Beautiful Rwanda.....

Wow, the Country is really beautiful! Its rolling mountains go on forever.

We had breakfast at the Serena and Jasmina scored some Nutella and Peanut butter and was all smiles!

Charles picked us up at 9:00am and we did a quick tour of Kigali. We stopped at the former Belgian military base then stopped to buy a case of water for the next few days of trekking. It wasn't long before we were climbing altitude, winding our way of the mountains. We had a 3 hour drive ahead of us with a final altitude of just over 9,000 feet above sea level. For those of you that are not familiar with altitude, Toronto is exactly 257 feet above sea level. What I find also weird is that I once jumped out of a plane at 3,000 feet....hun!
Jas and I are dealing with it fine and have no need to take the pills.

There are many villages on the way and the mountain sides are all manicured by the farmers. From a distance, it looks like large steps dug out of the mountain. They grow beans, peas, bananas, pineapple, sweet potatoes, carrots, corn, coffee and more. Something I need to mention is that there is no farm equipment. It is all done by hand. The Rwandans are in great physical shape as they walk everywhere (on the road side)! Vehicles are not affordable to them. They work their plot of land, harvest their take for the day and walk it to the next village to sell or trade it. The journey can be very long as their is no flat land. All up and down hills and mountains. It is so interesting and amazing how the majority carry/transport their goods that they are bringing or taking back home. The method of carry all depends on what tribe they are from. Some, place baskets, buckets or potato style sac's on their head.....I even saw some with a back pack, an umbrella and even their purse on their head! They must have strong necks... The other tribe will have a cloth strap across the top of their head tied to the goods they are supporting with their backs... Many carry water jugs and again, I seen a woman carrying a table and 4 chairs in this fashion! Amazing...

We stopped in one village where they make wine from bananas. We bought 2 bottles and will try it tomorrow. In the store was a picture of Tony Blair with the staff. It turns our that this same village is where they make that chili oil extract!

I had the front seat with Charles who, in conversation said he was the President's body guard for 10 years. He also was the chosen driver to Prince Philip and Queen Elisabeth when they were in Uganda to celebrate the anniversary of a national park named in the Queen's honor...

We drove past our hotel of tonight and drove to Gisenya, now known as Rubavu. This is where we were to stay tomorrow night ( Lake Kivu). Now the plan is to stay at the foot of the mountain where the Gorillas are. We had lunch at the Stipp Hotel over looking the Lake. Just beautiful. We could see Goma, the capitol of the DRC. (Democratic Republic of Congo) which border is only 1.5km away.

Charles gave us a tour of Gisenya including a stop at a hot volcanic spring and a scenic view of the Nyiragoga Volcano....Active! We stopped for a drink in the back courtyard of a 3 room hotel to even watch Chelsea advance to the world cup!

We made it back to our hotel, the Hotel Gorillas at 7:00pm and crossed the street for a drink and some dinner.

Charles will meet us for breakfast at 6:00am tomorrow. We should be trekking until 1:00 or 2:00 pm then its lunch at (?). Anyway, I remember that its near the top of a non-active Volcano.

Alright, its almost 10:30 local time and need some sleep. TTYS!