Exploding lakes, Heart of Darkness, gorilla in the market oh my!

While I have not had any major adventures in the last week, I have had a few fun mini excursions to catch everyone up on.    Last Saturday Jan drove Molly and I to Lake Kivu near the DRC/Rwanda border. I had never heard of an exploding lake, but apparently this is one of 3 in the world...all of which are in Africa.  There is a combination of Methane and C02in this lake that the Rwandans are able to tap to power the Primus Beer factory. I was very excited about all of this until Jan explained how the lake will occasionally "burp" and kill everyone in the surrounding area by suffocating them with C02.  I had to google all of this to really get an understanding of the situation...very strange.  

While trying to hide yet another new fear ( I have been discovering and conquering many fears this trip this time of C02 poisoning...) we made our way along the lake pausing by a population of large, noisy but intriguing fruit bats and enjoying the views of the old "mansions" that the Beligiums left behind.  Just as my stomach began to rumble, we found our destination an unassuming small hotel and restaurant aptly called "Paradise." 

As we walked past the bar and the beautiful fireplace to the outside seating a beautiful view emerged in front of us.  There was a cool breeze coming off the lake and other than our chatting, the only noise was from the birds fishing for breakfast.  We sat and enjoyed the scenery and drinks while waiting for our lunch.  In typical African fashion, lunch came about an hour later just as I thought I may pass out from hunger.  2 surprising things: 1. We were given wooden utensils and 2.My fish still had all its parts.  Those of you who  know me well know that this may have made me hesitate, but did not stop me from digging in! 

We finished up lunch and headed onto our next destination- Goma, DRC. Of course everyone at home hears Congo and thinks the worst, but I was assured that Goma was far from rebel activity and safe to visit.  Jan and Molly wanted to buy some fabric for some skirts and bags and Congo has the best most colorful ones!  After officially exiting Rwanda, waiting forever to check into (and pay!) DRC, we met a driver who took us to the market. They mostly speak French in DRC, so I felt way more comfortable and was even able to help negotiate some pricing.  When we were finished, Jan asked our driver to drive by the airport so that I could see the UN base and where all of the action happens.  Then, it was home again, home again!

Sunday evening Jan recieved an emergency call about a silverback in the marketplace in DRC.  This particular silverback has a traumatic past in which his entire family was murdered by poachers.  He has made it a habit to come out of the protected park and destroy crops and other property.  He has even seriously injured several park gaurds who have tried to scare him back into the forest.  He had already been sedated and moved once before and it seems that would need to be done again.  I was not able to go on this trip, but I sent my video camera with Molly (our photographer) and the rest of the crew.  They spent Sunday night in Goma and then went to the market where they found hundreds and hundreds of villagers screaming and yelling while this massive magestic animal just sat and ate.  Fortunately nobody had injured him and he had to yet been aggressive.  From the stories and videos I was able to see, the docs were able to dart him, but then also needed several other injections of sedative before loading him up on a stretcher, driving into the park and then having a crew of people carry the big stretcher deep into the forest.  The doctors collected many samples, as they always try to do during any intervention, for research purposes. They then watched "Makunda" wake up slowly and returned home late Monday evening. 

Since I had been home alone and bored, I was thrilled to meet the exhausted team late at night in the lab to get all the samples started and the remaining ones packed up for future use.  I felt a little more at home running CBCs, fecals, and chemistries.

I have been trying to stay busy otherwise with some menial but necessary tasks.  I "fixed"a scale that really just needed a battery, tested a closet full of batteries to sort out the dead ones, and have been walking our friend Kim's South African Boerboel- which is a mix between a mastiff, a rhodesian ridgeback, and a great dane.  He is just a pup, but already massive.  We certainly get looks walking up and down the street!  Molly kept me entertained by taking me to dinner at Muhabura Hotel, a place that Dian Fossey stayed frequently during her time here,although we had a generally quiet week.

Yesterday MGVP recieved a call about an infant gorilla (7 months old) that had been killed in a scurmish within his group.  He was being sent to us to necropsy as soon as the trackers could obtain his body.  It is normal for the mother to carry around a deceased baby for quite awhile.  We also recieved a call about a deceased Golden Monkey that we were to also perform a necropsy on.

Although we knew the cause of death of the infant, MGVP always performs necropsies on any deceased gorilla or golden monkey.  

As the docs performed their exams, I filled out the reports and assisted their technicians in properly labeling and storing samples.  Samples from every animal are split into 2.  RDB the park authority gets half and MGVP gets half.  They save organs, muscle tissue, fecal, urine, stomach contents, bone marrow,etc. all for future testing and research.  There are many projects around the world that rely on DNA tests and other research that is performed on these samples.

Although I am generally a stoic person, I have to say when the infant was placed on the table, I had to catch my breath.  They are so human-like, and he was so recently deceased, it was easy to imagine a little person laying there.  We all worked in quiet respect for the little man as we went about our business.

I joined the group this morning as we buried both bodies.  This is more than a way to dispose of the bodies.  There is a woman here working on her phd in bone studies.  We bury the bodies in a certain manner in a certain position which are all well documented, and then 1 year later they are exhumed and their bones collected.She has the world's largest collection of Mountain Gorilla bones in the world.

Now, I begin an office project of organizing medical charts that have been a bit disorganized for years.....slightly less adventerous than my first few weeks, but there is something to be said for that!   

And I would walk 500 miles....

Before I discuss Monday, which marked my first day with Ernest, a former student of my friend John and a sector vet (sector vets have about a high school level education but are the closest to veterinarians that is available for most local farms) I should explain a bit about the government here. Sector vets control the agriculture in the area so we had to get special permission for me to tag along and make sure that everyone knew what I was doing here etc.  The government is very involved in every aspect of daily life here and they like to know everything that is going on. They want to know who is in this country and what exactly they are doing while here- this is especially true with the upcoming elections.  With Rwanda being about the size of Maryland, it is very easy for them to keep tabs on everyone's activities.  Nothing flies under the radar here. Last week I had been at a small graduation ceremony for a local woman at her home and the former governor of the Northern Province, Bucagu Boniface showed up and sat with us.  The woman's boyfriend has done a lot of work with the government and they wanted to show their support for him.  Boniface and each of his friends stood to give long drawn out speeches that were mostly about the boyfriend and rallied the party with pro-RPF slogans.  The people here seem to love him and he seemed to love grandstanding for them.  It was a bit awkward because "Umuzungus" (pronounced Muzungu- we hear it shouted everywhere we walk- not as an insult, more like an announcement) or "White People" always have the seats of honor.  Molly, 2 friends, and I were seated at the head of the room before Mr. Boniface showed up.  He was then seated next to us in a lower place.  He did not seem to mind and welcomed us warmly to Rwanda.  Those of you who may have read about Genocide may recognize his name...

Back to my first couple of days with the sector vet....

Noel, the technician I work with here at MGVP, came with me the first day.  We took the bus about 25 minutes to meet Ernest, who took us to the sector vet's home where we prepared for the day.  They had a plan to help me experience as much as possible during my time with them.  We packed up frozen bull semen and some instruments and headed out.  We did not get far, as there was a woman with an ailing sheep outside his door.  I immediately recognized a massive ocular ulcer.  He asked my recommendations, to which I said antibiotic ointment every few hours. He agreed, wrote down what she needed to get from the store, and we went along on our way.  This sector vet does not want anyone to know I am not an "expert" so he has told everyone that I am an American veterinarian here to help.  This made me uncomfortable but I quickly realized that this was probably the right decision.  He said to just look like I knew what I was doing, he would teach as we went in English since nobody in these rural areas speaks English. 

We then set out on foot.  Now, if you recall, I had just climbed Gahinga the previous day and was not only incredibly sore, but also seemed to have injured my knee.  I follwed Ernest and this vet for hours, walking up and down hills (Rwanda is not called "Land of a Thousand Hills" for nothing) trying to suck it up.  First we insemenated a cow that was in natural heat.  I was able to palpate and try to locate the cervix. Then we visited a cow that had given birth to twins, but the owners had attempted to help and it appeared that she had dislocated something in the process of them hauling calves out of her.  After much discussion that I did not understand, the sector vet gave an oxytet injection, Noel and I collected blood and feces, and we went on our way.  This seemed completely inadequate, but I am learning that is the norm around here. 

I then was able to palpate two pregnant cows. One that was due in a week, one that was just a few months along.  I was able to easily feel the almost due calf and gently touch his moving head, but had a more difficult time feeling the other one.  It was hard with broken English directions.  I did mention that I thought the one calf would be here any minute. After walking who knows how many miles over 4 hours, we took a smaller bus to inseminate one more cow before hoping on another overcrowded tiny van/bus to head home. We had already missed lunch and my knee was pretty sore, so I called it a day.  I ended my day by helping Molly prepare a delicious dinner of stir fry veggies and pinapple rice and waited for friends from Project Rwanda to join us for dinner.

Tuesday, Ernest wanted me to experience an "abattoir" or local slaughterhouse.  That meant being in their town before the buses ran so Jan was kind enough to drive me out there at 5:30am.  Ernest, the SV, and I all walked to the local market where the killing was to begin.  I am not naive and did not expect this to be pretty, but I had wrongly assumed that they were at least quick about their business. Our job was to do a cursory anti-mortem exam to make sure there was nothing very obviously wrong with the animals before slaughter and then to witness the butchering, then closely inspect the organs looking for problems.

Turns out that they had three cows to slaughter that morning and they wasted no time in beginning.  I was told that the cows were first "stunned" by cutting the nerves that rest behind their ears at the top of their head.  What I witnessed was not "stunned" cows, but essentially hacking animals with rusty dull knives before trying to slit their throats then watching each one take 10 minutes to die.  The worst part was that the live ones watched the others be slaughtered and butchered before it was their turn. I wanted to scream, I wanted to cry, I wanted to run as fast as I could, but I didnt.  My feet were glued, my throat was dry.  The only outward sign I gave was shivering, to which Ernest asked if I was too cold in the mountain air.

After the cows were deceased, I regained my objectiveness and was able to focus on the meat inspection.    As they sat there discussing Anthrax and TB, I could not imagine why they were not wearing masks and gloves.  Ernest and the SV were impressed with my knowledge of anatomy but disappointed that I would not take part in the touching and cutting of the meat without gloves.  I was more disgusted by the minute as we cut open the liver to find what I would have called a large infestation of liver flukes and one of the stomachs that had a heavy parasite load.  Apparently, this was fine and not enough to not approve the meat.  They explained that the liver flukes would be cut out and the remaining part was still edible and that the parasites would cook off as long as the meat was cooked to a high enough temperature.

I was eager to leave that area as soon as possible and was excited to hear our next stop.  The calf that I had felt in the womb the previous day had apparently been born hours after I left.  I guess I stimulated her.  He is from an American father, a Holstein.  I went to do a brief exam to make sure he seemed ok (although I don't know much about cows..) which he did, but mom kept a watchful eye and her horns pointed towards me, so I made it quick.  I then learned that the cow with a potential dislocation had died.  I was sort of relieved that her suffering was over, but felt for her calves.  There was another cow there with milk that would help sustain them.

Next, we recieved and emergency call about a cow with a prolapsed uterus.  The SV assured me that is was close to his home and that it was an easy thing to fix, in fact, I would be fixing it myself!  We did not have time to wait for a bus, so we took bicycle taxis...yes, I, who cannot ride a bike, rode the back "seat" of this bicycle for several miles back to the SV's home.  Although I could not have clenched my stomach any harder as we went up and down steep hills I did manage to make it in one piece.  We then set off to find this cow. Turns out we were several miles from her.  Ugh.  My knee was already screaming but off we went.  When we found her, she was being led along the road by about 10 people.  We tried to get her tied to a tree when she promptly took off down the mountain.  We waited as her entourage went to fetch her. 

 Once restrained I was able to see and attempt to fix the problem.  I was told to use my fists so that my fingers didnt puncture anything.  I was able to reduce the uterous, but found that something did not feel quite right, so I had the SV step in to finish.  Turns out she had also prolapsed her bladder. He spent a long time reducing it all and then had Ernest hold her vulva shut so he could suture it closed. They use what is essentially thick string to suture and old dull dirty needles.  I winced everytime he punctured her skin, but she did not react at all.  I then gave her an injection of Oxytet ( I think thats all they have around here) and we sent her on her way.

Ernest then helped me get on the correct bus home.  I even figured out where I was supposed to get off so that I did not have to walk an additional 2 miles to MGVP.  Another exciting day in the field!  After lunch, Olivier, another one of John'sstudents, stopped by.  I had him and Noel look at some blood smears and fecals and ask questions as they went.  I discussed my awful early morning experience and Noel assured me that in the city it is better and that they are working on laws to improve cattle welfare and killing techniques.

I decided for the sake of my knee that Wedesday would be a semi day off to rest and update my blog.  I did have a relaxing day although on the morning forest check, the gorilla doctors found a dead golden monkey.  Noel and I did the necropsy and report.  Very interesting.  Dogs or some other small carnivore had already gotten most of this poor guy but we wonder if a poacher caught it and then had to drop it while fleeing. Illegal poaching of Golden Monkeys for meat is common here.  The docs were also able to disarm 3 snares while visiting the gorillas.  The snares are set for bushbucks, but frequently young uneducated gorillas will place an arm in one while walking and many end up losing their  hands to subsequent infection.

Thursday morning was filled by visiting our friend Julie Ghrist's class.  She started and runs Art of Conservation,(http://www.art-of-conservation.com/) a great group that teaches children conservation through the arts.  The kids were wonderful and so eager to learn!  Noel did a demonstration of what Gorilla Doctors (http://http://www.gorilladoctors.org/) do and explained why it is so important to protect the Mountain Gorillas.  I was invited to participate in the days art activites which was great fun!  My days here seem to vary between exciting, downtime, and too exciting!  I will update more as the adventure continues!

It's all about the Climb

Since Molly had not yet steered me wrong, I fully trusted her when she said I could easily climb Gahinga, the smallest in a chain of 3 volcanos, the others being Muhabura and Sabynyo.  Seemed like a great way to spend 4th of July to me!  We had packed lunches, some beef jerky, and a driver for the day who took us down the long barely existing road to the Mgahinga Gorilla National Park where he would wait for us. We paid our permit fees and listened to a briefing on the climb. This was considered a moderate climb and we would be joined by a guide, an armed gaurd, and a porter we hired to carry our packs. 

The guide told us to expect a 4-5 hour hike up and 2 hours down.  I was instantly asuming we would taking 6 hours up since I am not in the best shape. Turns out that the altitude was the biggest hurdle.  Most people do not attempt to climb until they have been in the area for a month to adjust to the approx 7,000 ft that we live at here. I had been here for exactly 8.5 days.  The height of this volcano is close to 12,000 feet above sea level.

As we started the 8km trek up the mountain, it was slightly sloping, inviting, and beautiful.  As we dodged the buffalo poop (yes, there are buffalo, elephants, golden monkeys,and bushbucks in these forests) our guide found the first of 3 tiny chameleons that we came accross. 

As we continued, the air became noticably thinner and I was having to start taking some breaks.  I heard Jan's voice in my head "take you time, stop often, do not be embarassed."  I was certainly embarassed the first 2 hours, but after that, there was no choice.  My legs burned with every step, my chest ached with pressure, my mind was unfocused.  As we went from grassland to bamboo forest to virgin forest, the hills turned to makeshift steps, which turned to a series of unstable ladders amist steep hills. It was hard for me to take the time to look around and realize just how unbelievably gorgeous my surroundings were. There were no breaks in the steepness as we went up.  Molly was so patient and encouraging every step of the way, taking time to stop and discuss the different flora when I needed to catch my breath.  At several points I really thought I wouldnt make it, but Molly's assurance that I was doing well and my stubborness must have taken over. Towards the end, I think I was stopping every 50 feet or so and offered to let them go on ahead but the guide told me we were close, that I could make it.  I was a little delerious and at the brink of tears at this point, but just tried to take one step at a time. 

Finally, we reached the top!  I was so excited I just wanted to lay down and take a nap! This was definately the hardest thing I have put my poor body through.  I asked for a time check, thinking I had slowed us down quite a bit, but we actually made it up in almost exactly 4 hours!  The air was cold and crisp, I could see my breath as Molly and I chatted.  We enjoyed our time at the top taking in views of the swamp and the forest. It felt like a fantasty movie with the mist periodically creeping over the swamp, birds singing, and bees surrounding us. It was easy to picture the gorillas snacking up here when there were no tourists to bother them. As I ate my hard boiled eggs and beef jerky (hey it was independance day, we had to have something american!) and the bees crawled all over us ( I repeated the mantra show no fear and they will not sting over and over) I couldn't help but be proud of myself.

As we descended down the mountain, my knees groaned and my muscles burned, but my mind was sharp...could be all that oxygen once we reached a lower altitude, but I like there think there was a little something special in the air that afternoon.

The Case of the Homesick Goat and other short stories...

Thursday, MGVP recieved a call from  Justice, a friend of the group, that one of is goats had not eaten in 3 days and he was very worried. This particular goat was a gift from one of our doctors, and a very sweet boy,so we were also very concerned. After sending our technician to check on him (its over an hour and over a border from here) "Tommy's" illness remained a mystery, so the next day Magda, Noel, and I all drove to the Uganda border to pick up the poor boy. This was a quick trip since we were in the middle of having "rounds"with MGVP vets from all 3 countries (DRC, Uganda, Rwanda) and went to a lecture on socio-economics of the people surrounding the forest. When we arrived we found him to be very thin, but in good spirits. He rode all the way home on my lap. As soon as we had him back at the compound, he instantly ate everything we put in front of him! Labwork was all normal, physical exam was normal...my verdict was that we had a case of a homesick goat. We are keeping him here with us (and the dogs) for a few weeks to fatten him up before returning him to Uganda.

Saturday, Molly wanted to show me around Uganda and take me to Justice's farm. We walked to the bus, and I had my first public transportation experience.  It was crowded andstinky, but not nearly as bad as I had imagined.  As we arrived at the border, Molly took over, she had previously looked up exchange rates etc. and was great at dealing with the swarms of people that attack you as you get off the bus.  The border is a bit like an old west scene, with old buildings and dusty roads. There was a slightly complicated system to check out of one country and into the other and you have to pay and enterance fee of $50 to get into Uganda.  Molly then expertly negotiated motorbike fees and I nervously hopped on the back of one (helmet on of course!)  We took a 25 minute ride over twisty bumpy "roads." Once I was able to relax enough to look, I realized how amazing the views were.  Riding those bikes on those rocks is a bit like riding a tiny bucking pony, only heels down and look up doesn't really apply. I was grateful for my full face helmet when I saw that Molly's face was a very different color when we arrived from all the road dust!  First we stopped at the very famous Traveler's Rest (Dian Fossey and others have stayed there many times) to make dinner reservations as Molly explained it was the best and very cheap.  Then we checked in at the Golden Monkey which is like a cute glorified hostel.  Molly knew all of the staff and we actually got a room with a toilet (other alternative is the shared hole for all rooms) and shower! Plus they had a Gus look alike named Barney- as you can see, he was vicious.  We then met up with Justice.

 Justice is a very sweet man who lost most of his family in the genocide. He, his mother, and his older sister survived. His sister was then blessed with two wonderful sons, but she and her husband were tragically killed in an accident, leaving the boys in the care of their uncle. Unfortunately, Justice works very hard at whatever jobs he can get in addition to selling potatos but it is not enough to feed everyone. My friend took an interest in Justice's family and set him up with goats and a cow who recently calved. This is now still barely enough to get by on and the boys were not recieving any education and almost no nutrition. My friend decided to pay for the boys to enter boarding school where they are only about 30 min from their uncle.  They get proper food, and are being well educated. Unfortunately this friend is currently unable to help pay anymore so everybody here is trying to scrape together enough for the $200 a month tuition that covers both boys. I went with Justice to meet them, the picture is Prosper, the younger boy. I delievered the toys, clothes, and books that you all were kind enough to send with me, to their farm so the boys will have them when they come home on break.  They had previously been robbed of everything, including the kids clothes and books.They are so grateful for everything.   If anyone is interested in helping, let me know!  We are going to attempt to gather enough for at least a year's tuition back in the states, $2400.

We left Justice's and again hopped on the motorbikes and headed to the Golden Monkey for a shower and rest before dinner.  Dinner was fabulous! It was some sort of fish tartar with horseradish,tomato soup then an amazing salad of green beans, lettuce, tomatoes and other fresh veggies. Then came the potatoes, fennel (ick,) and the main course of broiled fish on eggplant. For dessert, my first since i'd been here, we had boisonberry crumble. Mmmm..hands down the best meal I have had since I got here..best part? With our NGO discount, the grand total was $9 including wine.

It was then bedtime, and time to mentally prepare for Sunday's challenge.  Molly was taking me to climb a volcano.

First Day of "Work"

Sunday was quiet but nice. Since I am directionally challenged and not yet familiar with my surroundings, I havent been brave enough to wander around town alone yet, so the ever patient Molly took me on a walking tour of the market place etc. Since most were in church this was a quiet day though to me the streets seemed full. The market was full of fresh veggies, fruits, eggs, and anything else you could want. After passing by the meat stand with carcasses hanging out, I think I will not be eating meat for the most part while I am here. We then had a delicious dinner with friends from Team Rwanda and home for the evening.

I awoke monday morning full of excitement, ready to be helpful instead of a bump on a log as I had been. I met Noel (A recently graduated Rwandan Veterinarian) accross the hall at 8 am to being our work. First we were to walk to a nearby partner farm to collect some blood and feces for us to practice with at the lab. This is a very rudimentary farm with 3 cows in a makeshift barn. My cow friends would be proud as I helped to restrain the cows head. As Noel was unable to hit the vein, I offered up my skills. Unfortantely nobody told me that what i thought was a puddle was actually a bottomless pit of cow waste. Yup. I slipped in it. I am not quite ready to discuss the details, but it was the most foul experience of my life.

Back in the lab, after multiple showers, it became clear that Noel was very enthusiastic to learn new techniques. I finally felt useful. We practiced making blood smears and identifying cells. He learned to count platelets, differenciate between cells, and is beginning to learn RBC morphology. There are no books here for him to look at and rarely anyone around to ask, so he has pretty much been self taught. I have done some drawings for him, but hope to have someone at home send me real picturesi can print out for him to have in full color.

Dr. Magda then took us with her to Karisoke Research Center to visit some dogs that had belonged to a famous researcher who passed away last year. There is a local man who's entire job is to look after these two dogs. Unfortunately, during their owner's illness, they were improperly medicated for years and suffer many maladies due to that. We were just doing a general wellness check. One of the dogs has tendon issues ( and is probably cushinoid and has horrible allergies plus a white dog does not fare well in Africa) and one of her back legs doesnt work well. I am brainstorming a way to fashion her a removable splint so that she can get around easier. Both dogs were friendly and very overweight. The diet had been changed to an appropriate one, but they do not get enough excersize due to the one's injury and her sister not wanting to leave her side. They are well taken care of but it is not a great situation. The part of the research center that I saw was beautiful although I did not get a full tour.

We then headed to Magda's home where we visited her 20 month old donkey and her 3 dogs. She has a lovely little set up with a mini barn, fenced in areas etc. Magda was on the Polish Dressage team several years back and is a very accomplished horsewoman. She wanted to show me how she was trimming his feet becuase they dont have any trimmers, nippers, or files. She was creative and brave using an electric circular saw to do his hooves. I was shocked by how well behaved he was for all of this! Quinn would never pick his feet up so nicely and stand for that noise! Although the donkey was not very happy with his back feet being done, he tolerated it way better than I would have anticipated. We are awaiting a hoofknife from a traveling friend. Magda even has this guy lounging nicely! Impressive! Don't worry...I took video!

While finishing up there, Magda recieved a call from the gorilla orphanage. There have been some majoy electric fence issues and one of the more clever girls kept getting out. They have been trying to get an electrician to fix it, but in the meantime they are trying to figure out a long term sedation solution. Since I am not allowed near the gorillas due to having been in the US so recently, I never imagined I would be invited, but Magda said, hop in the car we are going! We parked the truck outside the fence and I climbed onto the roof where I was able to watch the babies frolic, eat, and just hang out. Although the experience was short, it was truly amazing to watch these gentle giants act just like human kids. On the way home we stopped to help a chicken that a motorbike had run over...interesting...

So what started out as a "crappy" day ended up pretty amazing! Molly and I decided to eat leftovers and watch a movie...those of you who know me well can guess the first movie I introduced her to...Stepborthers has now officially entered Rwanda : )

I don't expect I will be able to give this detailed of an update everyday, so I am taking advantage while I can!

Off to the market to shop for dinner!

We had a great day at Virunga lodge...we went with a friend, Julie, from Art of conservation who had us do crafts to show her students. Mine is pictured above. I asked her to tell them a 3 year old made it. Our assignment was to make a female bipedal gorilla then cover with glue and tissue paper....hmmm...mine was supposed to have a hand on hip and scratching her head...the details sorta got washed out lol guess i am throwing artist out of the career options!

Crows here are huge! In the mountain views, you can see how people have built right up the mountain until conservation efforts kicked in, so the gorillas used to come all the way down to where the houses/farms are,but have now been squished to the tops only. Very sad, but also beautiful views!

I made it!

Hello Everyone!

After an almost tearful goodbye to The Baxter and mom, I was off on my adventure....with 2 very overweight bags plus huge carry ons in tow. I managed to escape the extra fees by explaining that they were filled with toys and books for children :) Every once in awhile karma kicks in!

I took that as a good sign until the woman behind me on the plane complained about everything for the first 6 hours, then spent the last 8 hours of the flight vomiting...yup. As scenes from "Stand by Me" and "The Goonies" flashed in my mind, I thought for sure we were about to have a big issue, but thankfully everyone else managed to keep it together. After that, I barely made my connection in Addis (Ethiopia)where i had to go throught the most ridiculous re-check at security...let me just say that I am very glad I did not miss that connection! One other thing...shiny suits and bright shirts with matching cowboy boots are apparently all the rage. Hmm...Africa seems awesome!

When I finally arrived in Kigali, 2 unexpected things occured right off...I got through customs without an issue, and my bags made it! Not surprising, in true Andrea fashion, I got the bag cart with broken wheels and had an embarassing time wheeling out to meet Dr. Jan Ramer.

Jan was def. a sight for sore eyes, and then I met everyone else! Jan's daughter, her boyfriend, his father, and 2 doctor residents,plus Noelle our technician here were all there with their luggage to greet me as well! Kigali is about 2 hours from where I am living and they all needed to get to the airport later that day. So as we all squeezed in and I was commenting how I hope I love it here b/c I may never get on a plane again, our day's plans were announced. Since Jan's daughter had only been here a week, they were not able to do as much as they would have liked so we were first stopping at the main Genocide Memorial Museum. I have to admit I wasnt thrilled at the idea after being awake for over 20 hours, but I tried to be a trooper.

The museum was very well done. Very heavy, very sad, very informative. I have never been anywhere that something so awful had occured so recently. It was a lot to take in.

We went from there back to the airport, then to drop off the residents at a hotel, then it was off to buy tires for the truck! While Noelle was getting us a good price, we met up with a neighbor who we were giving a ride home to. He took us to the best places for bread and wine.

Kigali was a very crowded very busy city. Pedestrians do not have the right of way..the bigger you are, the less any rules apply apparently. I was amazed that nobody was killed as we weaved in and out of back streets on foot and in the truck. While we all know how I feel about busy cities, i have to say that although it was dusty, it was far from dirty. There was no litter, no garbage anywhere.

As we began the journey home to Ruhengeri, we turned away from the city and the air cleared and the mountain rose in front of us. The drive was beautiful. Scary curvy roads that people drive too fast on with people/children walking on the non-existant shoulders that lead to steep falls down the mountain. Made Snickersville Tpke look super safe! We passed an overturned bus that had evidently missed a turn in as the sun was setting.

As we curled up the road, the volcanos appeared in front of us. The most perfect view, with little cloud top hats on each one. My mind was suddenly awake and clear and I was happy to be here. I stayed awake the rest of the ride by asking Jan a million questions about everything from what drugs they use on gorillas and dogs (dex domitor and ketamine for those of my vet/tech readers) to what i will be doing, eating, etc. I felt like a child again, alive with excitment and curiousity as Jan answered all of my queries.

The compound is wonderful, gated, and gaurded by gaurds and gaurd dogs. I was warned about the front yard dog, Chewy, as he is unpredictable, yet so far, we get along just fine. There are 2 house dogs plus a backyard gaurd dog and a wheelchaired dog..so although I miss my Baxter, I am getting plenty of puppy love. No such luck on horses...i heard a rumor there are 2 in Kigali somewhere....

I feel very safe here, Molly (who lives in the same house as me) and Jan are making me feel right at home. The vibe in this country is strange. Everyone here who is over the age of 16 was involved in the genocide as either a survivor or a murderer, and I find myself searching faces (as I was assured others do as well) wondering which they are. The genocide is discussed daily, at least within my group and has really tranformed society. I cannot imagine what it must be like to have to go back living amongst those you hurt and those who hurt you. I am very interested in how this society became this way....with emotions just under the surface....

Well, that was quite a blog! They wont all be this boring and detailed I assure you but I do not want to forget clues to other stories I will want to share when I get home!

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