today i am treated to a mini-break. i leave my home for the past week, the serena (and how serene it is!) to travel east with my friend alain to gisenyi - a 'resort' town on the shores of lake kivu, directly on the border with the scariest and most tense part of congo.
we weave through the countryside which links kigali to this part of the interior - and pass through more of the terraced, steep hills which define this land. the colors are vivid and eye popping, as are the throngs of people in each town - it is market day today. alain and i discuss the genocide, which seems more incredible and incomprehensible the more we talk. why did it happen? how could it happen? could it happen again?!
we arrive to lake kivu, which looks like an african version of lugano, switzerland. it is a huge lake with high hills around it, and a lovely if somewhat neglected corniche. we make our way past the villas, ending up literally at the congo border - it is wierd and frightening to think of what is happening on the other side of the post. we turn around, and find kiki's apart-hotel a few steps away - it is a newly constructed property, and we have been offered a three-bedroom, four bath apartment overlooking the water. it's lovely, with all of the finest accoutrements, and we relax on the terrace before heading out for a lunch along the shore. we dine on tilapia and mutzig, and pass a relaxing afternoon staring at the water.
we return to the rooms, and i actually nap while alain visits family. i enjoy a bit of television from congo - basically, a series of long commercials, which really are a gas. in the most memorable, a band of three young men burst into song - reggae married to hip-hop, and go around to various 'fictional' characters in distress, singing about their products and offering hope. it is hysterical, particularly when the product placement finds the recipients of their benevolence grinning in thanks!
we hang out, read the paper, and listen to the extraordinarily loud christmas carols being sung by the children of the family occupying the apartment next to ours. mercifully, i am armed with xanax, ear plugs, and eye patches for sleep tonight! convoys of trucks from ngo's crossing into congo pass us - medecins sans frontieres and the like - to help with the throngs of people just over the border who are in distress.
later in the evening, we go the the serena in this town, the only other in rwanda owned by the south african hoteliers. the hotel is really spiffy, and we have dinner on the terrace, complete with music and dance enacted by a troop of intore performers. it's quite superb! suddenly, a huge rain looms and appears, replete with thunder and intense lightening crackling against the huge lake. we move indoors, and end up meeting the brother of eric, who works at the architecture office in kigali - we know this as they look and sound practically identical! moments later, we bump into the manager of bourbon coffee, at who's establishment we dined last night before sifa flew off to belgium. rwanda is a VERY small country!
tomorrow is my last day in africa before scurrying back to belgium to see debbie and dino and gang (if we can arrange it) or paris - not sure yet. it will be a long night tomorrow, so i'm off to bed to get some rest ...
shabbat shalom!
h
we weave through the countryside which links kigali to this part of the interior - and pass through more of the terraced, steep hills which define this land. the colors are vivid and eye popping, as are the throngs of people in each town - it is market day today. alain and i discuss the genocide, which seems more incredible and incomprehensible the more we talk. why did it happen? how could it happen? could it happen again?!
we arrive to lake kivu, which looks like an african version of lugano, switzerland. it is a huge lake with high hills around it, and a lovely if somewhat neglected corniche. we make our way past the villas, ending up literally at the congo border - it is wierd and frightening to think of what is happening on the other side of the post. we turn around, and find kiki's apart-hotel a few steps away - it is a newly constructed property, and we have been offered a three-bedroom, four bath apartment overlooking the water. it's lovely, with all of the finest accoutrements, and we relax on the terrace before heading out for a lunch along the shore. we dine on tilapia and mutzig, and pass a relaxing afternoon staring at the water.
we return to the rooms, and i actually nap while alain visits family. i enjoy a bit of television from congo - basically, a series of long commercials, which really are a gas. in the most memorable, a band of three young men burst into song - reggae married to hip-hop, and go around to various 'fictional' characters in distress, singing about their products and offering hope. it is hysterical, particularly when the product placement finds the recipients of their benevolence grinning in thanks!
we hang out, read the paper, and listen to the extraordinarily loud christmas carols being sung by the children of the family occupying the apartment next to ours. mercifully, i am armed with xanax, ear plugs, and eye patches for sleep tonight! convoys of trucks from ngo's crossing into congo pass us - medecins sans frontieres and the like - to help with the throngs of people just over the border who are in distress.
later in the evening, we go the the serena in this town, the only other in rwanda owned by the south african hoteliers. the hotel is really spiffy, and we have dinner on the terrace, complete with music and dance enacted by a troop of intore performers. it's quite superb! suddenly, a huge rain looms and appears, replete with thunder and intense lightening crackling against the huge lake. we move indoors, and end up meeting the brother of eric, who works at the architecture office in kigali - we know this as they look and sound practically identical! moments later, we bump into the manager of bourbon coffee, at who's establishment we dined last night before sifa flew off to belgium. rwanda is a VERY small country!
tomorrow is my last day in africa before scurrying back to belgium to see debbie and dino and gang (if we can arrange it) or paris - not sure yet. it will be a long night tomorrow, so i'm off to bed to get some rest ...
shabbat shalom!
h
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