Leaving dark and early on Sunday morning, shortly after 6am, Karen, Kristina, Alana, Emily and I took off in an FH van driven by Verdaste, one of the FH hired drivers. I had packed everything the night before in the excitement of my anticipation to go. Taking after my father, I over-packed, putting in an extra pair of shorts, a book, two journals and too many snacks, bringing them "just in case." The hardest part of planning the trip had been predicting the finances. We figured that it could cost only $30 if we got the foreign resident price, but $60 for the visitor fee. We had also heard about a student price, but we did not know its amount.
We arrived at Akagera National Park at around 8:30am, which is good timing considering it is in the eastern most part of the country. I talked for the group at reception and determined that we could not get the foreign-resident price, but could get the student fare. Including payment for Verdaste, a vehicle permit and Charles, our tour guide, our entry fee was only $28. Very nice.
And then we were off, driving on a bumpy and dusty road through the middle of the African wilderness. Within a few minutes, we spotted some antelope, quickly proceed by a cluster of zebra, all hiding in the brush along the road. We sneaked out of the van to get a closer look, but they were scared away. After half an hour, we found ourselves surrounded by thick and tall brush, not ideal for animal searching. Then suddenly, we saw figures moving across the road; it was a pack of baboons. Making our way along a ridge for about another half an hour, we eventually came to a herd of impalas, enjoying the shade of a few trees. Now these impalas were not Japanese cars, but rather an animal very similar to the antelope. Next, Charles told Verdaste to drive off the road into the grassy plains. We were baffled at first, but then up ahead we spotted two giraffes munching away at a tall tree. Their slender long necks enabled them to reach the tallest branches, where other animals could not. However, it also made them look ridiculous, like a horse with wretched case of scoliosis. We continue to drive through the grass until we stumbled upon the road again.
After this, we did not see any animals for a while, except birds and bugs. Oh the bugs. I have never killed so many horseflies in such a short amount of time, but I had no choice. Their bite stung even through a sweater and a tee-shirt. Using my second journal, I smacked and splattered many flies while I wrote about the animals I saw in the other. At first, all of us were thoroughly annoyed at the constant infestation, but eventually we made it a game. Twas all that kept us from going crazy.
At least an hour and fifty dead horseflies later, Charles and Verdaste brought us to Hugo Lake. Driving along its coast, we sped quickly, as if we were going to miss something if we did not. This was particularly unpleasant because the roads were in horrible condition. But as we approached a large gray animal, cooling itself in one of the lake's lagoon, we knew it was worth it. As the elephant casually chilled himself in the water, two birds perched on his back, I climbed on top of our vehicle and combined my camera and the binoculars to take photographs. I used this same technique about ten minutes later when we stopped by the lakeside to observe the hippos bathing by the shore. By the way, as Joye has told me multiple times, a hippo is capable of chomping a person in half if it feels threatened, so we stayed clear.
Once we were done with the hippos, the group decided to return back to Kigali because we had a dinner date to make. I was noticeably upset, because I wanted to see more zebras and check out some wild boar and buffalo, but I respected the group's decision. On our return, we stopped at a lakeside tourist development, where we watched as dozens of the park's protected baboons took over. They climbed on top of the buildings, one broke in through the window, all to get more food to eat. We were all very entertained by them, except for Verdaste, who seemed to be looking at the van more than the primates. When we asked about it, he informed us that the van was broken and would not make it back to Kigali.
Thankfully, we made to the Akagera lodge, going incredibly fast so Verdaste would not have to downshift. When we got there, we luckily found a ride back to Kigali for Kristina and Alana, who had to travel still to Guitarama that night. So then Emily, Karen and myself picked up our stuff and walked into the lodge. On the other side of the parking lot was a pool, and a set of outdoor couches that overlooked the lake. On the other side was Tanzania, as dorkingly displayed in the picture below. I threw on my extra shorts to go for a swim, and then laid on a couch to read my book. The food there was expensive, so we were lucky to have so many snacks to munch on as we waited for about three and a half hours for another vehicle to come from Kigali. Though it is easy to look at this situation and feel sorry for us, you should not, because it was wonderful. Laying on that couch with a warm Tanzanian breeze drifting me in and out of sleep was the most relaxing experience of my safari thus far.
Poor Verdaste though was having a tough time. In addition to his vehicle breaking down, he started to get sick. As we returned home, we had to stop twice for him to throw up. We think we are going to make him a baked good or something.
Since then, life has kept me busy with this new research project. As of now, I have interview three NGOs and one government officer, and I plan to double that number by the end of tomorrow. So far, it has been very interesting to hear about the trust issues between the Rwandan government and international NGOs, but my data gathering must continue. Which reminds me, I best be off to bed. I must wake up early for my interviews tomorrow.
The tale of one city is almost over. Thank you for reading about it. God bless.
P.S. As a sign of my thanks for reading this far, I will let you in on a little secret. Aaron and I had some authentic African outfits made; go to his blog to see pics!
1 comment:
Whoever Joye is..she's a smart one. Hippos are a lot more dangerous than they look.
Post a Comment