VIP Palace Goma

... and translate as &#8220;tsk, women!&#8221; met his downfall when he was a) short of a cap to keep the rain away and b) short of a rain jacket. Alizeti had the perfect rain jacket with the best of hoods. Oh wait, here it comes again, ha ha! He pointed out he&#8217;s not sure how 4 pairs of sandals is essential. I can&#8217;t wait for the moment to arise to highlight his error once again.<br><br>We pile back into Jimmy&#8217;s 4x4 and head up as close as possible to the ...

... the other hand there are very few tourists so good value accommodations are hard to find. So dumped my bag and headed off in search of a tour company that could organize the permit and guide. I met a couple of Americans who had just done some volunteering and they wanted to hike the volcano. This reminds me of something I forgot to mention. On my way into Gisenyi the night before I had noticed a red glow in the sky. I thought maybe it was a flare, fighting, or the ...

I left Rwanda today and won't be returning on this trip so want to reflect on my thoughts and feelings about the country. Obviously a week is too little to get to grips with a country even as small as this but I've seen a little.<br><br>I don't want to dwell on the country's past but it was and still is one of the most important events in recent African history. The unfolding of the genocide was truly horrible and should never be forgotten, its ...

... is often called the land of a thousand hills and its easy to see why. We rose and fell over mountain after mountain, winding our way up narrow roads before hurtling down the other side at breakneck speed. The views were simply fantastic and the mountains seemed to get higher and higher as we went along.<br><br>Kibuye is a small town set across a number of peninsulas jutting sharply into lake Kivu. The lake is a wonderful azure dotted ...

... a lovely hotel on the hillside by Lake Kivu. For $10 a night we got a very comfortable room in a small house separate to the main hotel and whilst we missed the lake views, we had clean hot showers; to me that was an enormous plus! All in all it was an incredible setting: it was such a joy to walk down to the lake on that first day and lie in the sunshine reading. Everywhere I looked I felt that I was drinking in a draught of beauty. And ...

Hello all, I left you in Jinja. From there we drove to Kampala, the capital city of Uganda. It was a short drive and a very relaxing day. The city of Kampala is pretty big and modern. Everyone had a relaxing night. Michelle, our tour leader prepared a traditional African chicken dish that was tasty. We also picked up two more passengers that are only spending 6 days with us so they can see the gorillas. They are both Australian and seem to fit in with the group ...

... thankfully accompanied by a wonderful Congolese man and two friends from Kigali. We went to visit a few organizations and assess the progress of a project my friend is working on pertaining to child soldiers. We were planning to go to a village that she has visited previously to talk with some of the parents but were stopped at a blockade by the Congolese army, held for a while and then told it was impossible to pass because fighting had broken out again. We would have to ...

... Rwanda and Goma in DRC) is probably the one where the majority of aid workers, UN convoys and foreigners enter and exit from, it being the safest. Therefore, customs officials are used to issuing visas, stamping foreign passports and seeing Mzungu (white) faces. Once we filled out our immigration form, we were ushered into the office where we paid for our transit visa, which we were told was $35 pp (and not $75 like we had thought, so another bonus!), and because we had ...

... and we had to show our yellow fever jab certifacate. We jumped in the taxi and headed off around Goma. Goma itself is a city covered with lava as the volcano erupted in 2002. The country has been in civil war for the past few years and gorilla activity in the area and the country has been common although not so much in Goma. Whilst in Goma driving around I did feel on edge in the taxi, although it was probley my consicus telling me about everything that had happened ...

... out why someone would come late for their own graduation, until I realized it was at her home I would be eating. Christine put on a beautiful lunch for about 8 of us. The contrast of tiny home with lava rock as the floor and the relatively extravagant meal was humbling. She had given her best and worked her hardest to provide meal for me and others, it was humbling to say the least. I wonder, am I ...