Dian Fossey Hike

A small group of us woke up early and climbed into a van, which only had doors at the rear, and set off. We had a quick stop at a beautiful park filled with giant wicker animals. After that we met our guide and group for the hike. One of which was a teacher from Littleton! Small world. We had to drive to the starting point which turned out to be straight up basically a dry riverbed. My Fitbit gave me at least 3000 steps just for the crazy bouncing we did along the way. 

Earlier that week, we tried to do research on this hike and were unsuccessful so had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. Thank goodness Rebecca and I love a good hike! It was steep and much longer than anticipated. Sadly, one in our group could not complete the hike and went back down to relax. But we trudged on and had remarkable views and sounds from the jungle. For many of the guided hikes porters can be paid to carry your things and help “push and pull you,” when necessary. We didn’t get one, but a few extras came along and adopted us. They would help on steep areas, but more importantly when we got to a large section of mud and logs he kept me from falling off. Mark would point out the plants to keep away from, “no touch,” and show us animal droppings along the way. We saw plenty of gorilla poop! Unfortunately, no gorillas. 

Before this trip I didn’t have much of a background on Dian Fossey. To prepare for Africa in general I watched several movies to help educate myself. I started with Tarzan, cartoon version obviously. (Way to go Phil Collins!) Then; The Lion King, Hotel Rwanda and Gorillas in the Mist. You can see my Disney priority. But from this I learned more about Dian Fossey’s work and it led me to a bit more research. 

During our hike the captain shared more information. He told us she named the camp, Karisoke, because it was a combination of the two nearby mountains, Mt. Karisimbi and Mt. Bisoke. He also explained that whoever killed her took advantage of the fact that most of her team was away for Christmas so she had less protection on the mountain that day. 

Once we finally reached the top, and the more flat part we had been told was coming for hours, we were guided through each area of camp. The structures were all gone, some now in the Ellen DeGeneres Campus. From there we saw where Dian was buried alongside some of her favorite gorillas. The plaques are splintered and faded, but Digit is right there by her side. If you haven’t seen the movie, it’s worth checking out! 

After a brief break and snack we began our decent. And while the porters do come in handy, they basically ran us down the mountain! They would each grab a hand and drag you down to get past ants, stinging nettles and tight rock curves. We reached the bottom much faster than I expected. 

After our incredibly bumpy ride down we visited the Ellen DeGeneres Campus of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund. I liked the flow of the campus and being able to learn more about Dian Fossey and the gorillas. Sigourney Weaver even donated the money for Dian’s cabin to be placed inside with her belongings! It was cool to see her collection of books and pictures alongside her typewriter. Many of the well known gorillas were displayed with their bios. The whole area was interactive and filled with interesting facts. 

You can even take a quiz to see which gorilla you are most like. I got Macibiri, she is playful and likes to explore. After that I took a virtual tour of the Rwandan jungle and a family of gorillas. It was so life like and fun to be up close with the impressive animals. 

Our day following the steps of Dian Fossey was well worth the early morning wake up! 

Rwanda Part 2/ Big Yellow Bus

After our fantastic time in Uganda with the gorillas we were ready to turn around and head back to Rwanda. This would be Rebecca and my first time in the big yellow bus! 

Let me tell you a bit about this bus situation. We were on a tour through Absolute Africa which does tons of tours where you can join and leave in all different areas. Rebecca and I really wanted to see the gorillas, and this was the most cost effective way for it to happen. We later learned that seeing the gorillas in Rwanda was twice as much! To get the best price you have to work for it. That means helping with the cooking, cleaning, loading/unloading and other tasks. Each person is on a team and needs to pitch in. When we joined the tour, nine people were already on the bus for the last two weeks. It was a bit hard to jump in since they already had the routines down and had built a rhythm and bonded. But we tried to help as much as possible and get to know them. They helped us learn the ins and outs of the colossal beast along the way. 

Just the climb on the bus for us short people was fun. The group was great and let us sit up front to enjoy our first ride. Since there were only 14 of us we had space to spread out a bit. We listened to music and got to know more of the people on the tour. Sweet Rebecca sat knitting like an adorable grandma while carrying on great conversations, it was mesmerizing and now I may just have to learn. 

Border patrol was super fun as we had to stand in multiple lines and then empty the truck and load it again. But then we were back in Rwanda! 

Our first campsite was very cute and had a tiny restaurant and sitting area to hang out at. And it was called Red Rocks, so that’s cool! They offered optional activities to keep us entertained. The woman working there seemed to hate us instantly and rolled her eyes and said things like, “as I already told you…” Yet she offered no real answers to our questions. I will chalk it up to having to be like a teacher and constantly repeating yourself. That first day a group of us did bracelet making and ended up spending two hours concentrating on just two bracelets. We had dinner all together that was prepared by one of the teams, which included Rebecca so I knew it would be good!

At night we talked around the fire pit and heard stories from our group who are from all over.  We had a fun mix of people from; New Zealand, Australia, United States, Mexico, Germany, Greece and Belgium. 

Later, we had our first night in the tent. Luckily they were nice sturdy canvas tents and easy to put up. I slept fairly well on the tiny mat they provided and only really missed my pillow. Our morning came quickly as we had arranged a hike to Dian Fossey’s grave. More on that later. 

The second day we packed up the truck and drove to Kigali. We began our day at the Genocide Memorial Museum and learned more about the history of the Hutus and the Tutsis. The memorial is a large campus where people can learn and come to pay their respects. Several groups were there that day laying flowers at the mass graves. The area was beautiful and provided a quiet space among the bustling city. 

We then drove to our next site. This campsite was lacking in just about every way possible. It was a large field with plenty of dirt. There were no tables or anywhere that you could sit together, no fire pits and the bathrooms were in a strange building behind us. We walked in to find their “sauna,” which was a plastic lounge chair behind a curtain. All part of the experience right! But that night we did have an incredible meal in town which made up for it. 

The next day our time with Absolute was over. Rebecca and I packed up and waved goodbye as the big yellow bus drove away. We spent our day back at our first hotel to enjoy their breakfast and got ready for our flight to Tanzania! 

GO-rill-a

This was one of those early mornings you don’t mind getting up. We had a quick breakfast and loaded into three trucks to head out. My car had a great driver, Moses, who enjoyed some loud music filled with mixes from home. The roads were a bumpy mess he called an African massage. We drove for two hours and enjoyed the beautiful scenery outside once the sun finally came up. 

Moses taught us a lot about schools in Uganda. It was fascinating as a teacher to listen to the differences. Their kids start much younger as parents want them to begin learning English early. Some students will start their trek to school as early as 4:00am for preparatory classes! We watched as many children were out in the dark making their way to school which could be well over a kilometer away on their own. And I’m talking tiny little kids! I am always so impressed with other countries views on languages. Moses could speak over five and was still learning more!

The entry to the gorilla trek was filled with people! This I was not expecting as I didn’t think that many tours could go at once. At least 80 people were sitting around awaiting their tour. Our passports were checked and we were excited to watch a choir sing and dance.

A guide taught us a bit about the gorillas. In their forest they have 50 families. Out of these, half of them have been trained to have people around them. Each family has a silverback leader and then a mix of younger males as well as females and babies. The guide takes a group of eight people max and are escorted by two security members as well. Turns out the security is more for the elephants than the gorillas! The jungle elephants can charge and guards use the guns to scare them away by shooting in the air. 

Our small group was led by a female guide, Goreth. We had an all girls group! Minus one of our security guys and the porters. She shared a picture of the family we would be visiting and we took off on the trek to find them. The paths were well maintained and any area needing help was whacked with her machete. Along the way we found elephant footprints and paths, but no animals. At one point we had to stop because the trackers looking for our family said the elephants were in the area. This turned out to be a great stop for learning more. 

Uganda has a phenomenal program to protect the gorillas and forests. People train in multiple areas before they can become a ranger, including medical and weaponry. Goreth has been a ranger for 13 years and was very excited to teach us more. We learned that while gorillas are not hunted in Uganda any longer, they have not made it out of their endangered status. Some factors for this are low numbers of female gorillas being born, and many gorilla babies do not make it to adulthood, some die of sickness, some from falling out of trees, some from lack of milk from their mothers who have to breastfeed for three and a half years. Some gorillas get caught in traps that are meant for the mountain antelope. Rangers do frequent checks to minimize the traps in the area. They are working to continue increasing the population.

We trudged on through the gorgeous forest until the trackers said they were ready. During the time we had with the gorillas we had to wear face masks to keep them safe from our germs. With our systems being so similar this was a nice added protection.  At this point you leave the trail and make your way into the vines and abundant leaves. I  turned and right in front of me was a female gorilla! She just sat munching on leaves and couldn’t care less that I was there. The trackers would grab each of us and move us to different spots to get a good view. The family moved through the trees ignoring us and eating non stop. The silverback was the largest one out of all of the families in the forest. He had a very impressive stance and grunted his way to tasty treats. He really enjoyed showing us his silverback and his butt. We had to work a bit harder to see his face. 

The cutest was of course the baby! He was having fun rolling around and being ridiculously adorable. We got one hour with the gorillas which flew by quickly. I never felt unsafe and couldn’t believe how close we could get. Periodically the trackers would grunt or pound their chests to show we belonged. We all sat down to watch them for a few remaining minutes and just sat in awe. 

Our hike back was short but incredibly muddy. We all got to our end point a bit dirty but fully fulfilled with our trek. We each earned a certificate with a picture of our silverback proudly displayed. What a day and unbelievable experience in Uganda!!! 

Our First Time in Rwanda

After a quick stop in Doha, our Africa tour was ready to begin! First stop, Rwanda. Although we were almost the last ones through passport control, it all went smoothly and we obtained our visas and were ready to go. Luckily the hotel sent someone to get us and as we drove through Kigali I was reminded of Asia. Motorcycles were everywhere and signs are purely a suggestion. 

We were thankful to be tucked away at our hotel, Yambi Guesthouse, where the room was spacious and our bathroom was way better than expected. The back had a little oasis filled with plants and seats. The in hotel chef was fantastic and had a variety of yummy eats. 

The next day we had another food tour. Unfortunately, this one didn’t measure up to our Doha experience. Our guide was an incredibly interesting guy who was on his way to a competition in London for helping refugees obtain strong higher education. The area that lacked was the food. We started with some rice and beans and moved on to a lemonade/ginger drink. After this I tried anchovies, heads and all! This was mixed with a bread type ball and dipping sauce. I was not a fan of the texture. We had some very good skewers and flatbread and a few tasty fruits. All in all it was fine, but probably not worth the money. 

We met someone at our hotel who would be joining on our tour and spent some time getting to know each other. The next day our Absolute Africa Tour would start! 

In the morning we had a fantastic breakfast from the chef and met two others who were joining. The five of us crammed into a tiny SUV and had to load half the luggage on the roof to even fit. This was the start of our four hour drive to Uganda. I have to admit I was a bit nervous. I was in the middle with no working seatbelt just holding on trying not to slam into the girls next to me. Our driver spent most of his time talking on the phone. And when he wasn’t, he was turning up the volume to his talk radio to drown out our conversations. The roads started out nicely paved and turned into giant potholes toward the end. The entire trip there were people on the side of the road. Either walking to school or working on cleaning the area. 

At the border we met our tour guide and went through customs yet again. Luckily the next drive was quick, and in a larger vehicle. 

Our new hotel was simple and great! We had lunch at the nearby cafe. The power was out, but they made it work with grills and fire pizza ovens. Next we walked to the tiny market and stocked up on supplies. Just the five of us overfilled the two aisle store. Lots of interesting things to look at!

Later, our guide gave us the lowdown on doing a budget overland tour. Everyone pitches in and cooks and cleans and has jobs. The big yellow truck was incredible! 

That night, everyone had dinner together. Total we have 14 people on the bus. Most of which are doing 60 days or more! They will make their way down to Cape Town. Rebecca and I are only in it for 5 days. Then we let people pamper us a bit! 

We crashed early to be prepared for the big day ahead. Time for the gorilla trek!!!! 

Long Flight and New Country

It’s summer time! That means travel. After endless hours of cleaning and packing and repacking and repacking again, I was finally ready. At least as ready as I could be for this new amazing adventure.  

I dropped off my sweet kitties and jumped on a quick flight to Texas. Unfortunately, Rebecca’s flight was no longer coming in the same time as mine. But this meant I could try out the Capital One Lounge. Now that was fun! So many food and drinks to try. 

Luckily, Rebecca joined me right as our flight was boarding. We got ourselves situated for a delightful fourteen and a half hour flight. After catching up we found a bunch of movies to be ready. Thankfully I slept a bit and didn’t need all of the movies! Someday I hope to try out those fancy pods in business and first class. But for now we did the best with what we had. 

We had a short drive to our beautiful hotel in Doha. The city at night was gorgeous. The skyscrapers were incredibly impressive and even featured videos on the sides. Our room was fantastic and the air conditioning was exactly what I needed. 

Apparently in Doha the thing to do is go to the malls. We decided to walk to a close one and couldn’t believe how many people were there! It was packed with all sorts of people, families and kids playing in an incredible inflatable playground. We decided to grab some Nando’s since it was an old time favorite and then head back. That night I slept wonderfully in the chilly room. 

In the morning we enjoyed a fancy buffet at the hotel and then head out to see the city. It was like a post apocalyptic zone! No one was outside. Clearly we were the crazy ones as the temperature was climbing above 100. We wandered through The Pearl, a manmade island with cute buildings and small lakes to play in and an adorable area which looked just like a little Venice. Still no people in sight! After one more quick stop at an amphitheater and golden mosque, we gave up on the heat and went to another mall. It had an amusement park and ice skating rink inside! Tons of American stores filled the space and we felt at home with each Baskin Robbin’s we passed. 

After a quick nap we got ready for our food tour. We had a private tour lined up to try out foods around the city. I will say I was surprised when a Canadian woman came and picked us up. She was a great guide and gave us fun insights to living in Doha. 

The best part of a food tour is going into places we never would have found on our own. The first few stops were in random places and back allies, but had incredible food! We tried a very yummy chai tea and finger foods to start. This was followed by fantastic chutneys and a dosa, an Indian style crepe. Each spot had something tasty. My favorite might have been the shawarma or a taco type creation or the best falafels I’ve ever had. I also really enjoyed watching cats run around the Souq. They were tiny and sweet just hoping for some food. I would have taken them all home, but we are at the start of our trip. 

In most of the restaurants we sat and talked about travel and cats and our lives. Our guide, Colleen, told us about moving around and traveling to areas less known. She taught us about Qatar and we were able to ask any questions we could think of. We learned Doha is made up of a higher percentage of Indians than Qataris and there are lots of other cultures added in as well. 

 It was a great night of food and conversations and education. If ever in doubt about what to do in a new city, do a food tour! 

That night I slept terribly. I don’t know if it was the time difference, the nap I took, or the caffeine, but it was a long night. And now I’m on a cramped airplane with 6 hours ahead of me to reach our next destination of Kigali, Rwanda. And let me just tell you, flights aren’t quite as organized as they are at home. Rebecca’s seat number was the same as someone else’s. Then I got trapped at the back of the plane trying to get a spot for my luggage. It was a bit chaotic with flight attendants just moving people around. Luckily the woman next to me was moved and Rebecca and I got to sit together. In the end it worked out and all will be well! Time for another country!