6.23.2005 RWANDA

Have you ever seen a savannah on television? In the Africa I have seen on television, there is always savannah. I even saw an artist’s rendition of one in “The Lion King”. When I first considered going to Rwanda last year, that was how I pictured it; dry and dusty, long tan grasses that camouflaged lions, and scattered trees that giraffe would eat from. Actually, Rwanda is very unlike that picture. The trees here are almost all of a banana variety and I have certainly seen more eucalyptus trees here than I even picture in Austrailia. So, basically I would consider myself in a place very unlike “Africa”. It is crowded with people, has an extreme variety of vegetation and the dust is never tan but red.

When we decided to make a trip to Akragera National Park today, I was expecting more of the same but with wildlife. Boy was I off! I can say I actually visited Africa today, the one I have watched on the Discovery Channel. Only there was more vegetation than I expected, it was covered in bushes in the forest area. The bushes were very thorny and difficult to navigate through even in our large passenger bus. There were vines and reddish termite hills that were at least 4 feet tall. But that was just the beginning. We had the opportunity of a life time because the national park has no boundaries or walls. It is just an open area of protection for wild animals, and you can literally drive into the center of a herd!

There are different areas that attract a plethora of animals. The forest area I mentioned especially attracted hairy and mischievous baboons as well as the delicate and graceful impalas. The impalas were one of the most beautiful animals I had ever seen. They had black striping in several places like their backside and the tips of their ears. The only thing that is in that area that we did not see was leopards. This is to be expected because they come out at night to hunt. They must have been asleep in the shade someplace. But Brian also spotted a warthog too.

In the wetlands area there were so many types of birds! There were supposed to be over 500 species in the park. Of course we saw so many, but my favorite was the fish eagle. It is a large eagle with a white head and a black body with red stripes on the wings. When it flies over the lake, it feels like you are watching why the word “majestic” was added to the Webster Dictionary. But besides that, we came across hippos swimming. There were two different groups and there was probably a total of 25 or so altogether. These things are really gross. They were passing gas under the stagnant green water and the volcanic eruption that followed was truly momentous. But their eyes were piercing. They watched us the whole time sniffing at us and blowing sprays of water in the air. We also heard them bellow like cow’s mooing only deeper and more resonant. We also saw a “crazy” elephant. Apparently this one has overturned two cars and so we stayed clear. But he was very brown – not grey. And he had a huge trunk!

I indeed do love the savannah. I think it was my favorite area to visit. A herd of zebras were only yards from us as were a herd of curious water buffalo. It was odd to see a buffalo walk towards our bus and lift his head in the air to sniff at us. He was very interested in securing the safety of his family. But the most astounding thing I saw were the giraffe’s. I saw REAL ones. I know that may offend the animal lovers on this list, but I have never seen a creature so rich in color and attitude. First we left our vehicle to step into the muddy ground mostly giraffe tread. Once my foot hit the ground, I realized this was a moment I would never forget. Our guide walked us around some briar patches and sometimes I would look down and see hove prints…big ones! We looked up in the distance and watched 3 giraffes take off running into another field. So, we jumped back into the bus (which is now covered with muddy feet), and followed the herd. Can you believe it?? I felt like the Croc Hunter! As quiet as a bus could travel, we followed a small trail that led us to him…the biggest and most colorful giraffe I have ever seen. He had very dark brown spots and brown lines in between. I stepped out of the bus again and I can’t tell you how amazing it was to have nothing standing between yourself and this animal. It was like I stepped into another world full of possibilities. As we slowly approached him, he twitched his muscles… it wasn’t until we were less than 30 feet away that he stepped away. We kept snapping pictures for 10 minutes and then left. Wow…

We returned back to the “lodge” after 6 hours on the trail. We ate a great meal together as a team and Ben talked about what he was thankful for in each person here. It was moving to me because I feel like last year I was so alone and now to have such a great team in place was surreal. It was the perfect ending to our “African” day.

I will never forget the ways the trees in the savannah look like they are cupping their branches to the sky. It is like they are praising God and reaching up for him with fingers spread.

Other than all those wonderful things, the only other thing is that I am still feeling sick. I must have eaten something that hasn’t set right with me. But I am sure it will pass. Tomorrow we are going to see the Mayor of Kisaro and also see the American Consulate.

Saturday morning we will have our big meeting…fitting as it is our day of leaving. Things always change here… so I never know how things will work out. As far as today, I never imagined experiencing something so wonderful!

Love

Melody, Ben and Team