Beach Vacation

Last week I adventured by myself to Gisenyi, a nearby lake-front “beach” town that I have been hearing about since I arrived in Rwanda. It was a national holiday in Rwanda, so school was out and I was needing to get out of town for the day to experience some new scenery. I decided that I would try out the public transportation system and ride the short one hour bus ride. I hopped on the Virunga Express bus fully expecting to be there in an hour; however, God has a sense of humor. On my first bus trip in Rwanda, the bus breaks down when we are about 10 miles outside of Gisenyi. While we are waiting, I attempt to talk to the boy sitting next to me who had very limited English. Since our conversation was limited, he decided that he would just draw me a picture instead. So he drew a flower in the back of my journal and wrote “its for your” ("for your" what?...not sure). I couldn’t help but laugh to myself as we finally realized the bus was not going to start, so we hopped off and stood stranded on the side of the road in the middle of Nowhere, Africa. Pretty soon, I have a crowd of about 20 town children standing around me just staring. They didn’t try to talk to me, they just stared at the “muzungu”. I love to watch the somber stares of the children break into smiles when I attempt my limited Kinyarwandan and ask them their names.
After about an hour, I manage to find the only person on the bus who spoke a little English, inquiring about how we were to keep traveling. Finally a small bus pulls up, and he tells me this might be our only hope if we want to get to town anytime soon. This was the kind of bus that I had seen and often laughed at riding down the road with about 30 Rwandans crammed into a space meant for about 8 people. They are literally stacked on top of one another. We hop into the crowded bus, with everyone getting a kick out of me being in the middle of the sardine packed vehicle. We kept pulling over to cram more people in, and I kept thinking there is no possible way more people can fit in this bus. Oh, but there is. They really thought it was amusing when I got my camera out and started taking pictures. This guy looks really amused, huh?

I finally arrive to Gisenyi and take a motorcycle taxi to the Serena Hotel, which is the only 5 star hotel in Rwanda. As I stepped onto the peaceful beach, I thought about the adventure of getting there and how I would not have had it any other way. After lunch, a massage, and meeting some very interesting travelers, I head back on an uneventful bus ride home.