Foltas in Rwanda

So much has happened since we have last posted..its not easy to keep up.  We have moved out of our house in the city to a house with land for animals and a beautiful view.  Though pretty, it has had its challenges as we have not been able to establish solar power to run our fridge and are having to come to town every day for power and internet to continue homeschooling.  With more space we have expanded our family with our Molly- golden lab, ever growing in size and lovability, our 7 week old kitten, Kibby (Kinyarwandan for sunset)  and her mama, 2 cows and 1calf.  Big learning curve.  We are making yogurt daily (no fridge) and are looking forward to learning cheesemaking (with fridge).   Rwanda has a 1 cow 1 family policy but cows are not allowed to freely graze so the cows have to stay in their pens for most of the time.  I wouldn't include cockroaches here, but they came with the house and they are big and take up too much space! 

 It is amazing to see electricity, cell phone technology and internet availability here, though as we had grown accustomed to it, it has been doubly hard to give it up in our new home.  Hoping to find solutions but in the meantime communicating is more challenging--especially our violin -by-skype-lessons.   Meanwhile we are having great adventures in and around Kigali.  Moved out last week to Lake Kivu, to explore another part of the country.  You will hear more about it in another post....here are a few adventures in and about town........ 
 

Mt. Kigali -Nathan

One Sunday afternoon after visiting a Rwandan church we hiked up one of the “thousand hills of Rwanda”, Mt. Kigali. 

Mt. Kigali is not really a mountain, but a big hill near the city.  We drove up the steep, water eroded roads just on the outskirts of the city.  Weaving around small shack houses here and there, we rapidly ascended the base of the mountain, and continued to what seemed to be the beginning of a trail.  As always there were lots of kids and a few men that followed our car, and they surrounded us as we got out.   Most of them said “muzungu, give me money” or “I watch car” in broken English.  One of the men could speak Swahili, so my dad (who knows Swahili) told him he could watch the car for payment; the man readily agreed.

Here in Rwanda it is mostly very safe. But as foreigners it is necessary to have someone watch the car; because sometimes poor people have a different mindset about taking things from muzungus who have so much (it is very cheap to have someone watch your car, probably around 500RFR- .80USD for a full day.)

Not knowing where to start, we took our own path up, passing through tall skinny eucalyptus trees and crossing deep hand- dug trenches (these are to prevent erosion). The hillside was steep and rocky, and it was a difficult climb.  We ascended rapidly, the view becoming more and more spectacular looking over the city and beyond.

We soon came to a road gradually winding its way up. Hiking along the road we saw monkeys for the first time.  Running up closer we watched them leap from tree to tree.  A few curious ones swung down closer to investigate us. They were grayish brown with a dark face, short furred, and a little bigger than a full grown cat. These, we later found out, were called Vervets.  Every little step we took closer, they climbed further away avoiding us and our camera!  Soon, we came to a military camp and had to end our chase.  Since the Genocide there are lots of military camps around, and it is best not to be seen with a camera near one, because most people (especially soldiers) don’t want their picture taken; and they can take your camera away.  

Hiking away from the camp we found some  eucalyptus trees, junipers, and some others, including one interesting tree that had long, pointy, stiff leaves, and palm treelike trunks. It grew in columns, branching out of the main body. 

The trees blocked out most of the view at the flat top of Mount Kigali, but on the way down we crossed a small ridge that overlooked the city. It was then that I saw again just how hilly Kigali is. Rwanda truly is “a land of a thousand hills!!!”

                                    

Climbing Kabuye -Michael

Sunday, the week after Mother’s Day, was our first family expedition outside of urban Kigali. We were not able to fully celebrate our mom the week before so we jumped at the excuse to celebrate again. Top on her list of favorite things to do is hiking and spending time together in nature, so we drove to a mid-sized mountain in the north some friends told us about. 

It took an hour and a half to drive through the hills of northern Rwanda.  Being a small country of 10,200sq mi, it takes only a few hours to access almost anywhere within its borders.  Most of the main roads are paved and the driving is smooth—apart from dodging walking people and mini-bus taxis along the windy roads. 

Rwanda is the most densely populated country in Africa. One of its few resources is its rich soil and ideal climate for crops. As a result, the hills, though very steep, are completely cultivated.  Farmers grow corn, sorghum, cassava, plantain (banana), potato, and sweet potato.  They also grow tea and coffee—the main exports of Rwanda.  In fact, Rwandan coffee is rated among the top three in the world. 

The land is spectacular.  It is textured with different crops and varies with shades of green and patches of brown freshly plowed fields.  The glint of corrugated steel roofs and dull red tiles sprinkle the hills, (there are no traditional thatched huts because the government has banned them).  Seemed like we were a matchbox car driving among the rumpled folds of a patchwork quilt. My camera was constantly out the window. 

            We drove as far as possible and left the car at the middle sized town of Kabuye.  Rwandans gathered around offering to watch our car and to guide us to the top, for a little money—of course.  None of them knew English or French so we picked one who spoke the best Swahili (East Africa’s trade language) to communicate through dad who knew Swahili from Kenya.  We brought backpacks, water, lunch, and rain jackets because the clouds were as large and dramatic as the hills below.  I also brought my tripod and telephoto lens, which I never used.  I found my 18-55mm lens to work well for landscapes and close-ups.  

The road went only a little ways from the town and soon morphed into a small foot path.  Many narrow paths spread across the hills between fields and huts, some following contours, some zigzagging through fields, and others climbing straight up the hill.  We took one that directly ascended Kabuye .  It was very steep.  Foot-wide steps were cut into sections of the path, but other parts were rutted by the heavy, sporadic rains.  A group of around 8-10 joined us as we hiked.  We learned new Kinyarwanda words and counted in Kinyarwanda as we hiked.  As a sign of friendship, some hiked with us hand in hand.

Because the land is so hilly, cultivating the steep sides is the farming technique. Within the first hour of hiking we saw the difficulty of growing crops on the steep slopes and a realistic idea of how hard it is for the farmers to survive.  Also, we saw many children bringing up water from the valley or a nearby spring each day.       

            I hiked with my camera around my neck.  I felt like a wealthy tourist at first, and out of place with the poor farmers. (I wonder if we will ever be able to overcome that barrier).  Our guide and friends we picked up enjoyed having their picture taken and seeing it on the  2” screen. 

            The top two-thirds of the mountain was wooded with eucalyptus trees and the ground covered 3” deep with moss.  The bare ground was moist and slippery. Our friends found some bamboo poles for us to use as walking sticks.  From the top we could look down on the fields and lower hills, almost directly below us.  It was somewhat of a hazy day and the hills gradually faded away.  In the distance we could see the shapes of a few volcanoes further north on the border of Congo. 

            Our many guides along with some children that had joined us along the way led us down a different way and showed us a cave at the base of a cliff of rock.  It large -20 feet back. 

            From there we descended the hill until we reached a path, and came back through the fields and huts to the car, arriving just as the last light was fading.  In all, it took us five hours round trip.

    

Vervets Monkeys -Daniel

One day we were climbing Mount Kigali (more like Hill Kigali, it only took us about 1 hour to climb it) and saw our first wild monkeys, at least it was Nathan and my first time.  They were vervets.  Some were playing and jumping from tree to tree; they can jump really far.  A couple of them came down a tree to the ground about twenty feet away from me.

About vervets

Vervets are mainly vegetarians but they also eat: eggs, baby birds and sometimes rodents and hares.  They rarely drink water, and can vary in color and size, but the vervets in Rwanda are light brown and gray.  They can live in mountain areas up to 13,000 feet, but do not live in rainforests or deserts.  We saw them at about 5,000 feet near the top of Mount Kigali.

Vervets are also afraid to go far away from the trees because they can be eaten by predators including leopards, baboons, large eagles, crocodiles and pythons.  Pythons often wait at the bottom of a tree to attack a monkey as it climbs down, and sometimes they swallow it whole!  We have not seen a python, but they might be here.  When vervets are in danger or hurt they scream and squeal.  

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

Vervets are very good climbers, jumpers and swimmers.  They are not only good swimmers but they can swim under water for long periods of time.  They are very keen on grooming themselves; they can spend several hours a day grooming to get all the dirt and old fur off.  There is a pecking order  that controls feeding, fighting, mating, friendships and even survival.  Vervets rub their cheeks or chins on trees or rocks to mark their territory.  It releases a strong scent so that other monkeys can know to stay away.  

Since climbing Mount Kigali, I have seen several other vervets.  We have seen them hiking out of town near the house we are in now.  I enjoy looking for them when we go hiking.