As I mentioned before, stories from my mom’s visit would be coming! She came in March for two weeks, and we spent one week in Nyagatare and one week traveling.
Her visit got off to a good start, when her flight was early (when does that ever happen?) and her luggage was accounted for. We spent the first two nights at Hotel Gorilla in Kigali’s plush Kivoyu neighborhood on the edge of downtown. The hotel is a bit more outdated than the website indicates, but had hot showers, CNN, and a delicious breakfast buffet! During Mom’s first full day, I showed her around Kigali, including a visit to the Genocide Memorial, a stop at the Peace Corps office, lunch at Bourbon, dinner at Hotel des Mille Collines, and a 7,000F (just under $12) mani-pedi!
The next morning, we left Kigali for Akagera National Park, with a nice driver from Jambo Tours & Travel. I’d heard bad reviews of the park’s Game Lodge, but they seemed unfounded to me. It was charming and peaceful, with another wonderful breakfast and a nice restaurant that served excellent pizza! There is a bit of an issue with baboons – the hotel’s staff had to remind us to keep the room to our door closed at all times, to keep the baboons out and prevent them from damaging or stealing anything, which they have been known to do! But in our experience, they were more cute than annoying. We began our visit to the park with a boat trip on Lake Ihema, during which we saw numerous hippos and all manner of birds. The elephants that sometimes roam the shores eluded us, unfortunately, but the lake was lovely and the boat ride was great. We spent the afternoon relaxing by the lodge’s outdoor pool. It’s really hard to relax when you live under a microscope, so the peace and quiet of a calm afternoon at a beautiful (and empty!) pool in the middle of the park was greatly appreciated.
As the sun was getting ready to set, we headed back out into the park for a night safari. It was just us and our guide, driving through the night under the wide open sky. It felt like Africa. We saw a giraffe and tons of deer-like animals. Though the leopards I’d been hoping for weren’t out that night, driving through the empty savannah under the stars was a great experience. Mom was slightly alarmed at one point, though, when a group of motos appeared out of nowhere. Our guide seemed skeptical of them, but let them pass when they said they were just going to the village on the other side of the park. Poaching has been a problem in Rwanda, and two rangers in Akagera were killed in December, so it was a valid concern. Fortunately, though, these moto drivers seemed uninterested in both us and the animals.
After a lovely night at the lodge, we were up bright and early the next day, to begin a six-hour game drive through the park. The morning was full of wildlife sightings and photo opportunities. We saw numerous zebras and monkeys, more baboons (which seemed less accustomed to humans than the ones hanging around the lodge), and, during a stop at a small lake, a crocodile and more hippos. The drive ended with a delicious picnic lunch, which had been packed for us by the lodge, under a gazebo. We were both sad to leave the park, but it was time, and I was excited to show Mom my Rwandan home. We made the short drive from the north edge of the park to Nyagatare, and were dropped off right at my house.
I had initially been worried that Mom would get bored spending an entire week in Nyagatare. Well, so many people wanted to meet her, there was no time to be bored! There also wasn’t exactly any time to relax, but it went well overall. We basically spent each day visiting multiple people around town – and being fed multiple meals, snacks, and Fantas, of course. On our first night in Nyagatare, we visited Rebecca, one of my neighbors. Mom brought a rattle for her then one-month-old son, Noah – which she later told me he absolutely loves. Mom also had her first real Rwandan meal that night – ubugali (a gelatinous substance made of cassava flour) and beef. She didn’t exactly love it, but she got it down, and I was proud of her. Upon hearing she’d eaten that, and on her first night in Nyagatare, one of my friends later exclaimed, “Oh! That is too much African!”
As the following day was Sunday, we went to church in the morning, as I usually do. Mom had attended a church service with me in Dakar a couple years earlier, so the African style of worship wasn’t a shock to her. After the service, we had a lovely meal with the pastor and my supervisor in the church’s courtyard.
Later that week, we went to visit my friend Ezekiel’s family in the next district, which involved a 45-minute bus ride and about a half-hour walk through the countryside. There, we had an excellent meal – including peanut sauce, my favorite! – and spent some time with Ezekiel’s mother and siblings. His village is closer to what the Peace Corps is supposed to be, so I was glad Mom had a chance to see it.
I took Mom to visit the school I’ve been teaching at and to meet my students and colleagues. She brought candy (Life Savers) and ink pens for the kids, which they loved. We also went to visit the new girls’ secondary school, where I’ve just recently begun teaching as well. To get there, we had about an hour walk into the countryside, and then visited the nuns who work at the school. We toured the spacious classrooms and immaculate dormitories (most secondary schools in Rwanda are boarding schools), and were then treated to the best ikivuguto (something between yogurt and curdled milk) and amandazi I’ve had here!
Our last major trip out of Nyagatare was to visit a small organization I’ve been working with in the next sector. It was founded by two Rwandan men, who freely put their own time and resources into trying to help vulnerable people in their community. I’m continually impressed by them and their attitude – a refreshing change from the NGO workers who refuse to do anything unless they’re getting a per diem and think nothing of keeping villagers waiting for hours. While visiting them, we went to see a deaf school they’re working with. I’d actually never been to the school before, and it was really interesting to see. It currently has about 100 students and offers a very rare opportunity to deaf children in Rwanda. I was very impressed by the school’s staff, who seem to be extremely dedicated and are willing to do difficult work for little compensation in order to the help the students.
We spent the rest of our time in Nyagatare seeing friends here and visiting my favorite places in town. Everyone was extremely excited to meet Mom, and people now ask about her constantly.
Stay tuned to hear about the rest of her visit...
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