July 30th - Aug 3rd – Zanzibar and the last day in Africa

Just some pics from Zanzibar or from the side of the ferry we took over there.

Not a lot to say about Zanzibar really. We bussed from Arusha 10
hours to Dar on a nice bus with good roads. The next morning we took
the ferry on calm seas from Dar to Stonetown on Zanzibar island and
went straight from there to the Northern beaches. I saw a shark
feeding on something in the water and got pretty excited about it, but
one of the locals brushed my off with "It's very rare to see shark,
you probably saw a dolphin". I felt like telling him that my degree in
biology, masters in fish anatomy and avidity of watching Attenborough
documentaries made me pretty damn sure it was a shark, but I thought
better being a jerk. Instead I thought I'd rely my smart ass comments
to you so that you can think I'm a jerk. Ha.

The hotel in Kendwa was great, with beautiful white powder
beaches and turquoise waters. It felt strange being in such luxury
after so many weeks of living a more simple life in Dar and Ifakara.
There were people there who obviously go to Zanzibar like North
Americans go to Cuba and that was harder to justify. However, I can't
deny that it was nice to relax on the beach and there were some nice
little coral reefs withing 30 meters of the sand, with all sorts of
fish that loved to eat the bread and banana I brought them. The
weirdest thing by far that we saw there were Masaai guys full on
making out with European girls. These masaai were decked out in
traditional clothing, with ceremonial wrist and ankle decorations,
complete with designer watches and white-rimmed sunglasses. It was so
strange. I can't in good conscious really call them masaai. I wonder
what herds of livestock they are tending on those beaches?

After two nights in Kendwa, we spent one night in Stonetown, which is
a beautiful city, chock full of mzungus with lots of money and many
stores with fun souvenirs to spend it in. Unfortunately this means
that everyone on the streets and in the shops is out for your money.
Touts can be quite aggressive in bringing you to their shops or their
taxis and we had a couple guys blatantly lie to use about ferries so
we would use a company they get commission from instead of the one we
wanted. It was a tough thing for me to do, but I had to just ignore
these people, who I felt were trying to take advantage rather than
help. It made me angry that many people would be taken advantage of
like this. Anger is not a great feeling to leave the island of
Zanzibar with, so it was a bitter sweet ending to our trip there. I
managed to pick up a few nice gifts for people at home though, at what
I considered fair prices.

The trip home was good, if long (40 hours if you count the time
travelling from the ferry the morning of our flight). I managed to
squeeze a couple hour visit to downtown Zurich into my lay-over there,
which was nice, if hard to rationalize the drastic swing in cultures.
Erin, Meredith and I spent some time grabbing croissants and coffee
and walking along the river and the incredibly clean cobblestoned
streets. It was an odd feeling not to have everyone staring at us and
even coming up to say hi. I think I'm missing that about the Tanzanian
culture already. Literally though, I'm not sure you could find a much
further extreme from the crowded hot and filthy streets of Dar. Erin
and Meredith were staying overnight in Zurich, so we parted ways
there: I had a plane to catch to bring me home to my wife!
(Interesting tidbit: Absence does, in fact, make the heart grow
fonder).

I suppose this is the end of my African blog and if you've stayed with
me all the way, I want to thank you for your perseverance and for any
encouraging words you've sent to me along the way. I've enjoyed
sharing my experiences with the blogosphere (that is actually in the
Word dictionary… sad, sad, sad) and expect a major motion film to be
made of my exploits in the near future, so stay tuned (all proceeds
will go to the Tanzanian health care system, scout's honour). Asante
sana na tutaonana baadaye Tanzania! (Thank you very much Tanzania and
we'll see each other again)

Safari pictures

Just a taste of some of the best pics from safari.
If you'd like to see more of the safari and from the trip, let me know
and I'll send you an invite to an online album.

July 27 - 29th - Safari!

Maybe one of the biggest reliefs of the trip was when the tour
guide knocked on our hotel room door at the time that they said they
would on Monday morning. Up until that instant, we really couldn't be
sure that the Safari was actually going to happen for us. We had
planned a 4 day / 3 night safari to Lake Manyara, the Serengeti and
the ngorongoro crater, all camping in tents. By this point, I had met
up with Erin and Meredith after they returned cold, but successful
from the Uhuru peak of Mount Kilimanjaro. Only the three of us would
be going on safari, everyone else either returning to Canada or
continuing on with their travels.

I won't give you a step-by-step of the safari and everything I saw,
but I'll put up some of the best pictures and talk in generalities of
my impressions.

There were 7 of us in the land rover, which made it close quarters,
but there was enough leg room so that I didn't feel too cramped. I
think we got pretty lucky with the group that we randomly got placed
with and we seemed to click right off the bat. The tour company had
quite the operation going on the first morning, with at least 20
people milling about the office, packing food, sleeping bags or tents.
The spectacle that they made of showing us off was impressive and
hopefully sincere: they all seemed so excited for us.

The animals that we saw over the next few days were amazing and
seeing them in their element represented the fulfillment of a
life-long dream for me. I didn't really mind which animals we were
seeing, because just having the opportunity to observe behaviour out
in the wild was exhilarating (although I will admit that watching
hundreds of Thompson's gazelle eat grass and do little else got a
little tired after the second day). We managed to see many of the
standards, including most of the "Big 5" (Lion, Leopard, Elephant,
Water Buffalo, Rhino), except the rhino, despite our best efforts in
the ngorongoro crater to spot one. Highlights include watching lions
walk feet from our car and across the road in front of us; seeing a
Thompson's gazelle hung up 10 meters in a tree and the leopard
responsible for doing so; watching herds of zebra file one by one
across a river; having a big bull elephant come into our camp on the
final day for some amazing photo ops… the list goes on.
We liked the Serengeti more than the other parks and it was worth the
extra few hours' drive to get out there. The crater was beautiful
scenically, but somewhat underwhelming faunally, probably due to the
massive expectations that we had for it. Our driver/guide was good as
a driver but relatively useless as a wildlife guide, although it makes
sense that the best guides are the ones working for the expensive
safaris. Our guide's English was poor and we had many exchanges where
we would try to ask questions about an animal, only to have him answer
a completely different question. It was a frustrating exercise in
patience, particularly when I was so looking forward to digging a
little deeper than "you can tell an elephant is older because of
bigger tusks" or "male ostriches are black, females are grey". He was
no Attenborough. Ah well, I didn't go to the Serengeti for the guide.

There were a sickening number of tourists in rovers in these parks.
They've apparently capped the number of cars allowed in each day, but
it often felt like we were just zooming around the park until we saw a
line of cars already stopped looking at something. It's weird too:
hardly anyone waves at each other in the cars. Everyone is so focused
on the surroundings that acknowledging the hairless ape in the next
vehicle is not a priority. Speaking of hairless apes, I felt a
connection to the area around the Serengeti and ngorongoro because of
the significance of the Olduvai Gorge. Olduvai is the location of an
excavation site that unearthed some of the oldest humanoid footprints
discovered thus far: 3.6 million years old. They are from a species of
human that is ancestral to our own and predates Neanderthals and the
spread of humanity to Europe and Asia. We all came from that region at
some point in our history and it felt good being there. Stupid guide
said we'd have the chance to go and explore on our way back, but
conveniently as we were driving by the turn off, looked at his watch
and then said "Oh, it closes at 4:00". Bah. I'm not bitter, honest.

Unsolicited advice: If you want to go on a safari and will be paying
for the flight over there already, go ahead and pay the extra few
dollars for a mid-range safari and make sure the guide is good before
you pay a cent. Camping was pretty cool though… sleeping under the
stars in the Serengeti, with buffalo, zebra and hyena poking around
the tents at night was an amazing experience that I won't forget.
Also, apparently the rainy season is a pretty spectacular time to see
the national parks and you can usually get a better deal on the
safari. Oh, and don't for a second think about buying sculptures or
art on the road from the Northern safaris back to Arusha unless you
are amazing at bartering. The prices are astronomical compared to
anywhere else in Tanzania and unfathomingly, unlike ANYWHERE else in
Tanzania, these tiny little shops on the side of the road accept
Mastercard and Visa!

July 26th - Au revoir Rwanda

Volker and Corinna continued to astound and amaze me, providing a
beautiful breakfast in the morning after sleeping in their queen size
extra long guest bed. I woke up to 6 or 7 different bird songs, each
lasting maybe 5 minutes and followed soon after by the next. Their
house is on a nice hill, with a great view of one of the less
populated valleys of the city. However, apparently as recently as a
few months ago the whole side of the hill opposite them was full of
small dirt huts with many hundreds of people barely eeking out a
living. My guest's thoughts were that the upcoming election needed to
look good and the city couldn't be tarnished by too many low income
people living there. Whatever the case, everyone who lived on the hill
has been re-located and the huts demolished.

After breakfast, Volker took me on a tour of Kigali for a couple
hours: maybe one of the best ways imagineable! He showed me a number
of different sections of the city.. seemingly grouped by economics and
by hill-side community. In Kigali there are the very very wealthy and
the poor. Middle-income families don't exist in Rwanda so you are one
or the other: the city's housing reflects this. Some houses are
absolutely massive, rivalling some of the bigger ones in Canada. There
are many Congolese who live in Kigali, with wealth derived from the
rich resources in that country. Otherwise, successful businessmen or
perhaps politicians are the only ones who can afford such luxury in
the midst of substantial poverty.

The flight to Arusha was uneventful and I didn't get to see Mount
Kilimanjaro, as it was dark by the time we were approaching the
mountain. I got a ride into town with the safari company that I'd be
touring with the next day, in one of their land rovers that would
frequently lose its headlights as we were driving along dark highway
roads at 80kph. The driver's response: Hakuna matata. He would then
proceed to fiddle with the headlight switch until it turned back on
again, maybe up to 10 seconds later… made for a tense hour of driving,
given the number of people walking the streets at night there.
I shared the ride with 2 girls who had also just come back
from Rwanda, where they had been visiting for work. They were law
students from the States helping out with the Genocidaire trials for
Rwandans convicted of genocide in Arusha. They told me about the
hundreds of cases that are ongoing and awaiting trial. Their job was
to do research for the prosecutors: presumably pretty grim and
heart-wrenching work. These trials are large and are numerous… a major
problem for the court systems in Rwanda. As an attempt to remedy this
bag lock, Rwanda has created special trials that are run by community
members throughout the country. They are designed to let the victims
face the defendants in court and are apparently (understandably) very
emotional, but perhaps cathartic at the same time.

Pictures from Rwanda

I've finally got a decent internet connection, so I wanted
to fill in some of the pictures from Rwanda, even though I am now in
Dar on my last day in Tanzania! Crazy!
I haven't written about the Safari and Zanzibar yet, but I will. I've
got some great photos of all sorts of animals as well to post in a
couple days.

It's a weird feeling leaving East Africa... the end of a
great trip. I'm going to miss many things about the countries I've
visited, including the friendliness of the people, the different foods
and the children who give you as much attention as you could ever
need. However, it feels like it's time to go home and be with my
beautiful wife again, who I can't thank enough for supporting me on
this trip of a lifetime. Another 24 hours of travel is what stands
between me and her, but I can't wait to get home.

Picture 1 - 5 are a few shots that I took of the scenery in Rwanda,
usually from the side of a bus as I was travelling between cities.
Hopefully some of the terracing and the beauty of the hills comes
across in these photos.

Picture 6 - Murambi genocide memorial. Each of the buildings in the
photo are filled with the bodies of the victims.

Picture 7 - Baboons paying a visit to the Kitabi guesthouse in Nyungwe forest

Picture 8 & 9 - Shots from the hike in Nyungwe. Note the lunge
position in picture 9.

Picture 10 - The roads near Gitarama lined with Paul Kagame supporters
coming home after a rally. There were thousands of people lining the
route. Presumably he was there somewhere. The election in a few days
will be interesting to watch and many ex pats in the country are
worried about the fall out.

July 24th – Hiking in Nyungwe (Knee-ung-gway)

The observant among you may be asking at what point in this trip I am
going to see the Gorillas, given my limited time remaining.
Unfortunately for me, but more poignantly for the Gorillas, a month
ago when I asked for a permit, they told me they were fully booked and
to try again in October. Brutal. Apparently persistent badgering of
the ORTPN office in Kigali can often scare up an extra permit, but
being in Butare, my hands were tied. Next time I guess. I'd have to
settle for chimps, which is why I went to Nyungwe. Apparently for
them, you need your own 4x4 (200$ rental) and you have to stay on the
other side of the forest. Having neither of the above, the chimps also
missed out on my presence. It's like the primates didn't get the memo
that I'd be in the country. Damn dirty apes.

On the up side, at the Kitabi guesthouse, I met a fantastic couple
from Germany, Volker and Corinna, who have been living in the country
for the past year and a half. They were in the forest for hiking and
staying in the same little house as me. I think they took pity on the
rag-taggedness of my travel plans and invited me to come with them to
do a hike the next day. They then offered to drive me back to Butare
to pick up my gear, then maybe even back to Kigali and finally to stay
with them in their house, downtown Kigali. How could I say no?

We went on a 4 hour hike with a guide, Thierry, who was very
knowledgeable and accommodating of my questions. We hiked up, down and
around a few hills to a beautiful little waterfall. Unfortunately
there we saw no primates in the forest, but there were baboons at the
hotel and mountain monkeys on the road, so I was happy. It was a
beautiful jungle hike.

The trip back to Kigali was long but I was thankful for the ride, as
it probably cut 3-4 hours off my journey. Volker and Corinna's house
was beautiful. They live in a walled compound, like most houses in
Kigali, with a security guard 24/7. The house was beautifully
decorated with African furniture and art and my hosts were warm and
welcoming. I am indebted to them for all their hospitality. They also
took me to a place with "The best pizza in Africa", and it didn't
disappoint, although my limited travel experience does not qualify me
for such hyperbole. Theirs does. Tomorrow they offered to give me a
tour of the city, followed by a drop-off at the airport. Either they
really liked me, or I looked really pitiful in Nyungwe. Ha.

July 23rd - Road to Nyungwe

In this post: Travel, Murambi genocide memorial. Read at your own discretion.

I decided that on Friday I would forego the anesthesia learning and
work on some life learning for the day. I had reserved a spot at a
place in Nyungwe forest that night, which is a national park a couple
hours away, and I wanted to see one of the genocide memorials along
the way. I packed up my things from the Credo hotel, a half-decent
establishment that I called home in Butare, and made my way into town
to find a bus. Turned out that it was the day after all secondary
schools had their final day of the term, so the office was
ridiculously packed with students trying to get home. Luckily I'm 6'6"
and white, so I stand out and the people working there expedited the
process. Nonetheless, because of all the students, I had to wait 4
hours for the first bus.

I used the time in Butare to visit the national museum, which is
located there. The museum has a half dozen large rooms that highlight
the cultural history of Rwanda, including exhibits of clothing, tools,
weapons, housing etc… It was alright. I'll admit that it was a bit of
a snooze fest, but I generally feel that way about most historical
museums. Apparently there are some nice places around the country
where these traditional clothes are worn in traditional ceremonies,
dancing and weapon showmanship.

The road to Nyamagabe, where the Murambi genocide memorial is
located, was an hour of winding roads on terraced hills. There are
definitely more than a thousand hills here… ten thousand maybe. In any
case, after arriving at the bus terminal, I hopped on a moto-taxi (the
standard (and almost exclusive) mode of transport apart from the
buses) and rode the 2.5 km to the memorial. I'll talk about the
memorial after relaying the rest of my trip.

There is no direct bus (or at least not one leaving by the time I got
to the terminal) to Kitabi, on the edge of Nyungwe forest. I had to
hop on a smaller bus, a 19 seater, in order to get most of the way
there, then grab another moto-taxi the remaining distance to the
hotel. These were both great experiences in their own right. I arrived
at the hotel just as the sun was setting and the red light on the
countryside was amazing. I've got some great video of the motorcycle
ride. The whole adventure of figuring out how to get across the
country on my own was fantastic, juxtaposed against the gravity of
what I will now describe.

The Murambi memorial is located at what was once a polytechnical
training institute. During the genocide of 1994, 50'000 tutsis
gathered there for protection from the Interhamwe killing squads. Like
many of the supposed safe-havens around the country, as in churches or
hotels, the school only concentrated the victims, making it all the
easier to starve and then murder them. All 50'000 died. Grenades, guns
and machetes were the weapons of choice. Neighbours killed neighbours.
For a full account of the genocide and the events that led up to it,
I'd direct you to any number of books on the subject. I read
Dallaire's book. I've heard 'A Sunday by the pool in Kigali" is also
good.

At Murambi, the bodies were dumped in large mass graves beside the
school, many of which are still present today. Eventually the French
operation Turquoise came into the country and occupied the site,
apparently building a volleyball court on top of one of the graves.
The guide at the memorial blatantly implicated the French as
accomplices to genocide when I asked how they could be so
inconsiderate. This is the most direct accusation I've heard on the
issue, but it may only be one person's opinion. Dallaire certainly
found the French to be less than helpful when they came.

After the genocide, 850 of the dead were exhumed from the graves and
preserved with lyme. They are still there today, in 24 rooms of 30
bodies each. Men, women, babies: indiscriminate slaughter. Their
corpses rest in the positions they were buried in, skulls crushed or
limbs hacked off. They are bleached white and they smell strongly. Not
of decay, but of the lyme. I don't think I'll ever forget the smell.

If my writing is stark and heavy, it is because the memorial is
equally so. The people there want the world to remember the brutality
of the genocide so that it will never happen again. Any visit to this
site etches the reality of the event so deeply in one's head, that it
shall never be forgot. May they rest in peace.