Today was another great day of hiking. After reluctantly leaving the topview hill hotel this morning, we drove to the beginning of the hike. Our group included myself, Faye, two ENT physicians from Germany, and a USAID worker. First of all, Alia from USAID was very interesting to talk with. As part of her job, she has spent time in half a dozen countries in Africa, indonesia, and even did 6 years helping to rebuild Afghanistan. She had some amazing stories about working with local governments and trying to help people rebuild their country. Sadly, I didn’t really know too much about USAID. From what I understand, this is one of the things that our government does well. It is a government run program that goes to a variety of countries throughout the world and helps rebuild communities after war and conflict. Obviously they have a big job in Afghanistan, but in Rwanda they really have helped the people recover from the genocide. She was specifically involved in helping local residents develop tourism that uses the natural resources of Rwanda as well as being eco-friendly. The other two members of our group were two ENT physicians from Germany. They are actually working at the same hospital as us and we will see them on monday in the operating room. They both had great stories about trying to teach the ENT residents here. As it turns out, the anesthesia department is ahead of the game and has developed a structure which helps all of our anesthesia residents succeed. From what we were hearing, the ENT department is struggling to have a regular curriculum and that has limited the education of the ENT residents here.
The hike itself was great. We started off in the tea fields near the ranger’s station. It was very interesting hiking through the tea fields and all of a sudden transitioning into the rain forest. The hike was a little difficult at times, but the waterfall at the end was worth it. We were able to take some pretty good as you can see. About half way back, we figured out why they call it a RAIN forest. Luckily, everyone had rain gear, but by the time we got to the Tea House for lunch pretty much everyone was soaking wet. Because we didn’t have anywhere to go, the five of us were able to have lunch at the Tea House, which was actually pretty nice.
Our driver, Isaac, drove us back to Kigali. The drive was probably about 150 miles long, but took us 5 hours. In Rwanda, most people travel by walking along the side of the road. Needless to say sometimes two cars and people on both sides of the road is not safe. Isaac did a great job of driving carefully and keeping us safe on the way back. Driving here is definitely an experience. Isaac also spotted about three groups of monkeys along the drive. We stopped and watched one group for quite a bit. Hope you enjoy the pictures.
Michael
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