Email: akenyannomad@gmail.com

Hellos!

Let me first just say that the Mara (Maasai Mara) was nothing short of awe-inspiring!! But, first things first. This is the second part of the Rwanda-Uganda trip. Check out part one here.

I’d mentioned earlier that I left Kigali for Kibuye town (for the love of lakes) for three days. It took a comfortable 2 1/2 hr bus ride to get there. My host’s friend (another architect) worked there and thus it was a stress-free trip. I got a hotel room in town as the hotels by Lake Kivu were obviously out of my pocket’s reach. However, I did spend time, like full days at a resort by the lake….sipping, swimming and eating.

Rwiza Village guest house entry. All that lake to myself! :-P. One could see the Congo on the other side. A hotel attendant told me it would take around an hour by boat to get there…and then I had to keep myself together but the temptation was real!How nice would it be to sleep in their rooms? The glass facade overlooks the lake. We can just pretend I was not in the pic. They were not taken for blogging then.

Feeling celeb-like. The deck is in front of the restaurant and has a long winding staircase to the lake down below.

This hut was my changing room.

First time I ever took beer…and it did not go well with my sytem, oh! Let’s just leave that story there. (Maybe it was psychological. I don’t mean to offend any beer lovers, lol!)

Lake Kivu dip. There was nobody in sight in the lake so as much as the hotel attendant said it was safe, I mostly swam by the shore.

Back in Kigali. I meant to visit three fine art studios/exhibitions but only managed to visit this one. My host organized for one of the owners of the studio to pick me up after mass at the church and take me there! The studio, Inema art centre, has resident artists, a wide array of works, including featured children’s artwork. Having gone to many art exhibitions/studios in Nairobi, it was interesting for me to see a totally different ‘genre’ of art in Rwanda. The content is different from what I had (ignorantly) assumed to be ‘African art’. The fine art scene there, is also, very vibrant. This particular studio had interactive events organized where people would join the artists for an entire day of painting, eating and later partying.

My Kigali home/host’s house, a gated neighbourhood with 5 bungalows. Pretty decent for a university student I must say.

And then the loooong night bus ride from Kigali to Kampala, Uganda. I arrived at 5:00 am with absolutely no idea where I was going to sleep. In fact, I had to wait for dawn at the bus station, after which  a random taxi driver that I approached suggested a hotel and took me there. We have to live by faith.

A kenyan friend had also organized for me to meet his Ugandan friend. I took a 3 hour matatu ride to Entebbe from Kampala as I really wanted to see the ‘sandy’ side of Lake Victoria, as Ugandans would put it :).

This photo is for effect… The billboard obviously welcomes people that flew into Uganda through the Entebbe airport; bus people? nah!

Lake Victoria’s sandy side (without the sand).

Taking photos in front of ordinary malls.

So I was walking in town with my Ugandan friend Rian, when I saw this. I thought it was fish.

Any guesses anyone?

Grasshoppers!!! The golden ones are cooked and the green ones are raw…but alive! just wingless. I’m not one to let such opportunities pass so I bought some ready ones and made Rian buy them too-he was hesitant to buy food from the street. They tasted okay but the thought of what I’d eaten made me a little nauseated.

Visited the Kabaka’s kingdom, for the 3rd time. I went with Rian.

My Kampala trip was pretty much supposed to be a night-life sampling one. Unfortunately, my Ugandan friends had pin-up (architecture exams) and I wasn’t going to go alone. I only got one night out with them after exams but they were kinda tired. It still kicked though.

Part 3 (the finale) will be up tomorrow. I’ll talk about the best part of this trip, what I didn’t like, things that were a little shocking and the amount of money the entire two week trip cost me.

Photo credits at the Rwizi resort: Ema (whose architecture housing projects I also visited.) Amazing architect by the way!

I’m honing my photography skills. Got a good camera from my dad last December that I somehow just stored away…soon guys!

Email: akenyannomad@gmail.com