Written by Harry Mitsidis
Little did I know when planning our African adventure with our Envoy and founder of Kumbukumbu Tours, Obed Temba, that we would find ourselves engulfed in a war situation ensuing from decades of simmering conflict. Nothing suggested any issues when the group of 18 very different people met in for the introductory dinner.
Age range from 28 to 72, 6 Americans, 3 Russians, 4 British passport holders of which only I was born in the U.K., two Danes, an Italian, a Frenchman and NomadMania managing partner Orest. Everyone was excited about this trip and my strategy was to ‘scare’ people, insisting on them being on time always but also warning that heading through Burundi would not be easy at all.
This is how our full trip itinerary eventually took shape.
Tanzania
We met at Terminal 2 in Dar es Salaam at 4 a.m. for the 2-hour flight to the westernmost major town of the country, little-visited Kigoma.
On the shores of Lake Tanganyika, its location is undeniably picturesque, but it’s also surprisingly underdeveloped. Despite being a port of some importance, with trade across the water with DRC of obvious importance for more than a century, the only really travel-worthy aspect of Kigoma is the suburb of Ujiji, where the famous Dr. Livingstone lived and where the famous phrase ‘Dr Livingstone I presume’ may or may have been uttered.
We visited the premises of what used to be his home, now a museum, on the lake. Many of us were more taken by the scenes of locals going about their lives, playing board-games and children peeking outside their homes to see the congregation of ‘mzungu’.
The next day was an adventurous boat-trip to the Gombe National Park. Obed’s line ‘forty minutes’ became a bit of a meme for us, as the reality was closer to two hours and we got more than we bargained for with a storm coming our way, necessitating shelter in a nondescript village which afforded even more interaction with curious locals.
Gombe itself, known for the tireless efforts of Jane Goodall, is a sanctuary for chimpanzees. The hike to see them is by no means easy; extremely steep and rather unstable terrain make it a challenge, but the reward is worth it – the chimps are a real highlight and it would appear they are our closest relative… We were all super happy to have found them after only an hour or so.
Burundi
We left the comfort of the unexpectedly pleasant ‘Hilltop Hotel’ behind us and headed into even more unexpectedly deep fog as we drove north to the border with Burundi. The border crossing was much faster and smoother than anticipated considering there were 18 of us – in two hours we were in a world of French where the driving is on the ‘correct’ side of the road….
We entered from the south in NomadMania’s DARE place of Makamba district and went to Nyanza Lac for an afternoon interacting with the local fishermen on their wooden boats. The whole village came out to meet us, people of all ages wondering why all these people would suddenly descend on them. Burundi is eclectic at the best of times – but the far south at Nyanza Lac is truly off-the-beaten track. Riding the boats was unexpected fun and we were all in a ‘frolic’ mood, somewhat relieved that Burundi did not seem as daunting as expected.
The next two days would reveal a charming country that has much authenticity to offer. In Makamba town itself, we were treated to the amazing ‘Agasimbo dance’ which is not the famed Burundi drummer dance but a different style of presentation requiring considerable acrobatics by the troupe of men of all ages who displayed their impressive techniques.
A colourful, energetic market, where we searched in vain for Burundi-branded souvenirs, was followed by a longish drive to another DARE place, the northeastern district of Cankuzo. The biggest surprise there was the endless row of hotels on the main road – why so many of them in a place where nobody goes? Conspiracy theories were rife among our group.
The visit to the pygmies was, for some, the highlight of the whole trip. This visit poses some ethical dilemmas given that their living conditions are truly not the best. Though the senior in our group, Jens from Denmark, insisted that he was very positive compared to his miserable experience visiting a similar village in Uganda, many became emotional at seeing the lack of infrastructure and prospects of a forgotten people.
I wondered if our visit was a good thing – giving them a minor financial boost and a feeling of importance – or a negative one where we are using them for our ‘entertainment’. The cheers of the locals suggested it couldn’t all be bad.
And so, we left welcoming, authentic, to-be-visited-again Burundi behind after a night in the third-biggest town of the country, Muyinga, where the hot water of the hotel was more than welcome. Due to the border closure between Burundi and Rwanda, we had to cross into Tanzania again for two hours before exiting at the Rusumo border for the next country on the list, Rwanda.
Rwanda
The anti-corruption posters at the border suggested that we were in a very different place indeed. Rwanda has come a very long way since the terrible genocide of 1994 though it is a little hard to make heads or tails of it for us, let alone for the locals. Manicured cities, total absence of rubbish, frequent speed cameras and a general sense of order make Rwanda an outlier in the region.
We started at Akagera National Park in eastern Rwanda. Despite not been world-famous, this is the only park in the country where all the Big 5 can be seen. Many of the group had never been on a safari before and were very excited as we drove on the dirt-roads searching for animals.
Hippos were seen in the distance along with some crocs; then we came across a family of elephants. When one of the vehicles got too close, one of the herd started charging toward it, luckily stopping just in time: a moment of reflection for sure. Ultimately, we saw rhinos, water buffalos and the grand prize, lions – leaving only the leopard unseen.
The ‘Akagera Transit Lodge’ was the best place we had stayed in since Kigoma, its name not suggesting the level of comfort it afforded. We all welcomed the simple luxuries of a choice of food rather than the staple rice, peas and hard meat that had been on offer, day in, day out, in Burundi.
By this time, it was already clear that we had a problem on our hands. We were meant to head to Bukavu in the Democratic Republic of Congo and go for a gorilla trek to Kahuzi-Biega National Park, a World Heritage Site. However, after four years of holding rural areas in DRC’s North Kivu province, rebels were closing in on Goma.
.
Reports suggested many casualties, including UN forces, and that Goma was about to fall, with the rebels then possibly intent on also marching towards Bukavu. We bided our time, waiting for developments, but it became increasingly obvious that heading to the DRC, a challenge in the best of times, would be foolhardy. Obed and I deliberated and all the alternatives were laid out on the table.
.
Ultimately, thanks to a cooperative group and to Obed’s incredible ability to find solutions at the last minute, the decision was made to aim for Uganda instead: the group’s main aim of seeing gorillas would be satisfied after all.
On the way to Kigali, we stopped at what was, for most, a jaw-dropping facility: an American company called Zipline has chosen Rwanda as its pilot facility for the development of medical drones: we were treated to a tour of the warehouse, where medicines are packed inside a bag, then placed in a drone which is programmed to fly to its destination, whereby the contents are dropped with a small parachute before the drone returns to base.
We saw the departures and landings, of which there are up to 300 in a day, serving almost the entire territory of the country. Needless to say, we were all blown away by this progress in a rural area of what is still a poor African country.
Uganda
The road to Uganda took us northwest, through cool, green hills and the town of Ruhengeri, from where the mountains that make up Virunga on the border of Rwanda, DRC and Uganda are clearly visible. Despite Uganda being what we can term an ‘easy’ country to visit, most of our group had not been there before, and its southwestern corner is certainly a forgotten end of the world.
Compared to Rwanda, the small town of Kisoro looked totally ramshackle, perhaps even worse than what we had seen in Burundi with almost no asphalt to be found and totally chaotic building. Still, evidence of the fact that this was once a British colony was plentiful – not only in the ads for schools and universities but also driving once again ‘the other way’.
The group sacrificed its sleep and eagerly woke up at 5.30 am to head to the Mgahinga Gorilla National Park, where on that day there were no other visitors. Yet, the trials and tribulations were worth it: after only about an hour of trekking amidst dense vegetation, the mountain gorillas were found. This is one of those iconic moments that nobody ever forgets – and even though you’re always told not to look them in the eye, it’s instinctive to want to do so.
The visit to Uganda, less than 24 hours in total, was a resounding success.
Rwanda Part II
Goma fell on a Sunday; the first day trouble spread across the border to Rwanda’s Gisenyi, where Obed’s home is – bombs fell in his own courtyard, his wife and children hastily heading to Kigali for safety. Obed’s dedication to our group despite all this turmoil in his own personal life did not go unappreciated.
But it also came with curiosity – we would be passing near Gisenyi anyway and I insisted that we need to have a drive in the town: it was Wednesday already and reports suggested things were quiet. And indeed, with the exception of the last cordoned-off block before the border, little would suggest that just a few meters down the road, there was mayhem and chaos. As always, Rwanda maintained its poise and calm, and Lake Kivu afforded picturesque sunset views, with locals vying for our business to try a boat ride, which we declined.
The Kivu Belt must be one of the most scenic roads around. Stretching on the Rwandan shores of Lake Kivu, occasionally at lake level and often up on the hills, this is a little-known drive where you will encounter few vehicles but lots of camera-friendly vistas. In the middle of the lake, Kibuye is on NomadMania’s beautiful villages Series for good reason: the lake views of small islands and slow boats are sublime.
After a night there, we headed south to what would be our last DARE place of the trip – the largest Rwandan island, called Nkombo. We were perhaps the largest travel group to ever visit this forgotten little outpost, where we were treated to a local Congolese-style dance as a welcome. Obed explained that the populations here are mixed. To cap it all in style, the Rwandan border guards at Cyangugu were accommodating to us and let us go up to the bridge that we would have crossed had our plan come to pass. We took photos with the buildings of Bukavu and the DRC flag behind us – the foreboding country retaining its mystique for us as the land we cannot cross into.
We ended the trip with a bang at the Kigali Convention Centre. Obed organized a meeting with local travel professionals and the press, and we presented NomadMania as well as our trip as a recap to it all. It also happened to be Jacopo’s birthday, so we got a cake in the colours of the Rwandan flag with the NomadMania logo.
Within 24 hours, the group would disperse to different corners of the globe with new friendships, lasting memories and some stereotypes surely challenged. As for me, I needed some much-earned sleep, but beyond that I feel that I have made a lasting true friend in Obed who surpassed all my expectations with his humour, kindness and not to forget his impeccable ‘forty minutes’ sense of timing.
Check out the video summary of this trip 🙂
We intend to offer a similar trip next January/February, details of which will be available in due course. To register your preliminary interest with no commitment, simply apply in the form below.
Be the first to leave a comment