Great Lakes Adventure...chapter 2

Bujumbura…capital city of Burundi…and a bustling, living city that is just in the final stages of re-establishing order and peace after years of insecurity. I must say that despite the marked difference of development in Kigali and Bujumbura…and by that I mean, under-developed roads, aging infrastructure and power shortages among other indicators, Bujumbura was alive and real. There also seemed to be a lot more police/ army presence in the city…in addition to the UN Mission in Burundi.
Night one, just after we arrived, we began to look for a hotel, and ended up staying at this place, Hotel de l’Amitie, which was not overly impressive and quite over priced considering we were not even being given breakfast. Needless to say we were just there for the night and made a point to find somewhere that was more affordable and that had meals…

In the morning, we moved to the Anglican Church Guest house, much much much MUCH more affordable…and the director there was actually kind of cute.;) the only odd thing about this place, was that we had a curfew….so basically you had to be in before 11 or you would sleep out.

Initially the plan was to be there for two days, and then head over to Bukavu, but because we were soo busy with meetings, we decided to stay in Bujumbura for the weekend (Saturday..) and sightsee. We went to the market…and shopped!!! And then we went to the beach (la plage…) and had some of the freshest fish I have ever eaten! We even witnessed part of a traditional Burundi-an wedding.

Next day we were on the road again..this time heading to Bukavu in Easter DRC.
Quite the adventure to put it mildly; let’s just say that what was supposed to be a 3 hour trip ended up being a 7 hour ordeal, featuring ‘friendly and thirsty’ border officials, entry visa scams and phantom vaccinations.
Grace a Dieu (thanks to God), we made it to Bukavu before nightfall. EXHAUSTED but safe!

Chapter 3, Eastern DRC coming up

Great Lakes Adventure...chapter 1

My absence from the blogosphere for so long…this time,…has thankfully not been because of laziness, nor has it been caused by poor internet connections. I have been preparing to embark…and actually embarked on…a 2 week Great Lakes Region Adventure.
So I decided to take my time to try and compile some of the thoughts and experiences and realizations that came to me as I journeyed…and now…sitting in a speed boat upon Lake Kivu…with my old but trusted Ibook….i present to you part 1.

So…why am I on this adventure?.
As most of you ,know…I moved back to Kenya permanently to resettle here and find work and be in the land that I love. So as I have been hunting for the elusive ‘perfect’ job, I have been working with my dad…being the glorified family KYM…and loving EVERY moment of it…particularly the flexibility that it affords.

So then this phenomenal opportunity presented itself about 3 weeks back…to assist an institution called KIPPRA, along with Kenya Pipeline with some research that they were carrying out in the region…East and Central Africa. Why me? Well…in 3 of the countries that were part of the study….French is the preferred or official national language and wouldn’t you know it…..there was no French speaker in the team.
So…despite the fact that research is not my passion….and the professional fee was not going to be very much at all…here was an awesome opportunity to start working towards one of my personal goals ‡ to see all countries in Africa by 2016 (…any takers?)

Flight, accommodation and per diem taken care of….we boarded the plane for Kigali on Sunday 29th of October. Team of 7… 3 research assistants, two KIPPRA staff and 2 KPC staff.
The flight went from NBI to Kigali via Bujumbura was relatively uneventful and we arrived by about 4pm.

Rwanda, land of One Thousand Hills, is a BEAUTIFUL country. Smooth roads; lovely, humble people who are literally amazing, especially if one really thinks about the fact that it has only been 12 years since the official end of the genocide. The country and its government has made extraordinary strides to development and reconstruction of its infrastructure as well as a decided effort to restore pride in the country….not as Hutu or Tutsi…but as Rwandese. The order that is so evident everywhere is admirable…first thing you think is …can Kenya take a leaf out of this book?
But then there was also a slightly unsettling feeling that popped up as I was thinking about what I was witnessing in Kigali….is it really this organized…or is this artificial order? A façade for the benefit of the foreign investors and groups that are flocking to invest in what promises to be one of the region leaders.

We stayed at this guest house cum motel …One Hill, and it was clean, simple and very affordable. Had some extremely successful meetings (…big ups to the staff at the Kenyan Embassy, really helpful, knowledgeable and welcoming), visited the Kigali Genocide Memorial and learned a lot there about the history of this country. We even visited the “Mille Collines’ Hotel which is more popularly known as Hotel Rwanda.

Next stop, after 3 days in Kigali was a drive to Bujumbura, Burundi. Quite a drive, but the roads are phenomenal albeit extremely hilly and winding. Oh….how can I forget,…the CRAZY driver who thought it was a great idea to overtake at blind corners on a hill at a speed of 130km/.h!!! Wasn’t really impressed with that but thank God we made it just in time to avoid one of the territory border closures….

….chapter 2, B’ura coming up .