Adventure is out there!

From the title, you might guess that we've watched the movie "Up" a few more times since arriving here and you'd be right.  It may take 8-9 hours but if we stay in Kigali on weekends we will typically download and watch a movie on at least one weekend evening.  Turns out, Kigali is not exactly a hotspot for culture or other evening activities.  There is one cinema which sometimes shows films but with no clear schedule, there are dance clubs which the trendy young-set (including the KHI students) sometimes go to and not much else.  I've more than once asked the students what do you do on weekends, to which they respond, we play, we rest, we visit and some go dancing.  PLAY?  Ah you've fallen prey to the mistake I often make, Rwandans have difficulty pronouncing the "R" sound they are not playing, they are praying.  We have even heard a few people tell us they "play god on Sunday."   Since we can't play god, we work very hard to find exciting things to do in town and, as often as we are able, we get out and look for the adventures.

In Kigali, this past Wednesday, Patricia, Gwenn and I ventured into the offices of Gahaya Links.  Gahaya Links was founded by two sisters after the Genocide to train rural women in crafts so that the widows could generate some income.  We met one of the sisters, Janet Nkubana who told us about their work.  Initially they focused only on basket weaving, now they create jewlery and are branching into tailoring/sewing work.  The center continues to train women in handicrafts and provide a fair wage for each of the items the women produce.  Many of the women who work or train in the center have HIV/AIDS and they are able to come to Gahaya without facing some of the difficulties and stigma they would elsewhere.  Janet was the recipient of a USAID grant some years back that allowed her to attend a trade show in Europe.  She made some contacts there and now Gahaya Links products can be purchased at Macy's (Rwanda Baskets at Macy's), via Oprah, and in some other shops in Europe.  Janet showed us this month's Marie Clare which features a handbag with the Kate Spade label on it which is actually a Gahaya Links made product (Kate Spade...by Gahaya Links).  We toured the Kigali based workshop and bought a few items to bring back to the states.


Paper bead making  at the workshop (paper recycling in Rwanda!)

Jewelry Construction

Baskets

Baskets and wall hangings

We hope to see a few more cooperatives and workshops before we leave Kigali but Gahaya Links is certainly one of the more succesful and larger examples.  Through their training and connections Gahaya provides wages to women both in the city and in the rural regions who might not otherwise have sufficient money.

This past weekend, we traveled to Kibuye by Lake Kivu and stayed in the most amzingly gorgeous setting at the Cormoran Lodge.  Lake Kivu is a large and very deep lake that is part of the Albertine Rift.  It defines the border between Rwanda and DRC.  The drive out to the lake is along a very windy and mountainous road.  After this drive, I suspect Rwanda might be better named land of a few hundred thousand hills or maybe land of high mountains, with windy roads.  It is a beautiful drive but as the driver somewhat exhausting and for us, it dumped us on a windy, rutted, rock filled dirt road that felt like it just couldn't be right, especially since we weren't driving a 4-wheel drive car.  Luckily, the reward at the end of all this tricky navigation was a private and exquisitely laid out hotel with amazing views, a great room, a little beach and a good restaurant.  The lodge is built on a hillside with individual buildings all constructed from wood.  Inside each building, the rooms and even the bathrooms are gorgeous, nice woods, large tub, local stone inlays and a balcony on which to relax.  I started playing with the panorama mode (as you'll see below) on our camera so you may get some sense from the photos of the expanse and setting.

The view from our room

Cormoran Lodge

Our room with a view

View of the mountains that surround Lake Kivu

Saturday, when we arrived was sunny and warm.  Our room is the one in the photo above that is the highest of all the buildings.  We settled into our room, Nava, Patricia and I changed to swimsuits and spent the afternoon at the beach and on the dock.  Patricia took a swim in the rather cold waters.  Saadya mostly stayed in the room since he is not a beach person but he did enjoy wandering the property which includes beautiful trees and gardens.  The trees produce the fruit from which our breakfast jams on the next day were made (I could eat homemade Guava jam every day with a lake view).

The beach (Nava and Patricia on the left)

In the evening we sat on the balcony of the restaurant enjoying both the meal and the view.  Saadya and I ate Lake Kivu fish in the spirit of our water adventure. We returned to our well appointed room with games from the office and full bellies.  Since we needed an extra bed, Saadya got the on the floor mattress which was placed in a tent to give him a pretty cool version of a mosquito netting.

Our room as we prepare for evening

Aside from some noisy partying folks the overnight stay was fantastic.  And even those noisy folks (at least the ones below us) got their just due when we stomped around our room in the morning and oops, dropped a few heavy items on the floor.  Breakfast included fresh bread and jams made from the local fruits.  We left Cormoran and drove into Kibuye where we took a boat ride for an hour to see a bit more of Kivu.  Admittedly we could have hired a boat at Cormoran but the cost was unbelievable and the boat was a typical western motor boat.  We got to ride on a sort of dhow with a motor.  At about the halfway point, we were met near the shore by a guy on a moto who our "captain" had called to bring more fuel.

On the boat

Loaded with fuel, we cruised around the lake as a storm approached, seeing the birds and islands.  The islands had some cows on them which our captain told us had swum over from the mainland.

Just as the day started to get rainy and stormy we took off in our car and drove back to Kigali renewed and refreshed from our Lake Kivu and Cormoran Lodge visit.

This week marks the beginning of the Genocide Memorial period for the country.  Thursday and Friday will be formal memorial days but the period of mourning lasts for the entire 100 days to match the time period of the Genocide.   We aren't really sure just what will occur during this time and how the period is marked.  On Friday when I went to the Serena for instance I was told the gym would be open for all of April but that there would be no formal classes (aerobics, toning) for the entire month since they don't play music.

Saadya and Nava have a two week vacation from school and KHI is off as well.  Like many ex-pats, we will take leave of Rwanda for some of this time and are off to Zanzibar later in the week.