Rwanda touched my soul

We said goodbye to Rwanda yesterday. It was a sad goodbye. I am not sure I can put into words the impact that Rwanda had on me. The people of Rwanda are truly special and the experience we had is hard to describe. I will do my best to do justice to Rwanda and the people we met along the way. The gorillas were just one part of our journey. Rwanda is nicknamed the land of a thousand hills and it is a country of beautiful rolling green hills. We spent time in two of the national parks, the Nyungwe National Park and then to Volcanoes National Park. It was about a 6 hour drive between the two parks. As we drove from Kigali to the Parks and then back to Kigali we saw Rwandians walking with their goods on their head, with their livestock to the market for the new year, or working. Every member of the family was working. They were always smiling. As I said in my last post hearing the stories of the genocide was hard. I still cannot wrap my head around that kind of hate.

We were two of four guests staying at the inn in Volcano National Park so we got to know the staff and they were amazing. They took such good care of us. We had dancers come dance for us showing us the traditional dance. When we arrived they had a special surprise for our birthday spelled out in our room. On New Year's Eve they made us a birthday cake.

In Rwanda New Year's Eve is not the celebration rather it is New Year's Day that is important. We went on our 2nd gorilla trek for New Year's Day. We saw the Sabyinyo Group this time. That group had the oldest silverback who conveniently is also 49. His son is also a silverback. There is also an adult male that is almost a silverback, but he is considered a blackback, because his back has not yet silvered. This trek was much less challenging than the day before. We only went about 3 miles out and back. It was less muddy and on a scale of 1-10 it was about a 3. The day before it was a grueling trek in narrow, steep, muddy paths that was 9 or a 10 on the difficulty scale that was about 6.5 miles and 2 1/2 hours to find them. The guides the second day were amazing, Augustin and Placid, were informative and helpful. They were patient with other members of our group. The gorillas were in the bramble this time which were very tight quarters and they were in smaller groups so were constantly moving with them. The senior silverback brushed past us.

Then we were honored to be invited to celebrate the New Year with Herbert and his family. Herbert had promised me a taste of Banana Beer after my second gorilla trek. Banana Beer is a local beer made in the village for celebrations that is about 14% alcohol. I still cannot put into words how much it means to me to be asked to be a part of Herbert's family celebration for the New Year. We met his wife and children and took part in the meal. I learned how they celebrated. It is so different from Americans. They brought out the most amazing meal of tilapia, chicken, cabbage, rabbit and roasted bananas. They all share off the same plate. I learned that being a small eater is not a good quality when you are invited to be the guest of honor at a family celebration. The head of the community was excited to have the Muzugu join them. We then went back and spent time talking with the staff at our hotel discussing the differences in our countries. New Year's Day was an AMAZING day.

Then it was time to say goodbye to the Volcanoes National Park and head back to Kigali. We stopped at a roadside vendor and Herbert bought us a snack of kebobs. Neither Herbert nor Sue told me until afterwards that I was eating goat! When we got back to Kigali it was time for the biggest genocide memorial. I cannot imagine visiting Rwanda and not learning that history. It was a somber, emotional and sad afternoon for all of us. I know it is hard when Herbert takes tourists to these sites he thinks about that time and I can only imagine how emotionally draining and also healing to speak of the forgiveness. My favorite part of the museum among all the stories of sadness was a story after the genocide was when rebel troops went into a school and demanded the children separate into Hutu's and Tutsi's and the children refused saying they were Rwandans.

We said goodbye to Herbert yesterday with a promise to be back. Rwanda is a special place. If ever you have the opportunity to travel there it should be on your list. The people are full of smiles and warmth. The gorillas are amazing but that was not the highlight of Rwanda for me. It was the story of the people, their hope, their forgiveness, their purpose, their smiles, their open arms and their love that was the highlight of Rwanda.