On Friday, we drove around Kigali (thanks to my colleague David loaning me his car for the week!). I showed Paul a typical market.
We ate dinner at Republika.
My friend Noni joined us for dinner, and Paul was brave enough to try the little fried fish called Sambaza (eyes and heads and all). He liked them!
On Saturday we drove 3 hours outside of Kigali to Ruhengeri, near the volcanoes. We stayed at the Gorillas View Lodge.
The fireplace was great!
All of the meals were yummy.
Paul ate all of the exotic fruits that are common here.
On Sunday we hiked to see the gorillas!
We drove into the Parc De Volcanoes, to the Tourism Office.
We met some friends and joined their group to see the Hirwa gorillas, who were supposed to be fairly close.
After a very bumpy ride down a bad road, we hiked accross the foothills of the mountains.
We passed over this small stone wall into the forest.
My US Embassy friends: Tye and Gauhaur
Finding the gorillas took about an hour and a half.
We had to be careful not to touch these stinging nettles.
The silver back was the first one we saw!
The Hirwa group has one silverback, 7 females, and 5 babies.
We were able to spend one hour watching the gorillas.
We got pretty close!
Our boots got really muddy.
The silverback moved to another location, and we followed him.
Amazingly, we got even closer to him. He didn't seem to be bothered by us.
He cleaned the babies.
And they rolled around playfully.
One of the females (I think she was looking at me)
Our group photo- gorilla trackers, porters, and guards too.
On Monday, we travelled to Nyanza (near Butare) to see an art museum.
And visit a previous King of Rwanda's hut.
We acted out how the king would drink banana beer in his beer hut.
We toured the modern palace, and had to take off our shoes.
The outside of the modern palace (home of the last King in Rwanda)
On Monday night, we ate dinner at my favorite restaurant: New Cactus
He cleaned the babies.
And they rolled around playfully.
One of the females (I think she was looking at me)
Our group photo- gorilla trackers, porters, and guards too.
On Monday, we travelled to Nyanza (near Butare) to see an art museum.
And visit a previous King of Rwanda's hut.
We acted out how the king would drink banana beer in his beer hut.
We toured the modern palace, and had to take off our shoes.
The outside of the modern palace (home of the last King in Rwanda)
On Monday night, we ate dinner at my favorite restaurant: New Cactus
Joan Collins and Jenny
