Pelicans & Bats

One of the cool things about Kigali is the fact that there is an abundance of avian creatures that live amongst the tall buildings, crazy traffic and general mayhem that accompanies most African cities. Kigali is teeming with flowering vines, banana trees, shrubs, etc. These play host to a large diversity of birds. As witnessed by the majority of our blog postings, birds play a significant role in keeping us occupied and entertained here.

One of the most entertaining sights in the city is the flock of White Pelicans that inhabits the conifers on the street corner across from the Ecole Belge (Belgian School). Reid’s office is in the vicinity, so we get to see these stately creatures daily as they roost near the traffic light. Housed on the third floor of the building, Reid’s large picture window view encompasses the birds’ flight path. It’s not unusual to visit him and see the image of a large Pelican advancing across the frame as it comes in for a landing in the nearby trees.

Rwanda, being landlocked, seems like an improbable host to these fellows, but they apparently feed on the ponds of Tilapia being farmed commercially in the area. They appear to be healthy and well fed and so must be getting enough to eat to keep them calling downtown home.

The area around the presidential palace, also in what is essentially downtown Kigali, plays host to a very large colony of fruit bats. There might even be two separate colonies as the bats can be found in the trees lining two separate streets several blocks apart. The trees virtually drip with specimens. Additionally, they make a really strange screeching sound that’s somewhat of a cross between a pig and a bird emanating from the hundreds if not thousands of winged mammals. For a while, we thought they had been displaced because of all of the construction transpiring in the area, but they've recently reappeared. Rwanda has pretensions of being the African Singapore and the hotels, office buildings, and skyscrapers seem to be going up with complete abandon. Hopefully, Kigali can retain some of its verdant charm in the process and the bat colony can remain as a wonderful curiosity and tourist attraction.