21
JULY 2005 ‚ 1202 HOURS ‚ KIGALI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, RWANDA
With a 2 p.m. flight back to Nairobi, and a 2.5-hour trip from the lodge back
to Kigali, we weren't left with any time to wander the grounds and get what could
have been some spectacular shots of the surrounding mountains and farmlands.
But we were treated to the sun for the first time shining on the water of Lake
Ruhondo and I made sure to grab some snaps of it and our banda in the sunlight.
After breakfast off we went, saying goodbye to the lodge's fine staff and hello
to the open road to Rwanda's capitol.
About two-thirds of the way there Francis pulled off along an empty stretch of road for us to stop and stretch our legs and in moments we were approached by four young boys out of nowhere who called out "bonjour" from a short distance to which I replied "bonjour, comment t'allez vous?" And one of them said "cava, est vous?" And I said "cava, bien," which pretty much concluded any ability I had to conversate in French. In English, I asked them if I could take their picture and they did not undertand, so I leaned into the vehicle and showed them the camera, pointing to it and then to them and they nodded enthusiastically. After motioning them to get together in a group, one of the boys suddenly did a full splits, followed by the boy on the left and the one in the middle. The fourth boy didn't because he was wearing more of a skirt and not shorts like the others.
I
showed them the picture on the camera's screen and they were pleased
by it. Then they began asking for something in another language I didn't
understand at all ‚ thank god it wasn't agachupa (water bottles) and
I asked Francis for a translation. Turned out they were asking for
a pen.
A pen! I turned and asked Susan
if she was willing to part with hers but it's one of her favorites.
I certainly would have given them mine, but it has sentimental value
being that it was the official space pen adorned with the seal of the
U.S. House of Representatives given to me by my friend and fellow docent
Laure McNulty who used to be the full-time nanny for Congressman Xavier
Beccera. I was sad that I couln't give them what they wanted and after
we got back on the road it dawned on me that I should've at least offered
them pieces of gum or the candy bar I've been carrying since we left.
Here in the airport some three hours later and I'm still kicking myself
that I didn't offer tham at least the tiniest tokens of appreciation.
Once we arrived in Kigali, Francis
headed us to a bookshop so that we could purchase a map of Rwanda (7500
Rwandan francs = $15). Looking around at the titles available Susan
found "The Making of Hotel Rwanda" and it was finally at that moment
that we understood the Hotel des Mille Collines where we had lunch
our first day in country is THE Hotel Rwanda.
Damn!
After leaving the bookshop,
rather than visit the marketplace Francis had suggested we were content
just to have him show us around the city before getting us to the airport.
Our flight leaves in about an hour and we just bought a pound of Rwandan
coffee, which used to be the country's chief export until coffee
prices collapsed in 1986. Next stop? Back to the Intercontinental
Hotel in
Nairobi for an overnight
before a flight to Arusha to being our safaris in Tanzania.