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“A small piece of paradise” |
Still drying out (from the rain, not the Primus beer) we decided to head south in search of the elusive sun. Our port of call was to be Kibuye, which lies on the eastern flank of Lake Kivu in the west of Rwanda. It has a certain allure, not only because it is provides a watery and beautiful respite in this land locked country, but also because it borders the Democratic Republic of Congo – making us feel a bit intrepid.
The drive lived up to all the expectations of an East African minibus journey. Drivers here, seemingly, are trained to ignore the speedometer and use the faces of their passengers as a guide to their speed. If your charges’ faces are green when you are hurtling round corners (and there are many on the endlessly winding mountain roads in Rwanda) then you’ve nearly got it about right; if they start to vomit out the windows then you’re spot on, although you can still try for the ultimate – Mac 1,”warp speed Mr Zulu”. Sure enough, as we staggered out of the bus on arriving in Kibuye, our driver’s wry smile displayed a certain satisfaction as he breathed in the smell of burning rubber from his vehicle’s bald tyres.
It normally takes a while to recover from such journeys but the view speeded things up significantly. Before our eyes was one of the most magnificent sights we have ever seen. The waters of the lake were a cobalt blue so vibrant that it made the waters look treacly to touch. Serving as a backdrop were the Virunga volcanoes (one of which in the Congo was still smoking after having blown its top in 2002) and, nearer, more of the beautiful and delicately terraced hills which cover almost the entire nation. All this was ours for a whopping 10 pounds a night in a Presbyterian guest house (yet another of the many ‘divine’ attempts to convert us during this trip?).
We woke up to our first morning at the lake to see the clouds which we felt had been accompanying us almost since leaving home drifting apart, dazzling the waters and the many islands with bright sunshine. This came as a relief, not only because it meant we could have a swim (we needed one as there had been no running water for quite some days in our previous hotel) but because if we got enough hours of sunning ourselves in, we might just top up the reserves enough to avoid being the first people to get SAD in Africa! The day was spent swimming, walking (people completely ignored us during this walk – sheer heaven and a first on our trip), eating and drinking beer. Finished off, of course, with another strop as I lost yet another game of scrabble to Chris.
It was a brief stay at the lake, as the cloud and rain returned the next day but it was wonderful to relax in such a beautiful place. However, as we were to find so often during our brief stay in Rwanda, your mind never seems to truly relax here as you are faced constantly with the horrors of 1994. Kibuye itself is most renowned not for its stunning beauty but the fact that 80% (11,400 out of 14,000) of the resident Tutsis were slaughtered here. Whilst walking you catch glimpses every now and then of the prisoners (both condemned as well as those awaiting trial), working out in the community in their distinctive bright pink uniforms. You look at them and wonder what they did, what they saw, and how they can face the few surviving friends and family of their victims every day. Are they sorry? In such a wonderful place, it can be hard to reconcile such beauty with such horror.
previous travel blog entry
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