Art Centre Ramps Up Conservation Efforts in Rwanda
Since its inception in 2011 in Nyakinama village, seven kilometers west of Musanze town, Red Rocks Rwanda has been the centre where different programmes geared towards ramping up conservation efforts in Rwanda are hatched.
On January 5, 2018, Red Rocks Rwanda will unveil another programme in Kinigi, the heart of Rwanda’s tourism industry, with the main purpose of sustaining the organisation’s conservation efforts around the Volcanoes National Park through art.
According to Greg Bakunzi, the founder of Red Rocks Rwanda, the new Conservation Art Centre, an art gallery that will be operating out of Butorwa 1, is targeting educational institutions teaching art as a component of conservation to harness tourism, conservation and advocacy programmes as part of his organisation’s mission to achieve sustainable development around the Volcanoes National Park, home to the critically endangered mountain gorillas.
Aside from engaging the local community in conservation,
tourism and sustainable development, Bakunzi hopes that his organisation’s latest initiative will ramp up Rwanda’s conservation efforts through art.
“Art has a big role to play in the preservation of Rwanda’s heritage. By bringing together a pool of talented Rwandan artists, we are able to show our commitment to raise the consciousness of the imperative challenges Rwanda faces as one of the top tourist destinations, and also offer solutions for conserving the environment.
Red Rocks Rwanda art and craft programme is among the many ways trough which we are going to win this fight,” says Bakunzi, who is also the managing director of Amahoro Tours, one of the top 10 travel firms in Rwanda, according to the Rwanda Development Board (RDB), the government agency in charge of promoting investment, export and tourism in the country.
In order for his new initiative to be successful, however, Bakunzi says that the new Conservation Art Centre will have to work hand-in-hand with industry players, well-wishers, volunteers and government agencies.
Bakunzi reveals that the artists at the centre will donate proceeds from their work to conservation efforts of their choice.
And Rwandan artists have welcomed Red Rocks Rwanda’s initiative. Augustin Hakizimana from Agasozi Art Centre says that Red Rocks Rwanda’s programme is going to help them market Rwanda’s remarkable attractions through art while at the same time contributing to conservation efforts.
“This is absolutely a great idea, and we are ready to join Red Rocks Rwanda to promote conservation. I have already given them my art pieces about conservation, which are now displayed at the new art gallery in Kinigi,” says Willy Karekezi, a visual artist based in the capital Kigali.
Read MoreRwanda’s Urwagwa Banana Beer Comes of Age, Now on the Tourist Map
You may ask yourself what a refined and polished tourist from New York who has jumped off the plane at the Kigali International Airport and traveled to Musanze has in common with a rustic and weather-beaten Nyakinama village when you see them walking and chatting together along a small strip of road behind the imposing buildings of Musanze Village Polytechnic, seven kilometres west of Musanze town, northern Rwanda. The answer is Red Rocks Cultural Centre.
Both have a common interest that can be summed up into learning from each other’s culture. Since its establishment in 2011, Red Rocks Cultural Centre has established different programmes that help in promoting tourism, conservation and community development, and in this regard it has also helped in promoting activities that help to bring people of different backgrounds around the world to share their unique cultural experiences.
Jeanne Sauer, a tourist from Germany, says when she came to Rwanda her main purpose was not to see the famous mountain gorillas in their natural habitat around the Virunga massif, but to experience what Rwandan people have to offer in terms of their culture.
“I had read about Rwanda and this is the country I had put on by bucket-list to visit one day. A quick Google search introduced me to Red Rocks and the amazing activities they provide there. I said this is a country I have to visit and here I am at Red Rocks, relishing my dreams,” she says.
The dream Sauer must be talking about is the various cultural activities that she found being carried out at Red Rocks. She says when she asked the staff about how she could spend her time enjoying the real cultural heritage of Rwanda, she was told that there are many activities that the local women here are engaged in, including making of authentic traditional Rwandan handicrafts, and of course demonstrating how to make the traditional beer.
“I wanted to have a first-hand experience of making the traditional beer. This is when they called a group of women who came with raw materials, precisely ripe bananas and the millet to help in making the final product,” she says.
Preserved and unchanged by a few die-hard loyalists, the brewing of Urwagwa – a local brew made out of crushed bananas – remains faithful to an ancient formula handed down over generations in Rwanda.
“The women, through their interpreter, led me through the whole process, and what I discovered is that it was not an industrial scale process as we know it but just putting your energy and effort into it,” says Sauer.
Like most traditional skills, the recipe and process for brewing Urwagwa is mostly handed down from father to son.
Jeanne Uwangabiye, a 52-year-old woman from Nyakinama village, says she picked the tips from his grandfather who would not substitute Urwagwa with any other beverages. She finds it appropriate to lead tourists through the process, which begins with obtaining ripe bananas and pressing them with grass to yield slightly clear juice.
The contents of the tank are then stirred and the leaves squeezed to remove residual juice which can effectively be obtained through using a small amount of water.
After that sprouted, lightly roasted or ground millet is poured on top of the juice which thereafter is covered in banana leaves and kept in a warm area for three days and this is why some times the mixture is buried in the ground to allow fermentation.
The process of fermentation happens because there are enzymes present in the sorghum which facilitate the breaking down of banana starch that is eventually acted upon by the yeasts and bacteria. Those who prefer enjoying the drink while it is as clean as possible may have to filter it prior to consumption.
“What I liked most about this experience is drinking what I had brewed with my own hands. It made me realize how life can be simple,” says Sauer.
Another tourist from the US, Fredric Fitzgerald, says he learned about the skills of making the traditional beer in a home in Nyakinama village when he went for a homestay.
“It was exciting to see how the people around there are able to use simple ingredients to make such stuff. And the taste was not all that bad!” he quips.
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New initiative to Help Hearing-impaired Travellers to Virunga Volcanoes
A new initiative that aims to tackle the myriad of problems faced by deaf and partially deaf travellers to the Virunga Massif, a chain of eight volcanic mountains that straddle Rwanda, Uganda and DR Congo, has been launched in Goma, the chief city of DR Congo’s Eastern Province. The Virunga Massif is best known as the only home to the world’s remaining mountain gorillas, which are estimated to be numbering about 1,000 individuals.
The new programme, under the auspices of the Goma-based Virunga Community Programmes, is a collaboration between the former, Red Rocks Cultural Centre in Rwanda, Amani Safaris in DR Congo, as well as the African Sign Language Interpreters and Translations Agency (AITA) in Uganda.
According to Francis Ndagijimana, the coordinator of Virunga Community Programmes, the key aim of the initiative is to encourage the hearing impaired and hard hearing visitors to be integrated in conservation programmes and supportive efforts in community development programmes in Rwanda, Uganda and DR Congo.
“The deaf face many problems cutting across all sectors of social, economic and cultural development. It’s time for those who care to stand up and care about their plight. Our programme is going to address many problems they face and ensure they enjoy what nature has to offer just like everyone else,” Ndagijimana said.
He adds that they have rolled out a host of initiatives to help facilitate the success of the programme, including training of tour guides in local sign language to help hearing impaired tourists enjoy the bounty of nature around the Virunga Massif just like any other person.
Ndagijimana affirms that people with disabilities like the deaf have similar motivations to travel as the rest of the population, but several tourists with disabilities face barriers to tourism participation, particularly in cultural, social and physical environments.
“The guides we train in local sign language will be specifically responsible to act as translators between the deaf tourists and locals, and we hope that this will eventually create some mutual understanding between the community around the Virunga Massif and visitors. Both parties have a lot to gain from each other,” he says.
Ndagijimana says that the programme recognises that tourism plays a key role in the wider economic, social and cultural development, and it has its own set of sectoral responses to the deaf that must be understood in each country’s cultural context.
The programme, according to Ndagijimana, also aims to encourage hearing impaired visitors to fully participate in community development and social interactions.
“Among our core objectives also includes acquisition of assistive devices for the deaf and partially deaf locals and tourists,” he adds.
According to the DR Congo National Union of the Deaf (DRCNUD), deaf people in the Virunga Massif face a complex web of problems, ranging from social, economic, cultural and developmental difficulties, negative attitudes by society towards deaf people, as well as communication barriers. Poverty further degrades deaf people’s attainment of dignity and unity and access to jobs and education in their communities and this limits their full enjoyment of the fundamental human rights entitled to all human beings.
DRCNUD was established by the deaf after realizing that their needs and concerns were ignored by the wider society.
“We can longer bury our heads in the sand like the proverbial ostrich and pretend that deaf people have nothing of significance to contribute to the society. The societal stigma associated with being deaf should be a thing of the past,” Ndagijimana says, adding that his organization also aims to provide assistance to deaf schools of Goma in DRC, Cyanika School of the Deaf in Uganda, and Musanze School of the Deaf in Rwanda through purchase of scholastic materials peculiar to the deaf.
The programme is also going to provide material assistance to hearing impaired children between the ages of 5-16 to go to school and provide health insurance to hearing impaired kids.
Greg Bakunzi, the founder of Red Rocks Cultural Centre in Nyakinama village, Musanze district, northern Rwanda, says the new initiative is going to help deaf tourists not to feel left out of what the tourism industry has to offer around the Virunga Massif.
“I have been in the tourism industry for several years but there are unique problem deaf tourists face. Surely, something must be done,” says Bakunzi, who is also the founder and managing director of Musanze-based Amahoro Tours, one of the biggest tour companies in Rwanda.
Read MoreCruising the Delta of Murchison Falls National Park
We arrive at the river a little after six-thirty in the morning, a slow drifting steam floats above the swirling currents of the Nile as it flows downstream past the ferry crossing at Paraa. Our guide met us beneath the acacia tree in the parking area and welcomed us down onto the jetty and into our waiting boat. The air was cool and it felt really beautiful to enjoy the coolness of morning before the sun warmed up the air as we pushed off from the jetty a few minutes before seven and the skipper angled his craft downstream toward the delta. This was it, I have lived in Uganda a good number of years now and been in Murchison Falls National Park several times to enjoy the waterfall cruise and even the walk up to the Top of the Falls, but I had never taken the opportunity of joining a boat cruise down to the delta, where the Victoria Nile empties itself into Lake Albert before continuing its 6000 km journey northwards to the sea.
Deo, our guide stood up at the front of the boat and his colleague and skipper cut the engine while he introduced himself and we received a short briefing on the trip. The silence was golden. Magical morning light in pale pastels warmed slowly as the sun rose silently out of the steaming river behind us. From the bank we could hear the raucous angry shout of baboons as they woke and started their daily trek, hippos languished lazily in slow-moving eddies along the bank, lazily flicking their stubby tails and grunting sleepily to one another, as if to warn their downstream neighbors of the approaching invaders.
After a moment to enjoy the early morning silence and the perfect colours of a Nile River sunrise, Tabu, the skipper, started the engine and we idled slowly and gently downstream, following the contours of the north bank and scanning the shore for any sign of wildlife down at the river at this most perfect time of day. Pied Kingfishers were already flying busily along the banks, swooping up to hover above the swirling waters and every now and then dive-bombing down into the stream before bobbing up, shaking their heads and flying off to start their fishing run again. Black and white Colobus sprawled lazily across some branches of an acacia tree overhanging the water, their long bright bottlebrush tails glowing in the early sunlight; elegant egrets standing silently on slender legs peering into the water along the grassy banks while a group of heavy Cape Buffalo bulls stare suspiciously at us as we were swept downstream with the current.
Waterbuck and warthog were also out early as we enter a hidden channel through one of the islands. A herd of female waterbuck and their young were leaping across the shallow channel in a cascading rush of hooves and wet hair before running a short distance ahead of the boat to stop and stare back at us with large wet-brown eyes over shiny heart-shaped noses. Herons and hippos waded through the shallows that fringed the channel and when Tabu cut the engine from time to time to drift quietly with the current, it really felt as if time had stood still. Our journey continued down and beyond the flat grassy islands that teased us with glimpses of grey and the sudden excitement of seeing that so rare and peculiar bird the Shoebill, only to realise that the grey was the grey on the shoulders of beautifully long Goliath Herons as they stood poised in the reeds vigilantly scanning the ripples and eddies for any unsuspecting something to snack on. Below these grassy reed-fringed islands the boat took us down long curving avenues of papyrus, their slender stalks swaying together in the wake of the boat and Papyrus Gonolek, chuckling and hooting at us from deep inside the Papyrus stands. A massive crocodile bank, not a massive bank at all really, just massive Nile crocodile, smiling brutishly and emotionless at us as our boat turns silently on the current drifting quietly past them so as not to disturb these archaic leviathans.
Through these swaying papyrus islands, we continue to where the papyrus islands separate and subdivide into a myriad of small and smaller channels, but not before idling easily through what appeared to be the middle of the most enormous school of hippo– feeling the trepidation of being within what feels like only a very few metres of that animal often quoted as being the biggest killer in Africa! It does seem hard to believe when you look at their mouse round ears twiddling round in rapid little circles as they breach alongside the boat and breathe easily and deeply through their unusually shaped nostrils. They seem so placid, so social, so very interested in our passing, other passengers and I alike, holding our breath almost as we cruise gently past their collective sleeping spot. Into the tiny channels now and we understand that here the delta is reaching its widest point and although still following the northern shoreline we round a bend where suddenly the twisting channel opens up onto expansive, wide-open lily flats on the verge of Lake Albert.
Fishermen from villages across the lake tend to their nets and draw hard on their paper rolled cigarettes, huddled in small groups under the shade of small papyrus islands. Next to the fisherman, egrets and pelicans and storks and gulls are all busy tapping into the richness of the delta. Gulls bobbing in small disorganised flocks of white and black with streaks of red and yellow in amongst the white, the pelicans, so poised on the water, turning and paddling so easily in their fishing spots – dipping in and dipping out in fluid smooth movements of their long beaks. The egrets looking jealously from the shallows as they wait in ambush for fish, frogs, bugs – you know, egret stuff.
We nose forward slowly across these lily flats following one of the main channels that empty into Lake Albert. About one kilometre offshore the skipper guns the engine up to cruising speed and we are seemingly flying across the millpond mirage surface of Lake Albert. We cruise a good two kilometres out into the middle of the lake before Tabu slows the engine and turns off. Through the misty haze across the lake surface villages and villagers can be seen on the shore, conical grass huts in small clusters, spaced out along the shoreline with their landing areas lined with canoes and brightly colored shirts and jerrycans. Children and dogs and a flight of snow-white birds winging along the shoreline, and all in front of the looming mountains of Congo folding out behind and beyond the villages.
The middle of Lake Albert…or that part in the middle where we now find ourselves is surreal. I can imagine a very different Lake Albert on a windy day with its reputation for sinking boats and vicious whipping storms that blow across the massive sheet of water from the Blue Mountains in Congo, but today it is still. Mirror smooth, the lake stretches away to the south in a curving bent image where the horizon melts into a hazy blue-grey mirage of togetherness, a union of water and sky broken only by black dots in the distance, moving so slowly within the mirage that they almost seem to be standing still. Without a word we sit and contemplate the scenery before us. In the silence and the stillness of the lake we have found a timelessness; a sense of being so far away and out of everything. No engine noises, no pedestrians, no aircraft high above us – nothing. Everything is natural and plain and perfect – birds, hippos, fishermen…and tranquillity.
The boat engines sudden guttural sputter broke me away from my reflection, and the boat turned in a long sweeping turn as we pick up speed and make our way back toward the shoreline, searching for the hidden channel that had emptied us out onto the lake. Tabu finds the entrance to the channel and we forge our way back into and against the current. The sun is high now and once over the shallow delta shelf, the breeze as we pick up the speed we need to take us back is welcome – a cool drink, amazing views, and some of my favourite people on board the boat with me. It truly does feel special to have had a glimpse into the beauty, the natural richness and the absolute natural perfection of this most very special and unique wilderness area in Uganda.
For information on Boat Safaris at Murchison Falls,
Please contact:
Murchison Falls Boats
Mobile: +256 773 897275 / +256 702 152928
Email: murchisonboats@wildfrontiers.co.ug
Bakunzi: In Love With Zimbabwe, Greece and Thai food
Traveling can be fun, but at the same time, it’s also fraught with scary experiences. Greg Bakunzi, the managing director of Amahoro Tours, has so far visited four continents and 53 countries. He talks to Eye Rwanda about his travels…
Do you sometimes travel with your pets?
I have two dogs but I have never traveled with them. I have a feeling that traveling with pets can be cumbersome, particularly when you are on a business trip. And most of my travels are always for business and networking.
But if someone is to travel with pets, which particular country would you recommend?
Western countries. I can’t put a finger on which particular one, but most Western countries I have visited have soft spot for pets and you also find several pet-friendly accommodations.
Any worst experience at an airport?
Fortunately I have never had any horrible experience at an airport that split my hair. Of course there are normal ones like take-off delay but those are things you learn to live with as a traveller.
And the best?
At Amsterdam Airport. We were there at the airport chilling and waiting for our flight and suddenly this group of happy, excited and jubilant people dressed in Scottish traditional attire appeared. They engaged us in their traditional culture, and even shared Scottish wine with us. It was spontaneous and amazing!
Which country would you wish to visit again?
Greece. This is a place with endless, wonderful experiences. There’s always more to discover, explore, feel and taste. It’s a place you expand your five senses with elements of nature that provide countless possibilities.
Apart from Rwandan food, where else have you enjoyed a truly delicious meal?
I really enjoyed Thai food when I traveled to Thailand. It is oil-free, hence good for health. Thai food is largely traditional and thus it’s home-made and hand-made and the recipes are handed down over generations. It serves your palette with a variety of tastes.
If you were to choose a family vacation, which country would you choose first?
Greece, of course. The attractions there are excellent for adults and children alike and the country’s history is also amazing. I know kids would love to learn many things there while having a memorable time exploring its breathtaking attractions.
Which African country would you recommend to anybody?
I would advise Zimbabwe to be on any traveller’s bucket-list. The country just has amazing features that are quite unique to it.
Which continent have you never visited?
Australia. But it is in my plans. I want to explore all the continents.
Read MoreValentines Day Ideas For Couple
Is it more important to love … or to be loved?
Most of us would agree with George Eliot’s words, “I like not only to be loved, but also to be told I am loved.”
Valentine’s Day is the occasion when you can experience both.
With a little help from our friends, here are 25 creative ways to tell your spouse, “I love you.”
On small pieces of paper, write down every kind of kiss that you can think of (examples: passionate, on the cheek, etc.). Then fill an inexpensive red felt bag with your “kisses” and give it to your spouse. Ask your spouse to pull several pieces of paper from the felt bag, and then give your sweetheart whatever kind of kiss is described.
Make a book about why you love your spouse and why you are thankful for him/her. The woman who sent this idea wrote, “He loved it! Said it was the best gift he has ever gotten. And it helped me to focus on the things I love about my husband and not his shortcomings.”
After enjoying a candlelight dinner for two at home, give your spouse a massage and watch a romantic movie. The woman who suggested this wrote, “Last Valentine’s Day when I got home from work, my husband … had our bedroom set up with a candlelit table for two. He is NOT a cook but he made an awesome meal … grilled steak, sautéed shrimp in lemon, garlic, and butter, a vegetable, and [he] bought a chocolate fountain that was flowing—surrounded by fresh fruit for dipping. After dinner he led me over to his homemade massage table. … We ended our special night with a romantic movie.”
Surprise your spouse with a special getaway together. The man who suggested this made reservations at a bed and breakfast, arranged for childcare, asked for time off from work for himself and his wife, and packed his and her bags. When he asked his wife to go to lunch on Valentine’s Day she was in for a wonderful surprise. “The little bit of effort I put into that weekend paid off huge for weeks to come.” It’s one of the best investments you could make in your marriage.Find an event near you.
If possible, go on a date with your spouse to a restaurant that you enjoyed when you first met. After you order your meal, take some time to write down favorite memories from the past year. Then share your lists.
Have 11 roses delivered to your wife, and then give her a 12th yourself while reading her a love poem.
Create an intimate Valentine’s Day evening at home, without the children. The woman who suggested this idea said that she and her husband “enjoyed planning the menu, shopping for the meal, and ultimately preparing the meal together. Cooking to soft, romantic music can really be a turn on! While dining, the same soft, romantic music is a wonderful mood-setter. Dinner was followed by just the two of us having the whole dance floor, our den, to ourselves. I won’t say what all this led to, but it was a truly romantic night that would not have happened at the local restaurant!”
Order food from a take-out restaurant and have a picnic for all the Valentines in your family on your living room floor. The person who suggested this said, “The kids look forward to this every year. When we tried to change it, they wouldn’t allow it … it has become a tradition. The kids see the value of family and a loving marriage.”
Privacy and weather permitting, watch a romantic movie on your balcony.
10. If you are separated across the miles, send a care package filled with things that are red.
Hide little heart candies in your spouse’s shoes, coat, car, etc. The woman who suggested this said that she’s been doing this for decades. “Now a couple of the grandkids help me with delight.”
Wives, show up at your husband’s office before lunch. Call him from the parking lot and tell him you are going to take him for a lunch rendezvous and that you will be waiting for him whenever he can take a break. Wear a nice outfit and tell him you have something sexy on underneath for when he gets home. Take him to a nice place for lunch and back to the office. Give him some great kisses telling him how glad you are to be married to him, and tell him you will be waiting for him when he gets home.
Fill a jar with Valentine candy and notes for your spouse. Examples of notes are: Good for a backrub, 10 kisses, etc. Notes could also express your love and respect: “I am so glad that God blessed my life with such a great husband like you.” Individually roll each note and tie it with a ribbon.
Surprise your spouse by taking a vacation day from work and enjoy Valentine’s Day at home. Have a relaxing morning together on the porch, deck, or patio. Then go to a favorite restaurant for lunch. The man who suggested this idea had also reserved a spa treatment and tanning session for his wife. “While she was doing that,” he says, “I went home and made her a special dinner.”
Write a poem for your spouse and frame it.
Make a special “14 Reasons I Love You” Valentine’s Day breakfast for your sweetheart. On his/her plate, leave a letter or card listing 14 reasons that you love your spouse.
After your spouse goes to bed, tape notes to his car’s steering wheel with reasons that you love him, or decorate the bathroom mirror with lipstick kisses or Valentine’s window clings.
Have fun on February 14, and remember: Love is not meant to be given and received just on Valentine’s Day. Instead, it’s to be practiced every single day of the entire year.
Read MoreKingfisher Diaries 2: Spectacular Lake Kivu
Lake Kivu lies on the border between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda. It is one of Great Lakes in the Albertine Rift, the western branch of the East African Rift. There are about 200 small rivers that flow into it from a relatively small catchment whilst the outflow is to the Ruzizi River, which flows southwards into Lake Tanganyika and ultimately into the mighty Congo.
Lying at 1463 m above sea level, its surface area is 2,370 km2, the average depth is 240m whilst the maximum depth is 485m and its total volume is an impressive 560 km3. Lake Kivu has a very irregular shape with a large island, Île Idjwi, the tenth largest in the world, in the southern DRC part of the lake. The maximum distance from one end of the lake to the other is 103km whilst it’s about 48km across.
Lake Kivu is unique with many features setting it apart from all others in the world.
For example, it used to flow to the north and drain into the Nile. However, around 12,000 years ago, lavas flows from the Virunga volcanoes dammed this outflow, reversing the direction of its waters and also causing the depth to increase. Then around 5,000 years ago when local volcanism and hydrothermal activities began to affect the lake and it became very stratified with different layers that hardly interact with each other.
This stable stratification is the secret to the lake’s huge resource; more than any other lake in the world, it has vast quantities of trapped methane at depths of over 200m. So there are projects near to Gisenyi and Kibuye that are beginning to extract this reserve.
The surface water temperature is 24°C. At depth, almost every other (non-frozen) lake in the world is cooler than at the surface with the usual bottom temperature being about 4 °C. However, in Lake Kivu, geothermal activity keeps the temperature in the lower layers at 26 °C – higher than at the surface.
With very steep sides, river run offs (and most pollutants from the towns around the lake) descend quickly to the depths. The surface layer therefore comprises very clean, fresh water, in which some 31 species of fish live, many of which are caught by local fishing cooperatives using their unique fishing boats. However, there are no large animals such as hippopotamus or crocodiles.
If an industrial extraction process does not remove it, the dissolved methane and carbon dioxide in the deep layers, will eventually – and very catastrophically – erupt. However, this event is still many decades away, so for now it is totally safe to enjoy the beauty and tranquillity of Lake Kivu.
In Rwanda, there are several large towns on the shores of Lake Kivu: Rubavu also known as Gisenyi) is in the north, in the shadow of the Nyiragongo Volcano (with the world’s largest lava lake in its crater) just over the border in DRC. Karongi (or Kibuye) is set in a beautiful location near numerous uninhabited islands and long peninsulas that extend deep into the lake. At the far southern end is Kamembe – where nearby protected forests still reach the lakeshore. In many of the numerous smaller communities that dot the coast, there are fascinating coffee washing stations and many colourful markets that are worth lingering for a visit.
With many lodges to be found on Lake Kivu, it’s easy to find accommodation with some of the best views in Rwanda. However, did you know that you could also stay on a Houseboat called Iliza that cruises around the lake? Or for something a little more active, try the Number 1 on Trip Advisor: Go kayaking with Kingfisher Journeys. With short trips from Gisenyi and Kibuye or up to or a 4-day adventure – With professional guides and modern equipment, this is the best way to experience Lake Kivu, see its wildlife and birds and meet the communities that make Lake Kivu their home.
You can learn much more information about Lake Kivu itself from the Lake Kivu Monitoring Programme. Or for kayaking trips contact Kingfisher Journeys or ask your tour operator to include one of their trips in your itinerary.
Read MoreA Journey to GISWATI- Mukura National Park
It has been two years since the Rwandan government passed a law to create a new national park combining the Mukura and Gishwati forests, establishing the Gishwati-Mukura National Park – a forested area which spreads from up in the north of the country near the Volcanoes National Park, all the way down, joining the Gishwati and Mukura forests, to Nyungwe Forest. This is a great success story for the conservationists who have been fighting for a long time to protect this strip on the Congo-Nile divide.
This has been extremely exciting news for Rwanda and shows a great willingness of the government to help stabilize and protect these hugely important areas and turning the forest into a national park move has increased the number of parks in the country to four. The others are the game-rich Akagera, situated in savannah lowlands in the country’s east; Volcanoes National Park Rwanda, home to the famous mountain gorillas in the north; and Nyungwe rainforest in the south-west, one of the world’s richest ecosystems that is home to several species of primates and birds.
Giswati Mukura National Park makes the biggest part of the Nyabihu, Ngororero, Rubavu, and Rutsiro districts.
Read MoreAzizi Life Experiences
Azizi Life Experiences is a social enterprise that offers visitors to Rwanda the unique opportunity to really connect and gain insight into the life of rural Rwandans and their families. Through a range of different cultural experience days, you get to not only see something of the beauty and rigor of daily life, but also experience it. It’s a truly interactive way to learn about Rwandan culture! Azizi Life Experiences currently offers six distinctive Experience Days.
Azizi Life’s office is located in Muhanga town, about one hour by car or bus from Kigali on the main Kigali-Huye road. Azizi Life celebrates the beauty of connections that bring a fair wage to hard-working Rwandan artisans and give you a glimpse into someone else’s world. Would you like to do something different on your Rwanda tour? You should consider going on an ecotour and get to learn more about the real life of the Rwandan people!
Weaving Experience:
The Azizi Life Experience morning begins with a drive to a nearby village, where you and your Azizi Life interpreter are welcomed by the ladies of the weaving cooperative. After introductions , a morning of family chores begins. You might help out in the kitchen, collect water from the valley spring, cut grass for the farm animals and get out in the fields for a seasonal agricultural activity.
At noontime, you share a simple local meal with your host family, with plenty of time to chat and learn about each other’s lives. After lunch, you join with the artisan cooperative for an afternoon of weaving. You get to learn how to harvest and prepare the natural fibers, and then the artisans teach you how to create your own piece of sisal jewelry. It is great sitting with the ladies as you weave and laugh together.
The day finishes back at the Azizi Life office, with a cold Fanta and a chance to think back over the highlights of the day. There you can browse through some of the beautiful crafts made by the Azizi Life artisans and do a little fair trade shopping.
Traditional Construction:
You may have seen the high rise buildings in Kigali, but this Azizi Life Experience is your chance to learn something about the traditional building techniques, some of them used since the times of the King. In the morning you start with collecting water and soil then you are taught how to make mud bricks. After making your own bricks, you dig the foundations and learn how to lay the bricks in a certain way that ensures the building’s strength.
At this point, you will have built up a bit of an appetite and so everyone stops work and shares a simple home cooked lunch with the host family. In the afternoon, you go and collect banana leaves, then you are taught how to make them into a strong rope that can then be used to lash wood together to make a roof. You finish the day back at the Azizi Life office with a cold Fanta and all the knowledge you need to build your very own mud brick house.
Banana Juice making:
Traditionally shared during weddings and other celebrations, banana juice (and beer!) has long been a central part of Rwandan parties. Although nowadays banana juice can be easily bought from the local store, the traditional technique for making your own brew is a much greater labor of love.
In the morning, of your Azizi Life Experience, you work with your rural host to collect the green bananas and the leaves needed to begin the process. Next you dig a hole and bury the bananas to ripen over time.
After enjoying a simple meal with your host family, you head into the valley to collect water. The ripening process takes four days, but don’t worry, you won’t need to wait. Your hosts will have some already buried bananas for you to dig up. You then peel, mash, and strain the bananas using traditional techniques, and voila- you’ve made authentic banana juice. The day finishes back at the Azizi Life office where the juice is boiled so it is ready for you to taste and take away.
Select from a simple variety of seasonal dishes for your custom traditional cooking experience with a rural mama! Your day begins not in the kitchen but in the fields as you learn seasonal planting or harvesting of fresh ingredients for your traditional meal. Once the ingredients and water have been collected, food preparation begins with washing, peeling, pounding, and grinding the ingredients using traditional methods and tools and this is done in the outdoor kitchen.
Throughout the process, your hostess and the ladies of the local cooperative teach and guide you, always allowing you to experience the day at your own pace. When your meal is ready, it is time to enjoy fruits of your labour with either a fork or with your finger. Sitting in the home of host family, there is plenty of time to chat and learn about each other’s lives.
Traditional Drumming:
Whether you have natural rhythm or not, with our expert instructors everyone can enjoy learning traditional drumming and dancing. Your Azizi Life Musical Experience begins with a mini performance from a small troupe of traditional performers. Next, it’s your turn to put on a traditional costume and give it a try. You’ll have fun as the dancers teach you some basic dance steps and share a bit of the history of Rwandan dance. After some practice time, the expert dance instructors help you put everything together in a performance of your very own. Don’t worry; an Azizi Life team member will be on hand to catch the whole thing on film!
After a break to catch your breath, the drummers will teach you some traditional beats, or you can even do a bit of free styling of your own on the traditional drums. No experience or expertise is necessary; it is simply fun for anyone brave enough to give it a go.
Azizi life Pathways:
Thanks to Rwanda’s lush green hills, beautiful valleys and welcoming people, it may be one of the easiest and most exciting places in East Africa to explore by foot. All around the rural communities, there is already a vast network of paths ready and waiting for you to explore. Local
Guides Enjoy local knowledge and good company as you explore! The guides, who speak English or French, enrich your walk with information on the communities you pass and points of interest.
You can enjoy scenic rural excursion or choose an in town exploration, visiting the local markets and experiencing other aspects of urban life. You can choose the mapped routes or create your own adventure.
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