First day in Kigali and the visit to the Genocide

One of the most dramatic and saddest experiences has been visiting the Genocide, which happened primarily in 1993 -1994. Estimated 1.2 million people were killed in a very brutal and devastating attack on one group of citizens against another. If you are unfamiliar with the event, just google “Rwanda Genocide” and you can learn more about it. All we can say is the world can be such a better place if we all learn to forgive, believe and care more for others than ourselves.

Moving on to the Gorillas

We arrived at our next stop, the “five Volcanos Resort” around 2:30 PM and were stopped at the gate because the president of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, was at our hotel finishing a meeting and lunch after the annual national event of naming baby gorillas. Our driver dropped us off and guards escorted us to check in. One of the staff then stayed with us while we waited at the dining room balcony for the President to leave. The staff person finally went down to check status just as the president was leaving and was able to get a picture of the president with the staff. The staff was so excited as every single citizen of Rwanda truly love their president. The president, according to stories we heard and read at the Genocide museum, was a military leader from Rwanda and through his career had moved to Uganda to help with military needs there and moved up the ranks quickly. When the Genocide started, he organized an army and literally hid out in the mountains with the gorillas for 1 1/2 years as he built the army to a level of defeating the militia and is recognized by all citizens as the primary person that saved Rwanda. Finding out later that the reason the president was in the area was because they were naming the baby gorillas, which is huge here and this is an event he personally attends every single year. It was truly an amazing experience that both of us feel very fortunate to be part of.

SO HERE WE GO

Visiting Gorillas Day One

MY DREAM FOR EVER!!!!!!!!!

We decided to do a median trek which is considered 2-3 hours and they never know where those darn gorillas will go. They try to match up groups of 8 with 2 guides so we were patiently waiting, (if Kent can ever do that) to be put with a group. Finally after most groups had left, our guide came up to us and said we would be put with just 3 other people who were dignitaries from Ethiopia. The previous prime minister, Hailemariam Desalegn had been selected to name one of the baby Gorillas, which is an enormous privilege. So as you can see, we basically arrive in Rwanda and for 2 days are surrounded by dignitaries. Kind of like we are treated in the USA:)

Back to gorilla tracking, it was harder than we thought it would be, going thru thick rain forest and massive bamboo, then lets add the increased elevation, about half way up I thought, “OK, I could be done” but my Porter ( I love him) would catch me and Kent at the same time, which was quite amazing as rain was massive and the mud was making it very slippery. After about 2 1/2 hours of hiking (according to Kent’s health Ap, 3 miles and 50 flights of stairs) we came upon the Pablo family of gorillas.

The very best part was when we got got to these wonderful friendly gorillas. WOW. Right away, one of the first things that happened was we saw these beautiful animals and an adult came toward Kent and started pushing him while I was behind him with a bamboo tree between us (bending down very low) toward Kent (she wanted to play). We were taught by the guides in the orientation that they are very gentle beasts but they’re strength is huge so if they start walking toward you, just stand perfectly still. (Kent said it was kind of hard to stand still when they are pushing you.) The guide immediately ran up and started making the gorilla sound to calm her down as she walked away.