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Day 24 : 25 June 2004 - Rusumo Falls (Tanzanian
border) to Kigali 165 km
Day 25 : 26 June 2004 - Kigali to Ruhengeri 110 km
Day 26 : 27 June 2004 - Ruhengeri (Muhabura Hotel)
-
Day 27 : 28 June 2004 - Ruhengeri (Muhabura Hotel
– service unimog) -
Day 28 : 29 June 2004 - Ruhengeri to Kinigi to Ruhengeri
(Muhabura Hotel) 35 km
Day 29 : 30 June 2004 - Ruhengeri to Kigali to Ruhengeri
(Lana & Martyn arrive by plane for 2.5 week visit)
242 km
Day 30 : 1 July 2004 - Ruhengeri to Kinigi 17 km
Day 31 : 2 July 2004 - Kinigi to Karisimbi Volcanic
Mountain (Gorilla
Trekking in Volcanoes Park) to Ruhengeri to Kinigi
to Ruhengeri 80 km
Day 32 : 3 July 2004 - Ruhengeri to Cyanika (Uganda
Border) 27 km
Total nights - 8
Total kilometers – 676 km
Currency : Rwandan Franc (RFr)
Exchange rate : 1 US$ = 580 RFr
Fuel cost per litre : 495 RFr
Total cost for country : 1 183.36 US$
Country cost per day : 147.92 US$
Overall average cost per day : 94.13 US$
Highlight : Gorilla trekking and visiting Susa group
with Lana & Martyn in
Volcanoes National Park.
Low point : Extremely high costs for National Parks
and constant begging
by local population.
The very high costs for foreign tourists seem to be
too exorbitant / overpriced; especially for the less
well known parks like Akagera Park and Nyungwe Forest
Park. There is a real danger that Rwanda could price
itself out of the tourist market.
Despite the very mountainous nature of the whole country,
it seems very fertile; it has been cultivated from
the valleys across the terraces until the top of the
mountains. Fruits like bananas, mangoes, pineapples,
avocadoes, etc. are plentiful as well as vegetables
like potatoes, sweet potatoes, peas, beans, onions,
pumpkins, etc.
Communication is difficult due to the French and local
languages. Driving on the right hand side of the road
caused some narrow escapes, especially at intersections
and circles. The main roads are in a reasonable condition,
but the other roads are really very, very bad.
The time spent with the gorillas was a unique and
humbling experience; the steep walk up and down Karisimbi
volcanic mountain was tiring but worth the effort.
The fact that Rwanda is the most densely populated
country in Africa was very noticeable; people are
present everywhere, and every piece of the soil has
been cultivated. We found the people not very friendly/helpful,
but the communication difficulties could have attributed
to this.
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