Hi everyone,
First of all I have to mention something that I should have
mentioned before.
Since the blog is a public site and anyone can read it I
sustain from making statements or opinions on politics, economics, environment
etc and I do not put in anybodys name to avoid offending someone or a local
body and end up being accused of it .
On Mondaymorning I took off to Kigali and the roads were
very good so did a 650km till Ushirombo, a hole in the countryside with a
Kigali Hotel but no services. Beer was
there so one worry less but no restaurant. Asked the girl that was there to
cook for me, just a chicken with rice and she did. Gave her money and she took off to somewhere,
possibly a market if any. After some
time she was back and I heard a loud chicken noise in the kitchen so she went
for a life one since frozen Brazilian
hormone chickens have not yet arrived in this place. The noise was quickly done and an hour or so
later I had my chicken with rice and Beer.
I slept reasonably well and had no mosquitos since I sprayed
the room intensively.
Next morning I took off at 7 AM for another 400 km to Kigali
of which still 230 in Tanzania.
The road was perfect and I saw signs of STRABAG who are road
builders in Africa and I thought this can be a good or a bad sign. They have either finished the whole stretch
or only partly.
Unfortiunately it was the latter.
Had 130 km perfect road, 20 km of road works and 80 km of
horrendous damaged road that I could not go faster than 10 to 20 km /hr and the
bike almost died on the way. Potholes in
all sizes and shapes and after 10 AM one
does not see them anymore since the sun goes straight up and there are no
shadows.
You just hit them and wonder whats wrong with my eyes, I
just do not see them.
After 4 gruelling hours with pain in my left arm due to
constant use of the cluthch I arrived in Rusumu, the border with Rwanda.
All went well apart from the fact that my East African visa
for 3 countries had expired, they said, since I went from a member state =
Kenia to Tanzania, thats not and on to
Rwanda. Had to buy a new one for 100
dollars. So what , on such a trip spending money for what you need muust be the
least of ones worries.
The road to Kigali started off quite well and I felt a happy
man after the road I had previously.
However it did not take 30 km and there were the roadworks again
but , fortunately it was dry and thus no mud.
This lasted to entrance Akagera park where Bralirwa grows
maize and that I visited twice , also with Linda.
They have nice tented lodges where you are woken up by
fisheagles in the morning when they start greeting eachother or they might have
a quarrel like we also do sometimes.
So that was another 30 km of difficult road and I wondered
if I had not locked up myself in Kigali since the heavy rain month will be
April till half May. Of course it can
vary and also in intensity.
I have to ride these same roads back again , a 1000km stretch
to Dodoma to get to Zambia. No other
road for me.
To let the rains pass by I extended my stay at home and thus
Iwill fly home on Tuesday 3rd April and come back only on Monday 7th May. Ample time to revamp my cooking skills and
might do a stroll with the Morgan to France / Spain to see some friends and
watch nature waking up after the winter.
Hope rains will have lessened and roads are not too muddy
when I return here.
Unfortunately it is also the road from where all goods to Rwanda
go over. I saw hundreds of lorries and
especially all fuel for Rwanda comes from Tanzania over that road. They damage the roads and make them worse
when it rains.
Anyway I will see what happens and go from there.
Arriving Kigali was like homecoming cause I always liked it
since I was here in 1990 as DT of Gisenyi brewery. That place
at Lake Kivu is like paradise but rather lonely. We were 3 expats in the brewery and there were some
sisters and fathers + 5 Belgian paratroopers
in Gisenyi. Also had a curfue
from 6 PM to 6 AM and 200 soldiers around the brewery to protect it from a possible rebel attack who lived on the
slopes of the vulcanos and killed so many gorillas in that time.
The brewery was a
strategic object since it generates a large portion of the internal revenu
through the excise duties. When the
government was short of money they undiscriminately increased these taxes.
The GM always had a lot of work to settle such problems.
So I got to Kigali and it was very hot and I did not feel
like running in dense traffic with a fire under my butt. I had identified a hotel downtown .In fact, I wanted to stay in the Mille Collines where I
Aaways used to stay for the brewery visits but is now above budget.
However I could not find the intended hotel and drove up and
down the streets and while doing that I
saw the Mille Collines. Said, what the
heck, I do one night there and will see from there what to do.
Got to the counter and they offered a promotion for almost
half price hence it is not just 1 night, No, I stay here till I go. Like the place as ever.
Have not yet been in contact with the brewery so do not yet
know if they could store the bike during my absence. Since it rains evreyday I prefer it to be
inside.
Tomorrow I will see a former collegue who I know from
Ethiopia.
I have another option and that is a underground carpark next
to the hotel. Went threre and they will
charge just 80 Euros for 33 days. Is dry
and guarded , a good alternative if need be.
A visit to Rwanda cannot go without a vist to Giseny and the
brewery. Hope the rains can allow me to
go on Friday and return Monday. Although
rains are not the problem. Have had
enough of that in Europe and when I lived in Africa. A good rainsuit keeps you entirely dry but
for me its the state of the road that counts.
I will check tomorrow.
Its now Wednesday so I might texst again when in Giseny on
the shores of Lake Kivu with a nice grilled chicken and a beer. Eating such chicken at the beach ( yes there
are sand beaches ) used to be a challenge since there are big birds ( like
Hawks ) flying around and they will snatch your meat from the plate if you
loose a bit of attention by turning your head. They dive and bye bye chicken.
Giseny is on the border with the DRC and on the other
side is the town Goma that was not so
long ago ( approx 15 years ) almost completely covered in lava from the nearby
vulcanos. I thought from the
Nyiragongo. The lava covered the airport
and ran through the mainstreet to the lake where it started cooling down which
took months.
It is a magestic sight when you sit on the veranda of the
house ( all along the shore ) with the vieuw on the vulcanos = Virunga park and
they are working , lightening up the sky when they spit.
On these vulcanoes are the famous mountain gorillas and I
visited them with Linda in 2012.
Fantastic experience but nowadays rather pricy.
May be I will stay in my former house, now a guesthouse like
Linda and I did in 2012 and 2014.
Also there in the trees there were , or maybe still are,
fish eagles. However during my time in
1990 I was warned not to go into the garden without a cap or hat since the male
of the couple would attack me and seriously scartch my bold head. Only for bold men since one of my former
collegues, also bold and thus called Kojak, was an amateur photographer and when the eagles had offspring
he went up a ladder to the nest to photograph the small ones. You can imagine that papa did not like that
and did not allow him by attacking him.
From that moment all bold men be warned.
Do not know if they are still
there and alive since I talk of 1990.
I now go to cover my bike with its pyjama that I brought along. Did not cover yesterday with the hope that
the rains would clean the bike a bit from
the worst mud but I think the mud is stronger than the rain. Its the red mud that is used for brickmaking
so gets hard when it dries.
Thereafter I go for a beer.
Its beer time !!!
Cheers, Paul.
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