Sunday, June 22, 2008

Gisenyi - Lake Kivu full posting

Thursday evening I purchased tickets for Terry & I to travel to Gisenyi leaving Kigali @ 1:00 pm. I'm getting the travel arrangements and Terry is getting the lodging. We'll be there Friday afternoon/evening and return Sunday Afternoon.

Friday morning's lecture go well but I didn't finish the obstetrical section before it's time to leave. We agree that I'll come back Tuesday afternoon at 2:00 and finish the last lecture. At tea time I had a bowl of the banana stew. I know I won't have time for lunch as I hurry from KHI to the bus station and I didn't eat breakfast before leaving. Even though I know the shape and color is banana, it still tastes like boiled potatoes to me.

When I get to the bus station, Terry is waiting and the bus is just loading. We are able to get two window seats in adjacent rows but this vehicle has jump seats and we get the feeling we'll be crammed in. At least we each have control of the air flow. Life is looking good as we leave the main station in Mumunge as our window rows have only one seat and then the aisle. None of the jump seats were being used and there were a couple of other empty seats as well. On the other side of the aisle is a large woman who has brought quite a bit of luggage that is in the aisle area up front. On the way out of town I commented to Terry how glad I was that we didn't have to stop and catch the bus at the lower station on the way out of town (Large, dusty, dirty and confusing). He asked me to point it out but there wasn't a need because we turned in to pick up the rest of the passengers.

From the get go there seemed too many onboarding passengers for the remaining seats. About a dozen people wanted to get on and 5 of them were white girls with huge backpacks. It may have seemed as though there were more because there were bus company staff assisting the girls. The where able to get two of the backpacks in the cargo area but the other three had to come inside. The jump seats started going down as they entered but the large woman next to me is insisting that the white girl can't sit next to her and she won't let the jump seat but put down. She waves an extra ticket and we assume she's bought two so she doesn't have to sit next to someone. The loading process grinds to a halt because no one seems to understand why the dumb Muzunga won't take the seat. Many encourage her to take it any way and in her confusion she attempts but the woman firmly places her hand on the girls butt as she tries to sit and pushes her back up (to which the girl gets loud and irate about being touched in that location). The bus staff are telling her to sit back down and we finally help him to comprehend that this woman won't let her sit. Loud and fast paced discussion in Kinirwandan and we find she has a friend coming and she's trying to hold the seat for her. Five minutes of tense waiting with lots of loud words when an equally large woman arrives and is let through to cram into the jump seat and overflow onto mine. Everyone tries to takes a seat when they realize they've oversold the bus and a very unhappy man is forced off by the company. The extra three backpacks and extra luggage of my row mates is blocking the doorway so that every time we stopped to let someone off there is a moving of luggage so the door can be squeezed opened. We depart.

I'm fascinated by the bee hives. They seem to be made of banana leaves woven into a a mat about 5 feet long that is then rolled loosely into a tube. This "Roll" is then placed in the notch of a tree anywhere from 20 to 40 feet up in a tree. Some one would have to climb the tree to place it and then climb the tree to retrieve it. I've not seen many bees but there is so much stuff growing they must be around to keep things pollinated.

The ride seems extra long today. Maybe the one bootleg tape that played through 6 times during the trip, the close quarters with my bulky neighbor. We left @ 1:00 and arrived in Gisenyi around 5:15. We warned the girls that they might have a time finding accommodations as they had not pre-booked and there is supposed to be a big party tomorrow evening after the gorilla naming ceremony. We want to be well situated before dark and decide to take a taxi rather than walk. The driver seems a bit confused but agrees to take us to "Hotel Du Lac". After a couple of minutes he asks us for directions. Terry calls the phone number and hands the phone over so that the hotel and driver can communicate directly in Kinirwandan. The driver then tells us we've got reservations @ the hotel but that our hotel is in Cyangugu 10 hours south on Lake Kivu not in Gisenyi on Lake Kivu. Two hotels, same name, same lake, one still operating the other closed for the past two years. A call to Paradise hotel in Rabona 6 Km south , , , they've got a room for tonight but not tomorrow. We take it but have to raise the cab fare because the hotel is 30 minutes further away on a very rough and beat up road.

The Hotel Paradise is quite lovely and sits right on the lake. Most of the units are small bungalows mimicking the shape of the traditional houses. We end up in a double for $25,000 FRw and split the cost. They start to find us accommodations for the next evening and by supper time have found the house two doors down has rooms, is not occupied except for the house staff and the owners have agreed to let us stay Saturday evening in single rooms for $15,000 FRw each. We can still take our meals and enjoy the grounds of Paradise (though the guest house also is lake front and has beautiful landscaping as well).

Next morning after breakfast and moving our stuff to the guest house we decide to walk the 6Km back to the edge of Gisenyi. The weather is pleasant and we're up for the walk. At the end of the road is a brewery for the local beer. It is at least partially powered by an electricity plant that runs off of methane gas that is emitted from Lake Kivu. We can see the tower of the methane rig about a kilometer off shore but are unable to see the power generation unit as the road is closed and guarded by RDF military with automatic weapons at both ends (which is too bad as the road along the shore used to go to gisenyi, seems in perfect condition, not nearly the elevational rise and fall and would have a lovely view of the lake during it's entire distance). We are accompanied by various groups of urchins who delight in some muzungus to walk. They are persistent in trying to get us to converse and some are very persistent in trying to relieve us of some Faranga (money) by either repeating "Faranga?!?" repeatedly with outstretched hands or using their English with "Give me money". Of course you can't give them money for a number of reasons. First the giving to one could not happen without others seeing which would produce an immediate onslot of demands to give money to each and secondly we don't want to encourage begging as a means/option of supporting yourself. Periodically we hear a cry for "give me pen" which actually would be okay if I had a pen to give, but then again you'd have to have a whole box of pens if you gave just one. We know that Dr. Konn has been here previously and when we returned we jokingly accuse her of encouraging the kids to beg for money (which she firmly denies doing). Then in jest we accuse her of teaching them to beg for pens at which point she looks quite sheepish and admits to doing.
Each group seems to know there boundaries end but as soon as we lose a group we're passed on to the next pack who have heard we're coming by the distant cries of Muzungu and Bonjour. As we get close to town we cross a small Hydroelectric plant. Town is quiet and the streets pretty much empty. The guide books are totally inadequate for information. The Palm Beach Hotel which comes highly recommended appears abandoned as do a number of other establishments. There are a number of places we pass by and have never read about and ones we expect to find that are either absent or under new ownership with new names. We see a huge crowd of people congregating in one spot of the public beach and see that the 5 white girls from the bus yesterday are swimming in bikinis and have attracted probably 1oo male African spectators who want to have a watch. It's annoying but safe for them and we walk on to the border with Congo which is a sister city of Goma DRC but don't enter (we've been told that the return visas would run us $60 US). We're hot and stop to get something cool, wet and sweet. I have to learn another repeat lesson when they charge me $2,000 each for my two lemon Bavarias which are a 0% alcohol malt beverage. But they've already been consumed and though I protest that I paid only $750 yesterday the server simply states that the charge is $4,000 in Gisenyi please. The place was a converted lake home and we had enjoyed the gardens, birds and lizard but it didn't seem nearly as pleasant with $8 of soft drinks.

Before leaving we asked if there was a "Hotel De Lac" and find that it's been renamed and is the next place down the road. We stopped in to see it and decide it looks like a nice place to take a meal. It also is a converted home, with equally nice gardens and we sit under a cabana while we await our meal. Again the birds are exquisite and many lizards are running around. We realize that we're the only guests there and after 1 hour and 20 minutes walk to the kitchen and enquire if the food will eventually be served. The proprietor assures us it is coming now and we rest for another ten minutes when Terry's coffee is brought. Twenty minutes later the food begins to come. Afterwards we can say it was worth the wait but it we'd have simply left had we been in Melbourne or the states. Before leaving we enquire about room availability and find had we arrived last evening, we'd have been able to to get rooms at the expected price.

After lunch we decide to walk back to the guest house. Nearing the halfway mark Terry mentions the lack of juvenile presence. Within 1 minute of mentioning the absence of youthful escort they arrive en-force. Terry takes a ploy of hanging back acting as though he speaks neither French or English and letting them surround me. I feel like pig-pen in the Peanuts comic strips but with a cloud of children rather than a cloud of dust. By the time we reach the house we're both quite tired of the throng. We'd seen a boat that is marked "Taxi" and go to the lake to investigate the possibility of a boat ride today or tomorrow only to realize the taxi is sitting on the shallow lake bottom with a couple of feet of water in it's hold.

We decide to cool by taking a swim in the lake and the temperature is perfect. After the 17 Km of walking it is the perfect recipe for getting rid of acquired, dust, sweat, grime and heat. While we're relaxing we start to hear rhythmic responsive singing. The fishing boats are going out for the night to fish for the petit poisson (little fish). The boats are three boats connected together with poles. On the way out they are close together but once out fishing the poles are spread so the trimaran setup covers almost twice the distance. Long poles extend from both ends of each of the three hulls for dropping the nets and the boats are paddled to their destinations. Later in around dusk the lanterns will be started. We aren't sure if it's to attract more of the sardine sized fish or so they can see to sort them. Dinner @ Paradise where we're joined by a British woman who is traveling alone and has come to see the guerrillas,, sit by the lake and attend the naming ceremony. She is delightfully oblivious to many of the typical concerns of foreign travel and is having a marvelous time. There has been a cancellation and she's allowed to move back into her room from the tent. She's a bit disappointed in that the tent was to be free. My heater kicks on warning my it's time to call it quits for the day. I'm in bed by 9:00 and asleep by 9:00:30.

Morning comes with rhythmic responsive singing of the returning fishermen through my open screened window. I throw on clothes and grab my camera as Terry and I hurry to the beaching area to see the catch. As the second boat comes in the middle pole hits the bluff and the tip of one of the poles breaks. I hurry to grab one of the other poles and pick it up enough to clear and Terry grabs the other side. The fishermen are happy for the help and allow us to hang around and take pictures. I'm surprised by the apparent absence of fish. For an entire night of fishing there doesn't appear to be appropriate amount of fish. An older woman is working a hatchet on some branches to make a fire and cook some of the catch for breakfast. We head back for our own breakfast and then back to town to try and change our tickets for an earlier ride. To my shock Terry suggests we ride motos back to town as the matatas look as though we might have to wait an hour or more to reach the requisite 18 passengers.

We're delighted to find an empty bus waiting and they are happy to change our tickets. Terry gets the coveted front passenger seat with the window & I'm in the next one back with a window. The bus leaves and nobody occupies the jump seats and the driver confirms there will be no other passengers for the express run to Kigali. The road between Gisenyi and Ruhengeri is under construction and many of the homes that are too close are marked with an X indicating imminent domain and ultimate destruction at some point in the near future. Past large banana and tea plantations. Another cool thing I've seen are the egg baskets. There is a section of road where the local people bring baskets made from banana leaves to the side of the road. Inside are 30 eggs. If it wasn't the last week before departure, I'd beg the driver to swing in and get one of these egg baskets but I know if we have eggs every day I won't get them all eaten so I settle for a picture.

Back in Kigali by 12:30 and down to another Indian Restaurant I've located called Ice and Spice.

They warn us that the food will take almost an hour but it's on the table in 30 minutes. I think you'd much rather be told a longer time and have it arrive early than a short time and have it arrive late. We split up and I do some afternoon shopping before returning to Kimihurura. I'm starting to sort my stuff for the return and to get more detailed in what I'm leaving/taking and working through my gift list.

Before dark I walked to the local convenience store (Hah!) for a few critical items (T.P., some juice concentrate, eggs for 5 more breakfasts, a 500 ml container of full cream milk and bunch of bananas) Supper with Terry in the cabana of the left over food in our cabinets (pasta with tomato paste, microwaved potatoes, and cabbage salad). Dr. Konn had planted some collards and I cooked a batch for about an hour and then left for a few minutes to start the blog, , , , , forgot the collards , , , , , and scorched them (I ate most of them any way).

Dr. Konn arrived after and had been to the orphanage for one last time. She witnessed one of the older staff ladies with an old fashioned two sided razor blade (no handle) chopping at the children's hair for hair cuts. She was holding them down with a leg thrown over them as they screamed. Now we know the source of all the head wounds. Some of the kids are HIV+ and using the same razor blade on kid after kid is an instant source of transmission. Tomorrow I'll find an electric Razor.

Link to all my Gisenyi pictures

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Leif,

In a short while you will be home. I will arrange that everyone at churh huges you and when you are to sitdown in church that who ever can, wil come and sit very close to you-seeing that you like it! We will also use the kind of deoderant that you like!!!!

Enjoy AFRIKA!

See you @ church-I will be at CCC on Sabath the 5th of July.

Blessings
Johan Keet
(Florida)

Anonymous said...

Hi Mr. Penrose, What an amazing trip you are on. I've really enjoyed reading your blog and looking at the pictures you include. I'll see you when I start the DMS program in September. Have a safe trip home.

Carmen Regier

Anonymous said...

Lake area is beautiful. What a vibrant lizzard! The people are just lying by the side of the road by the egg baskets; that is different. Everything you write about the orphange bothers me, from the hand made ball to the little fire for a stove, to the old bowl, and the HIV+ children being shaved with the other children!!!! Do they not understand how it is spread? Please try to educate them!!!! Glad you are going with a hair clipper and your electric rasor tomorrow. Please get an address we can sent items to. They need clothes also, right? Can hardly wait for you to come home.

Anonymous said...

The kids make me think of the song, "Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world. Red and yellow, black and white, all are precious in His sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world." Jesus must be grieved to see their sad situations. Yet I don't know how to fix it, guess we can't. Thanks for doing what you thought was the most important.