Birthday weekend

Of course most people remember those big birthday milestones by special celebrations or holidays to acknowledge that major step into a new decade and for me entering the realms of the free bus pass decade, this will be no exception as I will always remember my time here in Rwanda. Since my arrival last September I have celebrated many volunteer birthdays by meals out or visits to different parts of Rwanda but in true traditional style of not wanting to bring any attention to my own birthday (much preferring to be the organizer of someone else’s) I chose to keep very quiet about my birthday and jumped at the opportunity to accompany another volunteer to visit Akagera National Park on the Saturday and then attend a dowry ceremony on the Sunday.

Akagera Park is right on my doorstep, in fact most of my district was part of the designated national park area pre 1994 but much of the land has now been used to repatriate many thousands of returning refugees who fled in the 50’s and 90’s and who have been encouraged by the government to return to Rwanda.

“The Akagera National Park covers 1,200km² in eastern Rwanda, against the Tanzanian border. It was founded in 1934 to protect animals and vegetation in three ecoregions: savannah, mountain and swamp. The park is named for the Kagera River which flows along its eastern boundary feeding into several lakes, the largest of which is Lake Ihema. The complex system of lakes and linking papyrus swamps makes up over 1/3 of the park and is the largest protected wetland in central Africa.

Much of the savannah area of the park was settled in the late 1990s by former refugees returning after the end of the Rwandan Civil War. Due to land shortages, in 1997 the western boundary was regazetted and much of the land allocated as farms to returning refugees. The park was reduced in size from over 2,500km² to its current size. Although much of the best savannah grazing land is now outside the park boundaries, what remains of Akagera is some of the most diverse and scenic landscape in Africa.

In 2009 the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) and the African Parks Network entered into a 20 year renewable agreement for the joint management of Akagera. The Akagera Management Company was formed in 2010 as the joint management body for Akagera National Park.

Over the next 5 years a US$10 million expenditure is planned for Akagera including the construction of a 120km western boundary fence and the reintroduction of lion and black rhino.”

In typical Rwandan style, in that you should never anticipate that things will go according to plan, I got a phone call on the Friday night to say that our driver that we had booked to take us through the park had been involved in a road accident and although no one had been hurt he now had to spend the whole of Saturday with the Police completing paper work, so we were facing the cancellation of the outing. However he suggested a friend of his who might be able to step in at the last minute to help us out, so I woke up the next morning unsure whether we were going or not. Jane was getting picked up in Kigali and then I would get picked up in Kabarore en route, as we would entering the Park by the north entrance. She texted me to say that they had left so our day was going ahead after all and I duly got picked up just before 7.30am.

We arrived at the park entrance just after 8 and already there were several groups ahead of us, needless to say all them were “muzungos”. Fortunately we were given reduced entrance fees because of our residence status and then our safari was ready to begin. Another volunteer had described Akagera as “Rwanda’s hidden jewel” and that is indeed what it was, we drove through such a variety of scenery, vegetation and landscapes and for the most part never saw another sign of a vehicle or any other humans. Our 4x4 negotiated the dirt tracks with ease avoiding the fallen tress which had obviously been destroyed by elephant and our heads dotted from side to side as we peered for animals, hidden in the undergrowth. The bird life was particularly amazing and I was so glad of the binoculars I had brought with me and resolved that if I should ever return to the park then a bird book was an essential.

The attraction of the park is its feeling of simplicity and unspoiled beauty and the feeling that you are indeed in the heart of Africa. There is only really one track through the park but our driver was quite happy to take us off track to allow us to get closer to the groups of animals that we spied, even though he was driving though spiky scrub land and I could hear the scratches on the vehicle and anticipate the value of the car going down by the minute!

We were apparently particularly fortunate to see elephant as our driver Lucien had been there on 4 previous occasions and had not seen any, but they did stay quite far from view and again the binoculars came to the rescue. The open savannah area was particularly spectacular, as so many different types of animals wandered freely across the plains and were quite happy to come up close to our vehicle to observe us.

We should have kept a notepad handy to record all the different species we saw during our journey as we headed south following many of the lakes and swamps which separate Rwanda from Tanzania where we saw many hippos but only one crocodile. We had taken our own snacks and were glad of the bottle of Primus we had brought to whet the palate but had to think twice before diving in behind a bush to answer a call of nature not knowing what else might be lurking there. Our safari trek lasted 7 hours as we wound our way south before reaching the other park entrance and the start of our homeward journey. Altogether a very satisfying day and I couldn’t wait to get back to look at the photos I had taken.

I woke up on Sunday morning to discover there was no power but thinking it would be only temporary I held off getting washed and dressed knowing I had plenty of time before Margaret was due to arrive for the dowry ceremony which was scheduled to start at11.00am. Finally I had to accept that the power was not returning and had to face the cold wash- not good when you have to wash your hair but needs must, particularly after a very dusty previous day. Also challenging when you can’t get a cup of tea to start off the day, however one more thing I have grown accustomed to.

Margaret and her daughter arrived early, they had also had no power and made do with the “ baby wipe” wash, another emergency alternative. Water is also becoming a problem in this area with the continued dry season and I had found it difficult to get my jerry cans filled up so I was being particularly careful with the water I used.

By 12 o’clock we decided we could probably head for the wedding ceremony – you can see we are getting better at trying not to arrive at the appointed time and then finding you have to sit and wait for hours for things to begin. Imagine our surprise to arrive and find guests already seated, two big marquees had been erected in the house gardens and we were asked to sit on the side according to the family you were invited by. We were squeezed into seats at the back and the ceremony was ready to begin. There followed a lengthy bartering discussion between the two fathers of the bridal party where they exchange views about what is an appropriate dowry which will be mutually acceptable to both families, so although we could not understand much of what was being said, the whole event follows a predetermined script and revolves around numbers of cows ( being the recognized and accepted source of wealth). With both parties satisfied much to the appreciation of the audience, the two bridal parties make their first appearance, first the groom and all his groomsmen and then the bride to be and her attendants all resplendent in traditional dress and co-ordinated colours. They then have to go through a ritual of present giving, to parents and key family members, before we all celebrated with Fanta.

Food was to follow but had to be done in a set order which indicated that it would some considerable time before it reached the back row where we were sitting so instead we decided to make a discreet retreat and bid our farewells to our host, brother of the bride. The lure of getting back home to get tucked into my birthday present that Margaret had organized her daughter to bring from the UK was too great……..a Cup a Soup!!