Congo Nile Trail

(Panoramic - click to enlarge)

I've just had a mad adventure. Got a call from my friend Jo saying she was going up to Gisenyi earlier than planned with her business partner, Fidens. They had a walking client today, so wanted to go up yesterday after dropping Zuba with her daddy after work. 

We all piled into the car around half-five and started the three hour trek north.

Finally got at least a lukewarm shower at the hotel. Washed my hair. Warm water made such a difference - all silky.

Whilst I was busy fondling my tresses, Jo was hatching a plan to go for an amble the next day whilst Fidens was guiding their customer. They run a bicycle and hiking business along the Congo Nile Trail (so called because it runs along the watershed of the Nile and Congo rivers). She hadn't walked the trail herself and wanted to see how hard customers would find it. Fidens' customer was an avid marathon runner, cycler and walker, so we decided to let them go ahead whilst we took a leisurely stroll...

Start of the Trail at Gisenyi

Primus Beer Factory to the Left

Fish Farm

Traditional Fishing Boats

Traditional (?) Turkey

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Nice View of Kivu, Our Inland Sea

Cows and Washing

Giant African Millipede

It started out fairly straightforward. I hadn't come very prepared. I forgot to bring a hat, so borrowed a baseball cap from the office. I do own a pair of walking shoes, but we had originally been talking about a 'gentle stroll,' possibly involving sitting by the lake reading our books and supping cold drinks. So I'd put on my not-really-walking-shoes. Sprayed ourselves down with sun cream, but it was 08:00 when we set out so the sky was overcast and Gisenyi is notoriously cooler than Kigali. It was pleasant walking weather, and we had provisions of water and chocolate raisins to keep us going.

It got progressively harder. We were mobbed at every corner by young children screaming 'Mzungu!' 'Good morning,' and 'Give me money!'

People who haven't been to Africa often have this idealistic notion that it's fun to interact with local kids, and that their curiosity is something to be cherished. Most people who stay for any length of time, or attempt something like the Congo Nile Trail, soon lose this dewy-eyed sense of wonder. You do your best to ignore the attention, and try to keep your minds off it by engrossing yourselves in your own conversation. But it really starts to wear you down after a while. You find yourself turning on your heels and shouting something impolite in Kinya, chasing the kids off, telling them to stop following you, to go home, or to quit asking you for money. One young boy even pinched Jo on her bum, hard enough to hurt.

The attention is constant.

It's also very sad that parents teach their kids that the best way to make friends and get on in life is to ask every white person they see to give them stuff: 'Give me money,' 'give me pens,' 'give me!' Being truthful, though, the constant 'Good morning, good morning, banjo (bonjour)' gets tiring too. You'll stop to rest and hardly be able to hear yourself think for the circle of children closing in around you, repeating these phrases louder and louder. Even when you do reply, the chant - from both children and adults - continues. Mwiriwe, bonjour, how are you - responding only solicits another greeting, often in another language. Instead of one 'hello,' 'hello' acknowledgement, it turns into a seemingly endless torrent of greetings, or an invitation to ask for money. It's better to appear rude and not say anything in the first place.

It means you don't get much time to stop and look around. If you stand still for more than a minute, every kid in the neighbourhood (and there's often quite a few) will descend upon you. You tend to keep your head down and just keep walking.

The other problem is that there are absolutely no places to rest. No public toilets. No cafés. Nowhere like Nyirangarama to stop and grab a brochette and a bottle of water. Once you're walking, you're on your own for several miles. Water did start to become a problem. We found a couple of small villages with shops, but, again, whenever you stopped, you were surrounded. We could hardly get out of one shop for the weight of onlookers, and then the kids followed us for ages asking for the food we'd just bought so we couldn't actually stop and eat it.

The Congo Nile Trail is stunningly beautiful, but there is nowhere in Rwanda you can go to get some peace and quiet. It's not like the UK where you can just walk out into a field and be completely alone. Here, you're followed everywhere. We weren't the only mzungus on the trail. We passed at least two others that day, and many walk it each year, yet each white person is treated as a new event in the eyes of the people who live there.

Just as we were about to run out of water, we discovered this place.

Welcome to Paradis Malahide Part II! 

Paradis Malahide is a renowned guesthouse on Lake Kivu at Gisenyi. In the next bay over, the owner is currently constructing luxury holiday apartments. She was actually there and took us on a guided tour of everything. Very impressive. Beautiful gardens and a large vegetable plot. She even provided us with fresh water, for which we were extremely grateful.

We took our first break just before that, beneath the shade of a gorgeous acacia tree. Its trunk was covered in moss and small leafy plants. The perfect parasol.

After Paradis, we kept going for an hour or so, until we began to flag and run out of water again. We were on a high part of the road, looking down across a valley that appeared to have a guesthouse or something. This is where the panoramic at the top was taken. Jo said I still looked like I was wandering to the shops in Kigali, which was reassuring, as I am so unfit.

We decided to depart from the trail and make our way down into the valley in the hopes of finding more water and perhaps a moto home. We didn't reckon on quite how rocky the road was going to get!

It was like Livingstone exploring the jungle. Very steep, rocky descent to the valley floor. My thighs were shaking by the time we got there. Thankfully I didn't slip, which would have greatly amused the sure-footed goatherds watching from below.

At the bottom we found a winding stream and decided to cool our feet. The landscape is rich in mica, which makes the earth shimmer with silver glitter. It's quite beautiful, though it doesn't show up on a camera. 

Whilst we were resting, a group of about twenty kids appeared on the shore to watch us. We started off again in the general direction we thought the houses were that we'd seen from above. I'd managed to cultivate a blister, so Jo taught me a new trick. If you put micropore tape on the areas that rub - they don't rub anymore! It was a total revelation. Miracle tape. Much better than Elastoplast or Compeed.

The kids were still following us. Jo's Kinya is conversationally fluent, so she asked them how to get to the lake shore. They gave us a personal escort. We emerged from the tall grass to find that the houses were actually a coffee washing station.

Tall Grass

Coffee Cooperative

Coffee Drying

We flumped down under the shade of the bamboo, and Jo called her sister-in-law, Dianne, who is also her PA at the office. She brought a boat to collect us.

Parasid Malahide II Centre

Dianne & Jo

Seafaring Selfie!

Land Ahoy!

Rwandan Waters, Looking Towards Goma in the Distance

This island is apparently owned by the owner of Paradis Malahide!

Bye Bye Little Yellow Rescue Boat!
Delivered us right to the door.

Knackered Girl with Hat Hair!
Glad to be sitting down.

We set out about 8am and made it back around 2:30. After the client, who had gone a shorter route and, by the time we returned to base, gone home! 

It was a fabulous adventure, and so nice to spend quality time with my friend Jo. After all the stress recently, I desperately needed that endorphin injection. It's probably the most exercise I've done since I got here. I certainly haven't been hiking since Vang Vieng in Laos. Just glad my body is still capable. Such a beautiful country, despite the minor irritations and un-touristy setup. I've wanted to take a crack at the Congo Nile Trail since Jo told me about it. It runs all the way from Gisenyi in the far north to Cyangugu in the far south, via Kibuye in the middle. I'd like to do some more of it once my blister has healed.