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| The view leaving the city. |
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| It is very common to see bikes, motorcycles, and cars driving along with milk cans. |
This is what a traditional beehive looks like. There's one patch of road lined with trees that have tons of these hives in them!
Some scenery...
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| Our first destination was Musanze. |
One of the first intersections in Musanze...
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| "Uganda Border 25 KM" |
We stopped at a restaurant Mom & Dad had been at before that served delicious pizza! While we were waiting for it to arrive, a couple of little birds dropped in for a visit.
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| Wonder why the name "Volcana Lounge"? Because you can see several volcanoes from your table! |
On the road again...
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| There are many eucalyptus trees along the way! (both the bluer, broader-leaved variety, and the greener, skinnier-and-longer leaved variety) |
On one section of road, there were lots of people carrying (or pushing on a bicycle) sacks up a hill. Dad asked Sibomana whether they were potatoes, or something else. Sibomana revealed the trick to knowing what it was-- if it's being pushed up, it's sweet potatoes; if it's being brought down, it's potatoes!
Another fairly common sight is seeing cyclists hanging on to the back of trucks to get a break from pedaling. Knowing how many hills they're climbing, I certainly don't blame them for taking a break!
As soon as you get outside of Kigali, there are markers on the side of the road marking the kilometers. We would keep an eye on and track them...Here's #100!
Fields of tea!
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| I love this picture! |
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| The church! |
There were many children in attendance, and they sure could sing!
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| A choir that sang for us a couple of times. |
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| The church was decorated inside with these strings of cloth and flowers. |
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| Dad bringing a devotional. |
Us with the congregation!
While we were in the church, the clouds rolled in and it poured rain! Getting back out again was a bit more difficult, trying to straddle streams of water and not slip in the mud!
Continuing on the way to Gisenyi...
One thing we've found very intriguing is how they sell carrots on the side of the road; they build "carrot towers"!
A couple of other sights on the way to Gisenyi.
We visited a second CBCA church that was located in Gisenyi near the border to Congo.
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| A really cute baby with a pointy hood/hat on! |
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| Dad sharing (Sibomana translating) |
The service ended rather abruptly and we were hurried out to take a picture. As soon as the first one was taken, about half of the people darted away down the street. It turns out that it was 5:55 PM and the border to the Congo closes at 6 o'clock!
We stayed at "Paradise Malahide" on Thursday night. It's a pretty beautiful place!
We spotted a kingfisher!!!
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| palm oil |
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| Exploring before breakfast. |
During breakfast all of the fishermen come in to the harbour beside where Malahide is located.
An orange tree...with just a couple of ripe ones!
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| The "little huts" we stayed in. |
When we left, they gave us all a little snack for the road--wrapped up in a banana leaf!
And now, the drive to Kimbiri!
We followed the Congo Nile Trail, and the scenery and view was absolutely breath-taking!!!
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| Some of the fishing boats "docked." |
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| You can follow the road along the hill. |
It is common to see kids going along with a tire as a toy, both in the city and in the country.
Some more stunning scenery.
We also drove by several spots where bricks were drying on the side of the road.
Unfortunately, life for these kids isn't just about playing. So many of them can also be seen trudging back home carrying water.
Some typical homes...
Another bay...
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| A wooden scooter!! |
In case you hadn't picked up on it, the view was absolutely stunning!
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| My favourite! |
Almost there!
Coming into sight...
This is the house we stayed in at Kimbiri.
Meeting one of the students and his family.
One of his children's toys:
We visited a coffee plantation--that's another blog post!--but here's some of the view along the way.
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| The blue-ish trees are eucalyptus trees... |
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| Dad trying to get a eucalyptus branch to bring home. :-) |
A spider we found in the sand/rocks.
And some "friendlier" wildlife...
There was a tree in the middle of the "compound" that had a HUGE trunk!
And--we had to have one of these--Caleb and I standing in Lake Kivu!
We can't do anything without causing a commotion and attracting a crowd. This is us packing up the car...
...and the "window view" when we left.
Now, for the ride back to Kigali...
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| Cabages |
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| Beans |
And a bit of the "wild life" along the way...
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| Yes, he was as terrified as he looks! |
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This was sooo cute! |
Volcano rock walls & foundations.
The following picture is one of my favourites from the trip. You can see some of the "layer effect" of the hills, and the volcano in the background.
A couple of other volcanoes...
Our destination!
Here's some more scenery.
I kept saying to the rest of the family that looking at all of the different shades of green on the hills made me think of a pack of pencil crayons!
Getting their evening water...
Remember those little kilometer markers that I talked about on the way to Gisenyi? Well, here we are making it back to marker #1!!!
Not quite the same as the proper-type car seat in North America, eh?
And, finally, we did make it home. And Dad was able to enjoy his eucalyptus branches! :-)
Hi Bronwyn
ReplyDeletethose pictures are beautiful, yes the scenery is beautiful. Man do you guys stick out in a crowd. Sounds like you had a great trip. God Bless you.
Thanks Bronwyn for sharing these beautiful, colorful and interesting pictures! Great times and amazing memories!!
ReplyDeleteWow, you certainly do a great job Bronwyn. What are we going to do when you come back to Canada? Your parents have big shoes to fill, as they say.
ReplyDeleteWith Love, Aunt Betty and Uncle Dave