Emma's Class Field Trip--Akagera National Park

Emma’s 5th grade class went on a field trip this past Thursday and Friday to Akagera National Park. Akagera is located in the eastern portion of Rwanda. It is home to an amazing variety of birds and some big game. Akagera suffered greatly during the genocide and the ensuing violence, so it hasn’t got the sheer volumes of wildlife that other parks in East Africa are noted for. It is also a victim of human encroachment as the population of Rwanda continues to rise and arable land becomes more and more scarce.

Reid volunteered to go along even though our little Toyota Rav 4 is not the most spacious vehicle around. It’s a good thing too since one of the parents backed out at the last minute. So, 13 kids and 4 chaperones crowded into 3 vehicles and made the three hour trek to Akagera with tents, sleeping bags and cooking gear shoved into every nook and cranny of each 4 X 4.

When the class arrived, it was pouring rain, but it subsided after a short while enabling everyone to make camp. Meanwhile back in Kigali, the moms were praying fervently hoping the kids weren’t being subjected to the torrential downpour complete with hail that was buffeting Kigali. Fortunately for the kids, they weren’t. Here, Annie, Gus and I spent an exciting evening running back and forth between the kitchen and the dining room as we retrieved pot after pot to catch the leaks from the roof. By evening’s end we counted 10 pots positioned on or around the dining room table.
After a morning breakfast of Dutch pancakes provided by the father of one of the boys in the class who incidentally owns a completely outfitted LandRover Defender, the kids went on a game drive through the park. The kids spotted giraffes, zebra, wart hogs and some sort of gazelles. Emma indicated that while the quantity and variety of game couldn’t match our Namibia experience, it was really fun to go camping with the whole class as a field trip.

By the way, Reid returned really envious of Johan’s Rover and is even now making plans to get his hands on one and outfit it with all the accoutrements---awning, two roof-top tents, refrigerator, winch, spare fuel tanks, yada, yada, yada…..We haven’t heard the end of it since his return!

Pictured above are the kids on Johan’s Rover at the entrance to Akagera.

Do You Live on Bourbon Street?

We’ve been having coffee at the Bourbon Café for a while now. The Bourbon has several locations in Kigali as well as in the US—Boston & D.C., I believe. I have been meaning to find out how such a name was selected. I mentioned in an earlier post that there is even a sprinkling of New Orleans memorabilia throughout the African décor. So, I finally asked while paying my bill the other day. I explained that I was from Louisiana and that New Orleans, the city that is host to the famous drag, was in my state. The manager thought that Bourbon Street was in San Francisco. Unaware of whether or not San Francisco does have a Bourbon Street (Scott can you help me out on that?), I let him know that THE Bourbon Street was a New Orleans icon. The staff then asked me if I lived on Bourbon Street. Well, I guess I turned about 10 shades of red on that one. NO, it isn’t exactly residential and I proceeded to describe the type of businesses that ply their trade on Bourbon. Now it was their turn to be shocked. It seems like the story is like this (at least according to the manager, I’ll have to do some fact checking on this I am sure): When the Belgians first colonized Rwanda, the type of coffee they brought along for cultivation was called “Bourbon”. In fact, the café is not just a café, it actually serves the coffee grown and produced by the Bourbon cooperative of coffee farmers. The packaged coffee produced by the cooperative can be found in just about any of the supermarkets around. It is exceedingly expensive, however, and that is perhaps due to the fact that most of the crop is destined for export.
So there you have it: Bourbon Street meets Bourbon Café, Kigali Rwanda (and the ensuing shock on both sides. Mom, please send me some tourist info on Bourbon Street so that I can give to the manager and enlighten him).

Here's what Wiki has to say about Bourbon Coffee: Bourbon coffee is a type of coffee produced from the Bourbon cultivar of the Coffea arabica species of coffee plant. Bourbon coffee was first produced in Réunion, which was known as Île Bourbon before 1789. It was later taken by the French to mainland Africa and to Latin America, and is now one of the two most popular Arabica coffees grown worldwide, the other being Typica coffee.[1]

Bourbon coffee is usually produced at heights between 1,000 and 2,000 meters (3,281 – 6,562 ft) and gives a 20-30% higher yield than Typica, but produces a similar quality of coffee.

Livonia High Students Come Through Again

I thought I had lost this photo when the hard drive of our computer was wiped out. I found it among my archived emails, so although late, I want to publicly thank Kristie Langlois and the Livonia High Jr. FBLA Club for their efforts in collecting children's books for the Kigali Public Library. They were received in good condition during the summer and were much appreciated by the Rotary Club which is spearheading the library project here. This is to be a public-private partnership with the Rwandan Government and working out the governance structure and details of administration has been a slow process. Progress, however, is being made albeit slow and books have been arriving from major donors as well as smaller donors. Thanks to acquaintances, friends and family that sent items.

Woman Know Your Place

Gifts offered to the bride's family definitely indicative of what the wife's role in the marriage should be.

Peached Whale

We attended the introduction ceremony of our housekeeper’s daughter yesterday. The introduction is typically held a bit before the actual church wedding, but my housekeeper’s daughter was ‘introduced’ in the morning and was then married in the afternoon. The introduction ceremony took place here in Kigali, but the wedding took place in Kibuye, a town several hours away. We decided to fore go the actual wedding.

My housekeeper insisted that I wear the traditional garb of wedding attendees. The attire harkens to the days when Rwanda was ruled by kings. They wore toga-like ensembles of sparkling white cloth, tied at the left shoulder. These days the cloth can be of any color and cottons have been replaced with polyester, rayon, nylon, etc. My housekeeper borrowed one of these for me to wear. It’s essentially a one size fits all model as the skirt is basically a large rectangle of cloth with a drawstring through the top to tie around the waist. The cloth is gathered and bunched to fit smaller waists or drawn out along the string to cover larger waists. I don’t exactly have the heft and bulk of the typical African Mami, so there was a lot of cloth gathered at my waist, ironically giving the impression that I did. The sheer wrap of matching fabric, just another large rectangle of cloth, is knotted at the left shoulder. My ensemble was of a printed peach fabric. Peach is not a color I would ever choose for myself. Needless to say I looked like a “peached” whale! Judge for yourself, see photo. My family is absolutely forbidden from e-mailing me any snide remarks.

It was a very nice ceremony replete with all sorts of traditional gestures that are made back and forth from groom’s side to bride’s side. Unfortunately, a great deal of it was lost on us because we don’t speak Kinyarwandan, but we were able to figure out the basics. There was no doubt, irrespective of the language barrier, about what the woman’s role in the marriage would be when the groom’s family presented the bride’s family with a hoe and the modern day equivalent of a water calabash (yellow plastic 5 gallon container). Farming and water collection are still considered women’s work round these parts!

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.

Want to be a Millionaire?

The current exchange rate is 600 RwF to the US dollar. The largest denomination in circulation is the 5000 Franc note. So when transferring money from our US account to our Rwandan account, the figures are in the millions. A couple of thousand US dollars translates to millionaire status here! Unfortunately, the cost of living is exceedingly high and so even though we’re “millionaires” we find it difficult to purchase $12 boxes of Kellog’s Cornflakes!

Since we pay virtually everything in cash here, we’ve got to take out considerable amounts when it’s time to pay the staff, lunch bills, ballet fees or even purchase petrol (about $6.80 /gallon) and electricity. Frequently, the bank is devoid of the 5000 Franc note as was the case today. We were given our withdrawal, about $800 US, in 2000 Franc bills. Needless to say, getting that amount of cash in what essentially amounts to $2 bills represents quite a wad. Can’t help but feel like we’re akin to bank robbers walking out with huge bundles of currency. Can’t exactly stuff the below pictured bundles in one’s pockets either. It’s even difficult enough to get it into my purse!

Well millionaire status will be short-lived, we’re now on the backside of this puppy and are down in the teens on the number of weeks we have left in country. We’re looking forward to buying Cheerios in the huge family size as one of the first things we do upon our return! Oh and carrying far less cash on our person….