steep. Soon we stop and about 50 yards straight out is a chimp 150 + feet up a tree eating flowers. Although the chimp is quite high in the tree we are almost the same height just 50 yards away. We stay here for about 45 minutes and then the chimp decides to search elsewhere for flowers. During that time we hear the rest of the group hooting in the distance. Isaiah says they are too far to walk to. As we prepare to leave a blue monkey takes the place in the tree of the chimp and we stay another 20 minutes observing him moving around eating flowers. I have a 4:00 pm ticket from Butare to Kigali so we need to start back. It will take longer to get the 12 Km back than it did to get here because it’s almost all uphill.

Pictures with the trackers and they are off to spend the rest of the day with the chimps and up the hill we go. Many times during this chimp trek I’m reminded of climbing a hill/mountain with my brother Matt in the Seattle area a couple of years ago. The reminder comes from my sweating and hard breathing compared to the guides who I never saw sweat. . . at all... not a drop... Isaiah is kind and periodically stops to tell me about flora, fauna, traditions, cultures, medicines and then we continue until he perceives I need a break and then he finds something else we need to stop and have discussed. We do see some monkeys in trees and more flowers that need photographing. Back on the road we meet more of the military guys and some folks hoping to get a spot on a passing bus. (Which is what I’ll be hoping for in about an hour). Antoine has been very quiet mentions that I am walking just fine, , Isaiah explains that they didn’t expect me to be able to hike as well as I have. My knee is talking to me and reminding me that it’s down there. I probably should have taken some Ibuprofen prophylactilly. Overall I’m feeling great and we see a few more monkeys along the road.

Back at the ranger station they get warm water for me and take it to the shower house. The water is too hot and Isaiah says there is a container of cold water for mixing. I didn’t understand that the container was outside so I used the containers in the shower which turned out to be paint thinner. So I just showered with the cold water which isn’t any different than I’d have had at the house in Kigali. I get my stuff and I’m out on the road by noon. Once there I eat my lunch and await the ride. Two other men are also waiting and then two rangers join us. They are all concerned about my ride situation. The buses coming from Cyangugu will not leave until they are full so my hope is that someone wanted off so that there is a spot for me to get on. The rangers are quite amused and a bit astonished when I tell them that God helped me get here and He’ll help me get back.

About 12:30 a petrol Tanker truck comes by with only a driver and stops. The ranger had flagged him without my noticing. We ran to the truck and after a moment the ranger asked if I could "Help with gas money?" I hopped in quickly and down the hill we went to Butare. Brite is a Ugandan Truck Driver who travels between Kenya, Uganda & Congo delivering petrol. He seems happy with the company and speaks English very well. I’ve got a comfortable front seat near the window & I’m happy as a lark. He’s returning empty so we move right along. Now if only the pedestrians will stay off the road to not get hit and killed. Out of Nyungwe, through Gikngoro and on to Butare before 3:00.

I walk back through town and stop at the kind grocers store. They’ve got warm little pizzas for cheap and I get one. There is a eating area which I had not realized was a restaurant. I’ve already got my little pizza and a drink so I ask for chips (thinking French Fries). The waitress is quite surprised and shows me the menu and makes sure I want chips only.... Yep Chips!! So I get a plate of home made potato chips. Very nice thin and salted. Not French Fries. I laugh out loud at myself. I got what I ordered but not what I wanted.

Back to the Horizon bus station to catch the express. Neither of the two 3:30 buses will allow me an early departure. The one 4:00 pm bus leaves without being full. Did I mention that this bus is called the express?? Normally I’m concerned for the safety of the pedestrians, , this trip I’m concerned for my own!!! This guy should think about driving NASCAR. We’re back in town a little after 6 p.m.. I call Philbert...If there is no water I’ll eat out. I ask "Is there water??" I hear "Yes!". The city bus to Kimihuru wants me to board right away. Dummy me ,, that puts me in the back & I get off at one of the earlier stops which means 5 or 6 people will have to get out so I can get off. I'm berating myself for not being smarter and then mis-communicate where I want to get off and we’re already stopped and the 5 people have gotten off when I want to say NO!! Let me off at the next stop, , ,but I get off and start the walk up the hill. It starts to rain and I finally get to use the super duper rain jacket that Zack got for me. I decide to eat out anyway but after walking to the restaurant it’s closed.... I’m tired, hungry and my feet hurt when I get home and Philbert says no water. He hadn’t said Yes he said "Yesterday". Yesterday they had water - none today.

Then I start to think about the great adventure I’ve had and there is enough water to flush the toilet twice tonight and enough water to take a cold bath in the morning.

You can access all of them from this link.