This Was My View at Breakfast This Morning…..

…..I normally don’t eat breakfast even though it’s included in the price of the room but today is Saturday and I slept in (my jet lag issues seem to be resolved) and went down for a leisurely light breakfast. It was a bit chilly—probably 68 to 70 degrees—but refreshing. The hotel really does have beautiful grounds and as a result there are all kinds of birds around and most of them are exotic with bright colors. They’re pretty camera-shy, though, and I couldn’t get a picture of a lime-green hummingbird that hovered right over my table like a helicopter looking straight at me. There weren’t many people in the outdoor area so I sat there probably an hour or so drinking coffee. African coffee tends to be very strong, somewhat bitter and has a really strong taste—kind of like I make it at home—and I really like it.

After breakfast I took a two-hour walk around town and basically just explored. I stopped at one point and got a picture of a matatu bus—usually a Volkswagen mini-van—that are popular here and in Kenya. Here they are somewhat regulated but in Kenya they are notorious for packing as many as 25-30 people inside. In Nairobi, they had cargo racks on top and it wasn’t unusual to see people sitting on top holding onto the side rails. They are very cheap and most Rwandans use them but, like I said, they don’t pack them like they do in Kenya. They are one of the biggest causes of wrecks here because few have brake lights or turn indicators and they tend to unexpectedly stop in the middle of the road every time they see someone looking for a ride. This past week I saw one of them get in a wreck with a truck in front of the hotel on one of my walks and shot a photo.

In my suicidal quest to ride every type of public transportation once, I rode in a matatu in Nairobi for a short distance and it was probably the stupidest and most dangerous stunt I’ve pulled. I’ve ridden tuk-tuks in Thailand, pedicabs in Lima, a jeepney in Manila and a Chinese taxi but no more matatus for me.

I will, however, probably try the other type of public transportation over here—the green and yellow motorcycle. These are also very cheap and are strictly regulated by the government. They are identified by their green and yellow reflective vests (the Rwandan national colors) and they wear green helmets. They also carry a second helmet and passengers are required to wear it when being transported. My only concern is that the helmets have face masks and you don’t know what kind of diseases the last passenger may have breathed into it. I’ll still take a short ride on one before I leave however.

Today, I walked though and went up and down the hills around the hotel for two hours. I walked past their national Parliament and Supreme Court and a number of other government agency buildings. It’s interesting to see how they prioritize their government functions here. I went past a Bureau of National Reconciliation, the Agency to Prevent Genocide and an Agency to Investigate Genocide Crimes. Near the Supreme Court is a National Forensic Bureau—I’m sure it’s function is still to try and identify remains.

At one point I walked down the Embassy Row and, from a distance, shot a picture of the U.S. Embassy where I’m working on this trip. It is strictly forbidden to photograph the building (security guards will actually come out and make you erase the pictures from your camera) but I shot this one from a distance—you can see the American flag in the left side of the photo.

This afternoon I spent about three hours lying around the garden area resting in a lounge chair—reading and even napping briefly. I had hoped to arrange a tour somewhere this weekend but my two attempts fell through so I’m just taking it easy this weekend…..