Gisyeni and Bralirwa

Bralirwa

Friday through Sunday go by too fast in the States, but in here Rwanda- there is never enough time- yet never a hurry. Friday morning, Dennis and I taught one of the Spark facilitators (Anathalie) the theory behind a logic model. It was brilliant because she caught on very quickly and was even able to teach a class full of students that afternoon in Rugarama. Dennis and I sat in listening to the lecture in Kinyarwanda. I picked out some of the conversation and some new words, but it is hard to know exactly what was being said. Either way, it was fun and many of the students recognized Dennis since he had been there the week earlier. That was followed by a quick signing of the ‘guest book/compliment book’ and then a glance at the volcano, Muhabura, before we were cramped into another matatu heading for Musanze.

Meeting some S2 students visiting the springs for their geography class.

Upon arriving home, we met Ross, a friend of Eamon’s from Gisyeni- just where we planned to go for the weekend! He was incredibly generous and offered us some rooms at his home! While Ernest was going to come to Gisyeni with us, it was nice to have someone who lived there come along with us! It saved us a late night search for a hotel (and/or an early morning trek from Musanze). We managed to just miss the 7pm bus, but that gave us time to get bruchettes and Fanta on the rooftop restaurant of Musanze’s Equity Bank. The ride was a safe one, though there was an extremely present irony in the trip beginning with a showing of an airline safety video in Chinese to a bunch of Rwandese bus travelers without seatbelts to buckle (even on this nice Chinese Bus). As you can imagine, very few people actually paid attention and those who watched the silly video, like me did so more out of amusement than learning. I could only chuckle at the end and say, “well, that definitely will help…not!”

The whole town of Gisyeni was surprising. I knew it was on Lake Kivu and would therefore be beautiful, but the amazing number of very large homes was relatively astounding! The home we stayed in was owned by a Muzungu man and his Rwandan wife, and included an outdoor library (with books on every topic you can imagine!). The books ranged on topic from genocide to the history of beads, and even included opposition newspapers and build your own house books (including yurts- just in case that was in your future)! It was well decorated and luckily stocked with many kitchen tools from the US, which allowed Dennis and I to help make a delicious pasta dinner alongside Ross for some of his friends! He was such a fabulous host, and I hope that I am able to pay that back through visiting Uganda next weekend!

View from the Springs

Dennis and I spent most of Saturday wandering around Gisyeni. After breakfast the next morning, we traveled to Bralirwa- the distillery and methane extraction (Lake Kivu is a methane lake (yes, it could explode) and a hot springs nearby.

Bubbling, not quite boiling.

Out first stop was the hot springs, and after the beautiful moto ride to them it was nice to be back on solid ground! The hot springs was much smaller than I was expecting (when you think of Hot Springs National Park in the U.S., your comparison will be impossible. This area was a small swath of beach where the water bubbles out of the sand into little pools of water. 

One of the pools created by the spring.

Supposedly there are healing properties to the waters, but there is also a legend that a spirit lives in the lake sucking people under the water. While a little horrific, because people are actually killed due to this suction, the legend could hold some grains of truth from poisonous gases to lava tubes or geysers. To have the hot water bubble out of the beach sand, the more scientific definition seems to argue that the molten materials deep in the earth give off carbon dioxide and water vapor that comes to the surface in bubbles and hot water. 

Either way, the site was fabulously breath-taking! Enjoy the pictures!

Dennis teaching kids not to punch, but rather to be 'gentler'.

Ross and some kids near the springs.

Ngabo our fabulous guide!

After the hot Springs, we walked into town, passed the brewery and bottling plant for just about all drinks (besides water) in Rwanda, and hopped on a crowded matatu back to Gisyeni where we met up with Ernest's cousin for some pineapple. We are eating more than our share of it here- always fresh and the equivalent of 33 cents! Can't beat it!