We spent the morning cruising around on a small wooden motorboat with our guide Seleman. Cruising past several little islands in Luke Kivu, each had its own name and features. Like the first larger island was called Napoleon's Hat because that was its shape. Unfortunately I remember it more for the thousands of bats flying and swarming and darting and flapping. For those of you who aren't aware, I have an irrational fear of bats and this sight led quickly to nausea and panic. It was disgusting. Seleman was poised to dock the boat so we could hike to the top of the big hill, but I put a quick stop to that plan. Heeebie geebies. After cruising a bit away from the island, the shape became more obvious and we all took photos "wearing" the hat. Pretty funny stuff. The next island we stopped had lemon trees (which are actually green) and vervet monkeys. The monkeys are definitely cheeky wee things and little thieves. Most remarkable are their bright blue....umm...errr...yeah, they have really bright blue balls. It's impressive. We stopped in another island known as peace island, or Amahoro. It had a nice path all around the island so we walked around for a bit eating guava fruit from the trees. Beautiful! We made a couple other stops on Seleman's recommendation that he thought were funny photo ops. He left three of us on a tiny island and pretended to leave us behind. He was my kind of prankster.
Next we went back to the hotel to check out and collect our things before jumping back into the boat to head to the Cormoran hotel for lunch. Wow! The Cormoran hotel was something else! Sitting on the top of a huge hill rising up from the shore of the lake, the views were stunning. The grounds were covered in perfectly manicured flowers, succulents, cacti, and unusual trees. Just stunning. The restaurant was beautiful and I had tilapia caught that morning.
After lunch we took the 2 and a half hour drive home to Kigali. We dropped Amy and Tommy off at their apartment with big hugs. We all made each other laugh so much we've grown quite fond. Next Emmy took us to our old apartment in Nyamirambo where we had to pick up our big suitcases. I was hoping to meet the Cornell team, Sheida, Gunisha, and Eric, but they weren't home. I will see them this morning at the hospital. Emmy then drove Jaime and I to Heaven. The restaurant I've eaten at so many times in the past now also has a boutique hotel. It is lovely and perfect for the time we will be here. We had a lovely dinner of fish tacos and passed out with a wine buzz. I'm just up to get ready for academic day at the hospital and looking forward to another week in this magical place.
Lots of love!
Xoxo
Ana
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| Ana on the boat |
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