Rwanda, The Magical Destination

9/17/2022 and 9/18/2022 N ow That's What I Call a Welcome! Reconciliation Village https://youtu.be/k5ApdDsjm5g Women's Opportunity Center https://youtu.be/rgZjBQLEQJE https://youtu.be/5dAiZcyXfsM https://youtu.be/l80PiKYhQ0k https://youtube.com/shorts/ZMZ6N_FuAq8 https://youtube.com/shorts/Fps3E_5QI5M

9/18/2022 - Akagera National Park Game Drive Factoids: Located along the border with Tanzania in northeastern Rwanda.           O ne of Africa’s oldest parks. one of Africa’s oldest national parks                  E stablished in 1934.    L argest protected wetland on the continent.   4 00 square miles of savanna, woodlands, and wetlands.     Home to zebras, giraffes, elephants, lions, and more than 500 species of birds, including the rare shoebill stork.     Water safaris feature a boat ride on Lake Ihema in the park’s southern section to observe wildlife emerging from the dense woodlands along the shore,  including crocodiles and one of Africa’s most significant populations of hippos.                                                                                                                                                                                     The evening game drive hampered my attempt at photography, but the next day more than made up for it. (And this doesn't

9/17/2022 - Journey to Ruhengeri                Life  in a Rwandan Reconciliation Village    Reconciliation or retribution? Could you forgive a perpetrator who slaughtered your loved ones with a machete? I don't think I could. So imagine what it must be like to listen to the victim and perpetrator who sat side by side on the same bench before describing their story.  How can you not love these children and their families and marvel at their ability to forgive? Dawn was the pied piper and the first to volunteer  when it came to wielding a hoe or shovel. Florence was our local guide and a magnet for a group photo. And like most countries, the men just sat around  while the women did the cooking. Florence designed a cool T-shirt we all loved,  especially the back.   Muzungu in the Mist with an attitude. Local color on the way to Akagera National Park  Unanimous winner of the most-loaded produce bicycle. Developing gathering at the water pump Looks like a bong, but this gourd is for tw

  9/16/2022 -  T he Genocide Memorial    The Kigali  Genocide Memorial, inaugurated in 2004,  is the final resting place for more than 250,000 victims. It is an emotionally challenging summary of man's inhumanity toward man, pitting neighbors against neighbors. It demonstrates the danger of social media and its propaganda, the failure of the church to protect its congregations, the frailty of life, and the miraculous power of reconciliation. On April 6, 1994,  a plane carrying Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana, a Hutu, was shot down . Using  this as an excuse for war, Hutu extremists  launched their plans to destroy the entire  Tutsi  civilian population. Economic differences had already defined both tribes and were evolving into ethnic designations.  Hutus, the majority, were farmers, and Tutsis took care of the livestock. Since cattle were more valuable, the minority Tutsis ruled the country before the German takeover in 1884, followed by the Belgium takeover in 1917. These t

  9/15/2022                                                        H otel des Mille Collines Amazing what some sleep and a shower can do to improve one's day. My hotel room was okay, but the outdoor restaurant, tiki bar, and swimming pool were amazing. So many Rwandan beers, so little time... My favorite space in the reception area was a room featuring gorillas and monkeys.  Not just a padded chair and ottoman... Look more closely.

  Rwanda is not an easy country to reach.  Flight times from Sarasota to Atlanta, Atlanta to Amsterdam, and Amsterdam to Kigali, totaled 18 hours and 25 minutes, over a two-day period. You can imagine my relief when we deplaned in Kigali, but things quickly took an unexpected twist, when one of the customs agents insisted I owed $50 for my Rwanda visa (especially considering I paid $160 for the full-page, full-color one attached to one of my passport pages).  Finally her boss overruled her, and I thought I was on my way to baggage claim for my safari duffel bag, which thankfully made the journey intact.  I and two other OAT travelers headed outside to meet our driver, and other weird things started happening. The first man had no OAT id - just 2 names typed on a sheet of paper (mine was not one of them.) When we pulled into the Park Inn, I realized there was an issue - my hotel was des Mille Collines.  Apparently two different OAT groups were traveling to Rwanda simultaneously - a firs

  Two things come to mind whenever one hears of Rwanda: genocide and gorillas.  In 1994, Hutus systematically murdered almost one million neighboring Tutsis and moderate Hutus over 100 days.  Today, perpetrators and survivors of Rwanda's horrific genocide share their stories of healing and forgiveness in Reconciliation Village, living side by side, no longer as Tutsi or Hutu but as Rwandans. Kigali, the capital and the region, reemerged as one of the most stable, peaceful, and beautiful African countries surrounded by "the Land of a Thousand Hills."