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03.08.2011
No matter where you go, it takes a day
Exactly 24 hours after leaving Vienna, I touched down in Kigali. A couple of hours at Istanbul Airport and a very short nap at an Entebbe hotel broke up the lengthy trip. Nobody would have guessed the Boeing B737-800 leaving Istanbul was Entebbe-bound. About 99% of all passengers on the 4.500km long journey were Europeans - strong evidence that Uganda is becoming a prime tourist destination in Eastern Africa. Very different was the flight Entebbe-Kigali. I was the only non-African on this tiny plane. But being a woman I fit right...[more] Category: Rwanda
04.08.2011
Rwanda - “The Switzerland of Africa”
Clean, punctual, law abiding, orderly, expensive… Are you thinking of Switzerland? A few hours in Rwanda and these attributes are all around you! Squeaky clean: in Kigali, in the most remote village, simply everywhere! None of the usual plastic litter - Rwanda banned plastic bags in 2008. Bus schedules are taken seriously: if your transport is scheduled to leave at 10:30, it does so. Never ever will you see a Moto-driver or his passenger without a helmet. Receipts are given for every purchase and service. No beggars, no pushy street...[more] Category: Rwanda
05.08.2011
Déjà vu at the Hotel des Mille Collines (Hotel Rwanda)
Nobody who has watched “Hotel Rwanda” can leave Kigali without a visit to “Hotel des Mille Collines”, where the manager Paul Rusesabagina, a Hutu, sheltered and saved 1.250 Tutsis. In 2009, I had the privilege to meet and talk to Mr. Rusesabagina in Vienna. One sentence remains ingrained in my memory, because it summarized the horror: “In 1994 in Rwanda, people sat on a pile of corpses and smoked a cigarette”. To my surprise, its clientele was mostly African families, mainly expats, who obviously are not troubled by paying 200 USD...[more] Category: Rwanda
05.08.2011
The Rwandan Genocide
Between April and July 1994, within 100 days, approximately 1.000.000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed, while the world stood by and watched - hacked to death with machetes or other farm tools, strangled, drowned in septic tanks, palled, shot, buried alive or killed by methods beyond imagination. The Hutu militia was openly supported by the Rwandan army. The few UN soldiers there were forced to watch and the international community was busy defining if the mass killings were “acts of genocide” or indeed “genocide”. Those three...[more] Category: Rwanda
06.08.2011
When churches became a deathtrap
The iron door was forced open by grenades. Then the killing started. The bloodstains can still be seen on the bullet-ridden ceiling. Thousands of Tutsis, who had sought refuge in the Church of Nyamata, hoped to escape the slaughter. They actually had good reasons to believe so. In 1992, hundreds of Tutsis hid in this church and remained unharmed. Could they possible assume that a fellow Christian would kill them in the House of God? Today, piles and piles of blood-soaked clothes, taken off the corpses, remind of the massacre. To...[more] Category: Rwanda
07.08.2011
Butare - It’s the journey that matters
A devoted Christian started preaching, singing and swinging a bible as soon as the bus pulled out of Kigali. His shouting was nerve wrecking. Soon the cramped bus was divided into two camps: those who appreciated the spectacle and others who did not. For a good reason - Mr. Preacher was disrupting a Rwandan passion: shouting into a mobile. I hoped my taking photos would irritate him enough to stop, but eventually it was sheer exhaustion, unfortunately only shortly before Butare. The Hotel Aucon, right next to the bus stop, seemed...[more] Category: Rwanda
07.08.2011
Royal Nyanza
Very handsome they were, the kings of Rwanda: tall, lean, fine facial features and self-assured. The numerous photos of the royal family dating back to the 19th century are the most interesting displays in the new palace built in 1932. It is now part of the Rukali Royal Museum high up on Nyanza Hill. The real attraction, however, is the reconstructed Ancient Royal Palace. It immediately reminded me of the Dorzi beehive dwellings in southern Ethiopia. What today looks like a gigantic hut was then the centerpiece of the pompous court...[more] Category: Rwanda
08.08.2011
Divided Lake Kivu
My favorite place at Lake Kivu? Kibuye! There, the lake meanders deep into the green shoreline, creating narrow inlets. These are lined by green hills thick with eucalyptus and pine trees. The trip from Kigali to Kibyue was my ultimate Rwandan experience. Paul, an Australian I had met in Kigali, invited me to join him motor-biking across the country. I did not think twice. Every village we passed, everywhere we stopped, locals surrounded us and marveled at Paul’s cool bike. He always allowed kids to climb on the seat, start and turn...[more] Category: Rwanda
08.08.2011
Kibuye’s many wonders
Paul’s bike allowed us to check out every corner of Kibuye and nothing we experienced was ever mentioned in any guidebook. For instance a driving instructor, who had his own way of showing us that driving lessons in Rwanda are serious business! He kneeled on the seat, had the clutch fastened with a small rope and maneuvered the bike with one hand through a narrow slalom of traffic cones. The noise and exhaust fumes coming from the tortured bike were brutal, but he succeeded, throwing a kiss when he passed the last cone, his students...[more] Category: Rwanda
09.08.2011
Busted flat in Ngororero
The hardest thing for me was being stared at and drawing so much attention, as a European woman travelling by herself. A three hour wait in the village of Ngororero remains engrained in my memory! After Paul had dropped me off at the bus station in Gitarama, half way between Lake Kivu and Kigali, I squeezed into a minibus to Gisenye. At the busy bus station, the usual commotion started over the bike, but afterwards the focus was entirely on me. Everybody on the cramped minibus knew where I was going. The driver had instructions to...[more] Category: Rwanda
10.08.2011
Malahide Paradis
The name says it all! A gorgeous garden full of exotic plants and flowers, a few tables and wicker chairs tugged in, nicely furnished bungalows, right on the shores of Lake Kivu. It even has a little sandy beach… The staff, the owner Odette and her son bent over backwards to make me feel comfortable. But all this could not lift my mood. I realized that I felt lonely, me! I was shocked… Last time I was hit by such a crisis was back in 1995, during a blackout in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, when I was rained in and tied to...[more] Category: Rwanda
10.08.2011
Stories of survival
Here in Gisenye I met two impressive survivors of the genocide, Odette and her sister Evangeline. Odette managed to flee to Burundi when the killing started. Her home was burned to the ground. She returned two days after the Hutu militia was driven out in July 1994, starting a restaurant from the ashes of her former home. Business was good, so she added a bungalow. Over the years more followed and her place became what is now known as the Malahide Paradis, a divine hotel, which is raved about in all guidebooks. How do I know all...[more] Category: Rwanda
11.08.2011
Wannabe resort town Gisenye
If it were not for the lake, Gisenye would be another non-descript African town with dusty streets and battered buildings. At least the very center looks exactly like that. But this ugly duck became incredibly beautiful through the friendliness and helpfulness I experienced. In order to go online with my laptop in the packed Internet café, I would have had to set up an account with a Rwandan mobile company. Confused and frustrated, I was about to pack up, when a young guy set up an account on his own mobile phone. I was so touched -...[more] Category: Rwanda
11.08.2011
Congo - Too close to be true
Going to Goma was high up on my agenda. I had set my mind to see what the Congolese side of the lake looked like and maybe even trek the Gorillas from this side of the Virungas Mountains. So what a shock when I came across a blog informing that officials now charge a scandalous 275 USD for a visa issued at the border. What first seemed like a hoax was later confirmed by John, the hotel manager of the Step Down Hotel, in Kigali. He recommended trying the Congolese Embassy in Kigali. By the time my moto driver found it, it had closed...[more] Category: Rwanda
12.08.2011
Parc National des Volcans
When Diana Fossay came down from the mountains, she always stayed in the Muhabura Hotel in Ruhengeri, always in the same room. Could I get any closer to this brave woman? Who killed this famous researcher has not been found out, but the motive certainly rested in her undeterred devotion in protecting her beloved gorillas. The Muhabura was the very first hotel in town and is still an all time favorite. It has true character, a devoted staff, and an excellent view of the volcano of the same name. The comfortable bus from Gisenye to...[more] Category: Rwanda
12.08.2011
Riding a Moto into a dark nowhere, holding a bowl of spaghetti
This is the most unusual story about my first night in Kinigi, when I travelled endlessly on the back of a Moto through a pitch-dark forest, balancing a dish of spaghetti... Why? Read on! It was already dark when I arrived in Kinigi village, down from Ruhengeri. Chilly it was high up there, but I was euphoric. I had found a guy who took me up the mountain on his Moto for 2 USD, whereas most tourists end up paying 20 USD for a taxi, once public transports stop running. I even remained calm when the La Paillotte Guesthouse in Kinigi...[more] Category: Rwanda
13.08.2011
Trekking the Hirwa Family
“It will be an easy trek”, Edward, our guide, chirped… Words our group of eight took in like honey. Which trek, which group will I be assigned to? This is the big question we all pondered, even months before the trek. Will I be assigned the notorious Susa Group, high up on the slopes of a volcano? Once Edward showed us a photo of the Hirwa Family that we were going to see, all tension was gone. In chorus we sighed and cooed looking at these cuddly images. Edward explained a few basic rules and together with two porters and a lady...[more] Category: Rwanda
13.08.2011
Gorillas in the misty Virunga Mountains
The silverback we saw first! He sat there big and mighty, leaning against a tree. He had turned his head to get a good look at us. Bored best described the very look. His young son had his attention - playfully he whacked the kid with his paw, which sent the youngster rolling over the forest floor. What seemed rather violent to us was mere fatherly tenderness… Lots of others, large and small, young and old were climbing, wandering around, but darn, it was too dark to take photos in the bamboo forest. Only filming produced some kind...[more] Category: Rwanda
14.09.2011
Rwanda - Summary
My passion for Rwanda stems from its tragic history. Not that I was aware of the horrifying dimension back in 1994, but I realized that this was different to the many civil wars that Africa has been plagued with. The film "Hotel Rwanda" left an inerasable imprint in my heart. This was further deepened, when in 2009 I had the privilege to meet and talk to Mr. Paul Rusesabagina in Vienna. What puzzled me now was the question “How does a small country like Rwanda cope with the murder of 10% of its population within 100 days?” Of course...[more] Category: Rwanda, Summaries
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