Hello, dear readers!
I’m posting this on Monday though I wrote it Sunday night. So bear with me on the time difference… Last I wrote I had just arrived in Kigali
after a harrying travel day last Friday.
So much has happened since!
Saturday morning I got delicious coffee at the Hotel Milles
Collines, but Greg and Nathalie were nowhere to be found. Nearly two hours and two frantic phone calls
to Greg’s Rwandan cell phone later I discover they are on “Africa Time”, which
is a bit more fluid than even Central America Time, and certainly a world away
from HBS Time. (Side note: thank
goodness for Skype! It has enabled me to
both talk with Glenn and my family back home, but also call Rwandan numbers and
my bank in the US to figure out why $2000 in unauthorized charges just appeared
on my credit card…) We met up at noon
and Nathalie decided first to do her own thing with her friend from grad school
for the afternoon, then to “opt out” of going to Ruhengeri with us at all. So Greg and I spent the afternoon in Kigali
(first trying to go to the Genocide Museum, but failing since it was the day
after Christmas – Boxing Day – which is a national holiday in Rwanda)
ultimately spending time at Bourbon Coffee and getting lunch at Indian Khazana,
per Glenn’s recommendations.
Then we hopped a bus to Ruhengeri, which was an interesting
two hours if not for the gorgeous scenery, then certainly for the nuns in the
row in front of us who fell asleep and then started snoring… See my
pictures! Once we got to Ruhengeri we
had to figure out the last step: 20 minutes to the Kinigi Guesthouse, which is
not on a bus route. There were no
regular taxis in sight so we ended up on taxi motos, which are motorcycle taxis
that cost a lot less and are pretty common in Rwanda. (We also took taxi motos around Kiglai, and
both times it was super fun, even if it isn’t the absolute safest way to get
around.) We strapped on our backpacks
really tight, donned the “guest” helmets, and sped away in the darkness toward
Kinigi. This ride was actually one of
the highlights of the trip because a) riding on motorcycles is kind of fun, b)
it was super spontaneous and worked out in the end, and c) I talked in French
with my driver the entire way and he ended up complimenting me on my language
skills when we arrived. =)
It was pretty much straight to bed once we arrived since
Sunday morning would be an early one. This
morning we awoke around 5:45 and headed first to breakfast in the guesthouse,
where we met a few fellow travelers who were also headed to the park, and then
on to the park itself by 7am (the official start time). We bought permits for the Mount Bisoke hike,
and since the start of the trail is a good hour away from the park
headquarters, had a park ranger phone a driver in Ruhengeri to come be our car
for the day (not cheap, but necessary).
Then at the last minute three Belgians joined the hike, and they had
their own car, but we decided to keep Francis, our driver. After all, Greg would need to get back to
Ruhengeri after the hike and this was easier than finding another taxi
moto.
So we set out for the 8-hour hike and soon discovered that
not only was this the rainy season in Rwanda, but that the trail up Mount
Bisoke is pretty much straight up the side of the mountain. There are no casual switchbacks zigzagging
their way up; no, it’s steep and thanks to the rain, a trail of mud. Literally: gobs and mounds and puddles of
mud. Slippery, sloshing, squishy,
slurping, sticky mud. Within just a few
minutes I learned the true value of my new travel clothes when, despite the
mud, my feet stayed warm and dry all day and my pants were waterproof and
totally flexible (no jeans would have survived what I put my trekking pants
through today). Combined with a
long-sleeved shirt, a fleece vest, a wool sweater, and a thin rain jacket, I
had enough combinations to keep me going all day. Yay amazing hiking boots and clothes from
Athleta (a new online Gap company) and Ex Officio. I might need to invest in these companies. They got it going on…
Between our walking sticks and one particularly nice guide
named Claymont, who caught me on more than one occasion, I made it up the
mountain without too much fuss. Yes, I
was the slowest (what’s new?). Yes, I
had some discomfort from the steep incline and intermittent rain and ridiculous
cold at the top (something around 50 degrees before you take into account that we were totally wet). But after 4 hours of hiking we reached the
crater lake at the top. And then it was
time to come down.
Normally the descent is totally easy, and takes only a
portion of the time spent going up. But
most descents I’ve done have not been the equivalent of mudslides. Nor have I ever climbed anything nearly this
tall (at the peak it is about 3800 meters and we probably climbed over 1000
meters in height from the base to the crater).
So it started pretty slowly. And
then it got worse. The altitude nearly
did me in, with crazy dizziness and the worst abdominal cramps/nausea I have
ever experienced. Seriously, ladies,
imagine the worst PMS cramps you’ve had – the ones that left you in bed all day
popping Aleeve every 4 hours. Now add
the lightheadedness that comes after not eating all day. That’s
what I felt like on the top of this freaking mountain. And it wouldn’t get better until I got to the
bottom.
So for the next four hours I gingerly made my descent, with
Claymont and Greg assisting the entire way.
It was so slippery and so steep – my abs and shoulders and bum are all
wretchedly sore from the involuntary tensing that occurs every time you skid. I felt so sick, and Greg got some
blackmail-worthy pictures of me looking like an idiot. But we made it, and I’m pretty sure now that
I can do just about anything. This was physically
the hardest thing that I have ever completed and I probably won’t be able to
move in the morning, but I did it. I
survived. What a wonderful feeling!
Greg left tonight to head back to Goma for his return flight
to Kinshasa tomorrow. I was going to
take a bus back to Kigali tonight, but the Belgians from the hike offered me a
ride with them tomorrow morning so I’m spending one more night here in
Kinigi. I’ve also decided to extend my
stay in Rwanda through Tuesday morning so I can a) do laundry (check out my
pics for just how gross we ended up getting today), b) see the Genocide
Memorial, and c) book a bus to Kampala early enough to pick a good seat. Plus Rwandan coffee is delicious, and I could
use another cup from Bourbon Coffee. Then
Tuesday I’ll travel overland to Uganda (including passing the equator!), which
should take about 10 hours via bus, and meet up with Paul (and HBS friend) in
Kampala Tuesday night.
This has already turned into an amazing trip, and I can’t
wait to see what the next few days in Uganda are like! It will be fun to hang out with Paul and
later Melissa and Christina (also HBS friends) for New Year’s. Then it’s back to Tanzania for Kilimanjaro. While it may seem foolish to attempt
something nearly 20,000 feet high when I struggled with 12,500 feet today, I
think the 6-day approach plus altitude sickness medicine (and a team of 20+ HBS
kids) will make it a bit more manageable.
Until next time!
