Kigali Serena Hotel

... br>
It’s time to make tracks out of Kigali and out to the North Western tip of the country to Ruhengeri. We drive out of Kigali, Jimmy telling us about the scooters driven by guys in colour helmets with phone numbers painted on the back and another self same helmet on their arm: scooter cabs. Every road is lined by scores of people walking to and fro fearlessly of the traffic. We head out the city limits and night is upon us at 7pm and we get treated ...

We're afraid we're going to pass the buck here - we never could express the emotions of our visit to the memorial set up to the victims of the 1994 Rwandan genocide in a simple blog entry, and it would be too hard to even begin.

But the events demand attention. It was a horrible time and we pretty much ...

... when we returned a few days later I made sure we got one of the new renovated rooms.

We set off on our 4 day safari to the Maasai Mara, Lake Flamingo and Lake Nakuru. Tourism has been hit very hard here due to the tribal unrest last year and of course the world economic crisis. However, that was good for us as it meant it was just the two of us on our trip so we had the run of the Land Rover and the trip itinerary! We also just about had the run of the place in ...

... 8211; sort of like soccer or lacrosse played with a Frisbee. The campers loved it a great deal. We played it straight through until lunch time.

We had lunch together in the classroom. It was very good for us to be able eat together; a plus for our camp atmosphere. Again we had chicken, but this time sweet potato, plantain, and French fried potatoes, sauce, cooked carrots and eggplant, and limes for dessert (and a Fanta!).

Following lunch Doctor Swartz ...

... pm it was getting dark. We took care of a few housekeeping items, and then got back in the taxi for the drive back to the hotel where we arrived a little before 7:00. It’s not easy to get taxis at the Bloom Hotel. We intended to go to Chez Lando, but after a few minutes of fruitless waiting, we decided to walk half a mile up the street to the Hotel Printemps where Greg had previously been invited to a banquet for medical professionals. He said the food was ...

... by the team, who did themselves proud. Afterwards we headed for a western treat at the Kigali buisiness centre. The bourbon cafe provided welcome paninis and a mango smoothy or two.
We then headed home for a couple hours preparation of the art work and a relaxing night before the work starts on our first full day tomorrow.

this trip has been really great so far and it has only been one full day into it... yesterday was really good. the rest of the mizzou group came in and a
group from nebraska as well. i guess we're going to be doing everything
with the nebraska group which is kind of cool cause you get more
perspectives on things. yesterday we went to lunch. the food is um
interesting. lol. we went to a buffet ...

... the main remembrance point for the genocide of 1994 alongside the numerous local memorials dotted around the country.

The memorial centre is surrounded by gardens planted in remembrance of the victims and a mass grave home to an astonishing 280,000 victims of the violence. The gardens were nicely presented although the symbolism was pretty basic at times - lots of statues of elephants because an "elephant never forgets".

The main exhibition gave a ...