Let’s tell some stories of Africa. Hmmm….where should we begin. This will be more of an account of my journey rather than a rundown of the vast impact it had on my life – because umm…yeah I don’t know what that is.
So here’s a short little account of the first couple days. We flew into the Kigali, Rwanda airport. When we stepped off the plane, we literally stepped into the warm breeze of the country. We walked down the stairs of the plane onto the runway. I felt like I was a president or movie star in a private jet…well, close. I was almost sad to leave Kenya Airways, because they gave us all the free screwdrivers we wanted, not to mention Tuskers beer. Way to go Kenya Airways.
Anyway, I was immediately shocked by the view around me. Rwanda is extremely colorful and lush. Although, it is a third world country so the city is pretty dusty and smelly as well. We left for Congo the next afternoon. To get to Congo, we had to travel through three hours of Rwandan countryside. It was so beautiful. The scene was an array of banana trees, rural, primitive farms, women carrying fruit on the side of the road, mountains, mist and soccer games in the meadows. I felt like I stepped into the pages of National Geographic.
As we neared Goma, the landscape began to change, it became less and less green really, and from what I gathered, more and more poor. We finally came to rest on the border of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo – a place where I can’t say I ever expected to find myself. Harper came to usher across the border, a feat that I didn’t realize would be so difficult. Naturally, I was really excited to see her.
So we got our visas from Rwanda and attempted to cross the 5 meters or whatever to DRC – which was black and dusty compared to Rwanda. Harper went to talk to the guard about our arrival. After exchanging some Swahili she said we had to wait awhile. I asked why. UM apparently, there was a soldier with a grenade on the other side, and he was drunk so they were trying to get the grenade away from him.
Welcome to the Congo!
The soldier was finally calmed and disarmed. So we were able to get our visas approved at the official government office – a.k.a. a cement room with a computer. I didn’t have a visa yet. So I was last for the approval and a large group of us had already left for HEAL Africa. There were four of us remaining. It was dark, it was the Congo, and there were soldiers with big guns all around. I’m an American, when people have guns here – they conceal them or use them on deer. This made me nervous.
So there we were, huddled in a circle while we waited to get our bags across the border. Harper was having an argument with the “customs” people (a.k.a. people w/ guns) about checking our baggage. They wanted her to pay for them to not check. But she said she would only give $2. Finally, she won the argument after they had only checked a few bags and we were on our way. I was super excited to arrive at the Lucy’s house (the Dr and his wife that run HEAL), and the comfort it provided after a long, adventurous and crazy day.
Story one. More to follow.
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