Rhuengeri, Rwanda

We travel here to hike a volcano. This is more like it. Here the people stare- they dont smile... BUT when you smile their face breaks wide open with welcome. This is more of the Africa that I have the pleasure of coming to know over the past months. We climb the Volcano for 4 hours- but at the top is a beautiful crater lake. The other side of the crater is the Congo- so we bring an armed guard with us for "the animals". On the hike down- not only do I experience the inconvience of a dodgy tummy, but it begins to hale as I stop time and time again. The rain turns the mountain into a mudslide and we are covered by the time we emerge from the woods 4 hours later. My boda boda driver is waiting for me- an adorable boy named Laurent. He takes one look at me and shakes his head. Later when we get a flat tire- I draw a crowd of 20-30 people watching me try to scrape the mud from my shoes and body. Here a muzungu is fascinating. A man told me people like to see the muzungu tourist here because it means the security in the country is good. And it is. Its incredibly safe and pumped with forgien aid. We take long ice cold bucket showers when we get back .... just the thing for a hard days work. "I love Africa" Nikki says as a group of 5 men gather to watch us do our laundry. They have brought chairs for the occasion. Oh Africa.....