'The genocide story is unavoidable, but when you do get past it Rwanda has much to offer the tourist'

'The genocide story is unavoidable, but when you do get past it Rwanda has much to offer the tourist'

Frank remembers travelling around Rwanda.

Frank Gaynor

Trinity College Dublin

2007

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Frank Gaynor

Work and Employment

Life Story

Rwanda, Africa

2000's

The genocide story is unavoidable, but when you do get past it Rwanda has much to offer the tourist. With a population density of over 400 per sq km, Rwanda is the most densely populated country in Africa, so you will never be far away from lots of people. During my time there I was fortunate that Monica was able to spend the first six months with me, and Claire, Fergal, Margaret, and my brother Paddy, came to visit. With a little advance notice it is fairly easy to put together an interesting programme for a visit. Outside Kigali, the main attractions are Nyungwe National Park in the southeast, Akagera National Park in the east, Kibuye and Gisenyi on the shores of Lake Kivu, and the families of gorillas in the Virunga Mountains in the north. Because the genocide story is going to pop up no matter where you go in Rwanda I think it is a good idea to start with a visit to the Genocide Memorial Centre in Kigali. It is the final burial place for 250 000 people and contains a heart - breaking museum. There you can read as much about the genocide as you think you can take, and then move on to exploring the rest of the country. I got a glimpse of Nyungwe National Park once. This Park has one of the most ancient forests in Africa, dating back to before the last Ice Age. It has a great variety of trees, plants, birds and animals. It was after attending the reopening of a church that Father Nicky suggested we should drive 20km down a bad road to look at the forest. Nicky gave the keys of a clapped out old car to a visiting priest from Nairobi, and told Monica and me to get in with him. The brakes were in poor condition and the wipers were not working. A combination of mist and dust soon covered the windscreen, and we had to rely on open windows for guidance. As soon as the forest came into view our driver did a reckless U - turn and headed back to base. We spent a number of pleasant weekends in Akagera National Park, with Richard as our driver and guide; he grew up near this park. We stayed in Akagera Lodge, which was comfortable, had a swimming pool, and was situated with wonderful views of the park. On most occasions we saw a good selection of the animals - giraffe, hippo, zebra, buffalo, impala, and lots of interesting birds. Sometimes we saw an elephant or two. The day I was there with Fergal and his friend Barbra, having driven around for a couple of hours we had seen a good selection of animals and birds, but no elephant. Barbra, on her first trip to Africa, was adamant that she must see an elephant. Four hours later the steely silence in the vehicle was broken when we spotted three black moving objects on the far side of a lake. They looked no bigger than cats, but, yes, Barbra had seen elephants in Africa and we were cleared to exit.When we visited Gisenyi in the northwest it was our driver Innocent who was on home territory. We did not need his assistance in Gisenyi. There we had a selection of hotels and guesthouses, a sandy beach, and the warm water of beautiful Lake Kivu. It was when we decided to visit Goma that Innocent's local knowledge came in useful.Goma first hit our TV screens in Ireland in a big way in July 1994. After the capture of Gisenyi by RPF forces, over a period of four days over 800 000 Rwandans, mostly Hutu, crossed the border into Goma. There they settled into five massive camps organised by their former leaders in Rwanda. They included 30 000 to 40 000 fully armed soldiers of the former Armed Forces of Rwanda. In one 24 - hour period in late July the death toll near Goma, from cholera, diarrhea, and other diseases, was 7 000. Because the camps were located on a plain of volcanic rock, aid workers were unable to dig graves for the bodies that began to line the roads. Following huge international media coverage of the plight of these refugees over 200 aid agencies rushed to Goma. In 2002 Goma was in the news again when nearby Mount Nyiragongo erupted, and lava flows destroyed about one - third of the town.Gisenyi and Goma exist side by side on the Rwanda/DRC border. The border post did not inspire any confidence, and without Innocent I don't think we would have crossed over. On the Goma side we got a taxi to take us on a tour of the town. As we drove along on both sides of us we saw the tops of windows at street level, and soon realised that the rest of each building was buried under lava. People were somehow carrying on with their daily chores, but overall it was the most depressed and hopeless looking town I have ever passed through. At the airport it was clear where the lava flow had stopped; part of the runway was clear, the other part was covered in lava. Along the lake shore there was no sign of lava, just a sandy beach and some attractive lakeside houses. I was happy to return to Gisenyi but pleased that I had seen the other side of the border. When we visited there with Paddy and Mags, Paddy had the pleasure of travelling around by bicycle taxi, and Innocent treated Mags to an eventful night out in a couple of the border nightclubs.I went on one visit to the mountain gorillas, who live at 3,000m to 4,000m above sea level in the Virunga chain of volcanic peaks in north Rwanda, close to the Uganda border. The road as far as Ruhangeri was good; from there to the camp office required 4 - wheel drive in places. At the camp office we were assigned one of the gorilla families to visit. Each morning trackers locate the families so that the tour guides know where to go. We first walked across rugged terrain for over an hour, and then up a hillside into dense rainforest. The guides, using machetes, slashed vines in places to enable us to get through. We walked and scrambled across slippery vines. Paddy later mentioned how grateful he was for Mags's assistance at this stage. Unexpectedly we stopped, and there in front of us among the vines was a family of 8 or 9 gorillas. For an hour we watched the gorillas at close range as they all ate leaves; the young ones played and climbed and fell, and the older ones thumped their chests, lazed around, and lay down to sleep. Then we had to go. The rules are strict. It is important that visitors do not pass on any human germs. The 1998 film, 'Gorillas in the Mist', tells the story of Dian Fossey, her work with the Virunga gorillas, and her efforts to protect them. For 18 years her primitive research camp in the Virunga Mountains had been her home. In December 1985 she was murdered in this camp. Investigators found no obvious motive for the killing.

Irish Research Council for Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences (IRCHSS)

Dr Kathleen McTiernan (Trinity College Dublin)

Dr Deirdre O'Donnell (Trinity College Dublin)