January 10, 2019
Start: Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda
Stop: Ruhengeri, Rwanda
I get up super early and have to pack up all my stuff which is still in Room 1. I have a nice breakfast before Nassar and I hit the road. We drive through Bwindi and through lots of communities until we eventually hit paved road. We stop along the side of the road where we eat out Gorilla Forest Camp box lunch. No farming space is wasted where the terraced hillsides reach to the sky.
We get to the Rwandan border and first we have to go into the Ugandan police office. Nassar has to register his car/insurance for Rwanda. Then I go to the Rwandan side where they check my eyes for Ebola. Nassar drives through and my bags are brought out to a check point. I have to take nearly everything out of each bag. Eish! They seem a bit confused about my bag of winter gear. I’ve been carrying this bag the whole way just for Mt. Kilimanjaro. Next stop is the immigration window. We’re sent to a second window and I swear that the guy takes a personal call while I wait for him to help me. He sends me back to window where I started. Finally, at the end of all this I have my East African tourist visa and my exit stamp from Uganda. Nassar takes a bit longer and then we have to drive just down the road to the Rwandan police. What a process! Once all the boxes have been checked by every possible agency, we’re headed down the road again. In Rwanda, everyone drives to the right so I finally feel like traffic is headed in the correct direction. The speed limits are slower….maybe because it seems that kids like to play on/in the roads and will run out in front of you at any moment. Kids have tires that they are rolling with sticks. And obvious difference here is that the homes are built with large volcanic boulders. Basalt! There seems to be a bit more order to the things too.
We get to Hotel Muhabura where I’m staying in Room 12. This is the room where Dian Fossey stayed when she came to town. They’ve tried to keep the room just as it was when she stayed there. There even seems to be a hint of smoke smell still. I relax a bit and then it’s time for dinner. When we crossed into Rwanda the time changed and we got an extra hour. I’m tired and head to bed early.
Journey Return 