Week 2 With Dad and Jane...

So with the parents safely tucked away by lake Kivu in the north of the country...Melanie, Vanessa and myself battened down the hatches and prepared to wait out the elections period in the comfort of my home...other than a dinner date with a man from the British High Commission, there was nothing planned for the 3 days...there were a lot of card games played and sleeping done...then on the eve of the elections, we met with the man from the British High Commission, in Butare...we had dinner and a couple of drinks and were then driven home to the big G...they were in the area to supervise the election process and to ensure that it all went smoothly...to be honest...there was no sign of election fever in the village...in other towns there were posters, banners, t-shirts...everything screaming election...but in Gisagara...there really was nothing! Vanessa headed home on the Monday after a weekend of fun...however, while waiting for a bus with her...a wasp flew up my skirt...in my attempts to free the bugger...it got into my top without me knowing...4 VERY painful stings later...and all the locals were in stitches...nobody actually making sure that I was alright...nope...they just laughed...admittedly it was pretty funny...but would have been nice for someone to care!!! But with Vanessa safely on the bus, I was homeward bound...back at the house I ‘tea-tree-ed up’ and started to make a headway...cleaning the new furniture for the new volunteer and cleaning the house ready for the arrival of Dad and Jane on the Wednesday...after much scrubbing, cleaning and moving of furniture...we were finally finished...and not before time...Wednesday afternoon I met Dad and Jane in Butare after their incredibly relaxing weekend in Gisenyi...they were refreshed and ready to take on the daunting task of spending a night at my house...pit latrines are never a huge amount of fun...dad had to make a trip to the chemist as he had been on a moto adventure and had burnt his leg...but other than that they were in fine form...we got a taxi back to the house before it got dark...cooked dinner and played yet more cards while drinking beer and gin...the evening passed quickly and uneventfully...and we were up and washed the next morning ready for our trip to the forest...My dad and I were going tracking for Chimpanzees in Nyungwe forest...we got the bus to Butare and from there we got the bus into the forest...the bus was a little late and was already pretty full when we got on...they had clearly sold more tickets than they had room for...add into the mix the vast amount of goods that were being transported and it was for a very squashed ride...the boy sat behind me was looking very ill for a lot of the journey...finally he could hold it in no longer and asked the lady next to the window if she could swap places...it is common practise for this to happen and for passengers to vomit out of the window of the moving bus...only the lady refused to move...I was more than a little concerned as I was right in the line of fire...but thankfully the man on the other side of the bus gave up his seat and the boy made it to the window just in time...eventually after several long hours winding through the forest we were there...we got off the bus at the Gisakora Guest House where we were going to the staying for the night...everything was organised for the next morning and we headed off to get things ready for the early start...because Jane was not going to the coming with us and we were leaving at 4.30am dad and I shared a room...our bags were packed and we were ready to leave as soon as our alarms sounded...4.30am came and we were in the car ready to go...it was still dark and very cold...Jane was going to join us after the walk with all our bags...and we were going to drive back to Butare for the night...we went to the park entrance where we were met by the guide...we paid and signed the paperwork...and headed off into the forest...like a fool I thought it was a good idea to wait until later to have some breakfast....big mistake...about 2 hours into the walk I was getting blisters...we stopped to put on a plaster...had some water and a piece of bread...after about 3-4 hours of walking we finally found the Chimps...they were high up in the trees...dad and me were as unbalanced as each other and every time we looked through the binoculars we stumbled over...eventually the guides and trackers suggested that we sat down...I think they were a little fed up of having to catch us as we fell! We spent about an hour watching the chimps before heading back...back through the undergrowth in search of the main path out of the forest...we stopped on the way back for lunch...and finally made it back to the car where Jane was waiting...20km through the forest...every minute was worth it!! We were driven back to Butare...we stayed at the Ineza Guest House...they brought warm water for our showers and then we headed into town for dinner...Saturday was my very last day in my 20’s...we headed back to Kigali quite early...we were staying at Chez Lando again...the suitcase was collected from Vanessa’s house and we all showered and got ready for a nice meal out...I had arranged for a meal at the Ethiopian restaurant in town...the three of us were joined by Melissa and Steven, Libby and Karangwa, Melanie and Moses, Vanessa, Dorothy and here sister-in-law...it was a very lovely evening...I was spoilt by all...I beautiful skirt and bag from Melanie and Melissa...Fabric from Libby and a bag made from Primus beer material from Vanessa...those who have been out of their 20’s for a substantial number of years headed back for an early night...while those of us still young enough to dance headed out...we just went to a small bar/restaurant/club place where we met with some of Moses’ friends...we danced a little...chatted a little and called it a night well before sunrise! Sunday morning came...I was 30...didn’t really feel any different to be honest...we had a nice breakfast at the hotel before heading back to the room to start with the main event of the day...present opening...always a gruelling task for all involved...I am not very good at receiving or in fact opening presents and it is more often than not a pretty painful fiasco...dad and Jane were prepared for this and after 30 years...it was no different to any other...I opened some of the presents and then headed off for a manicure and pedicure at Novotel with Jane...we got a taxi there while dad headed to the ORTPN in town as he wanted to book a trip to climb Bisoke a volcano in the north of the country...after just enough pampering Jane and I headed back to Chez Lando and waited for dad to return...more presents...shower and change...cards and gin...and a very nice meal at ‘Heaven’ a restaurant in town...Monday was a shopping day...first we headed to Kimironko market to get material for Rosa and then off to the craft market in town...we met with Anna and Aime for lunch in town...Anna was flying off back to Canada (America) the following evening...we said our goodbyes and went back to the hotel...