Thursday, May 7, 2009
Monday, May 4, 2009
Last 3 days in Rwanda- Back to Kigali
Friday 1st May, a national holiday (labour day) and beautiful sunny day. I pack up my 2 suitcases (thought I'd only come home with one...) with forest souvenirs and all the stuff I've collected over the weeks. All of a sudden, it seems, its time to say goodbye to Gisakura.
We stop off on our way out of Nyungwe at the Kitabe and Uwinka sites so I can get my tourist shots with the park mascots. Sadly I miss taking the Karamba sign that always made me laugh- where did Bart get that phrase from??
We don't even reach the edge of the forest before Azobe is sick into a kitchen towel held by J who manages to catch the lot! Its a seemingly longer than usual slog to the capital. We stop in Butare for a bite to eat (where the Royal Palaces and National Museum are) as well as our usual spot for brochettes and corn on the cob (which I avoid at all costs! Haha not risking THAT again).
Finally we reach Kigali, its evening and we have to decide on a place for dinner. We hear Rwanda's most popular Indian restaurant Khazana has recently reopened and decide to give it a go. A delicious menu with some excellent dishes... the only let down: the cheese filled naan breads that for some reason J and I were drawn to, but as Nerissa had prophesied, were simply filled with Rwandan Gouda and tasted like a lunchtime melted cheese sarnie rather than an authentic Indian accompaniment. Oh well. The mini onion bhaji starters were stunning and I rather enjoyed my mango lassie.
Sadly we suspected N and J had a teenage pregnancy on their hands and we were proved right on Saturday! Azobe got spayed whilst I swanned around sweltering Kigali- The climate in the city feels much warmer compared to Gisakura. And not half as much rain.
I walk down the road to hang out in the Nakumatt centre where I have lunch in Bourbon and meet up with Emma and Ludovica - an Australian and an Italian girl travelling around Rwanda for a few days break from working with the UN in Tanzania. We met at Heaven the restaurant the night before while we were gawping at their souvenir prices and N and J were talking forest honey with the head chef.
That evening we grab some great stone baked pizzas from Sun and Moon and we head over to a friends house to catch up on some satellite TV. I only heard about this swine flu malarky 2 days ago. I've enjoyed being TV-free for weeks now, but get totally sucked back in. Poor Azobe is feeling very sorry for herself - esp with the home made head cone she has to wear.
Sunday is a day of shopping for last min bits: coffee, tea, uragi (Rwandan gin), banana liquor, chili oil (which comes in tiny eye dropper bottles which I love) and a cow horn bangle.
N brought easter treats for Ishi and arranges a belated easter egg hunt in his garden. Even an april shower can't spoil the fun. Ishi tries his first mini cream egg and spits it out! The coins prove much more popular as does my sunglasses bag which becomes a coin sack for all that treasure. At the end of the day, Ishi clambers into the car and hopes N and J will take him with them.
Its my last night so I get to choose where we should eat. N recommended a tapas place straight out of Barcelona where all the artists hang out so I chose there. The restaurant kitten plays with us a while making me miss Coco. The tapas is better than I expected- excellent salsas, Rwandan sausage, mushroom samosas and chipati with guacomole. A real artists haven.
I have a feeling we'll bump into Innocent and the Ivuka Arts boys we met in Serena hotel on my first couple days in Kigali... and am right! I took my acrylic paint tubes along to give away seeing as I didn't use them and paints are so expensive here. They import giant tubs of acrylic from Kenya and Uganda at $80 a pop. I now wish I had had time to take them up on their offer of a studio space to spend a week painting with them. Ahh well, another trip.
On our way to the airport the next afternoon, we see this truck in front driving at a rediculous 45 degree angle, defying logic. Chassis must be broken and it was braking while accelerating so it could stay on the road! Oh how I'll miss it here!
We stop off on our way out of Nyungwe at the Kitabe and Uwinka sites so I can get my tourist shots with the park mascots. Sadly I miss taking the Karamba sign that always made me laugh- where did Bart get that phrase from??
We don't even reach the edge of the forest before Azobe is sick into a kitchen towel held by J who manages to catch the lot! Its a seemingly longer than usual slog to the capital. We stop in Butare for a bite to eat (where the Royal Palaces and National Museum are) as well as our usual spot for brochettes and corn on the cob (which I avoid at all costs! Haha not risking THAT again).
Finally we reach Kigali, its evening and we have to decide on a place for dinner. We hear Rwanda's most popular Indian restaurant Khazana has recently reopened and decide to give it a go. A delicious menu with some excellent dishes... the only let down: the cheese filled naan breads that for some reason J and I were drawn to, but as Nerissa had prophesied, were simply filled with Rwandan Gouda and tasted like a lunchtime melted cheese sarnie rather than an authentic Indian accompaniment. Oh well. The mini onion bhaji starters were stunning and I rather enjoyed my mango lassie.
Sadly we suspected N and J had a teenage pregnancy on their hands and we were proved right on Saturday! Azobe got spayed whilst I swanned around sweltering Kigali- The climate in the city feels much warmer compared to Gisakura. And not half as much rain.
I walk down the road to hang out in the Nakumatt centre where I have lunch in Bourbon and meet up with Emma and Ludovica - an Australian and an Italian girl travelling around Rwanda for a few days break from working with the UN in Tanzania. We met at Heaven the restaurant the night before while we were gawping at their souvenir prices and N and J were talking forest honey with the head chef.
That evening we grab some great stone baked pizzas from Sun and Moon and we head over to a friends house to catch up on some satellite TV. I only heard about this swine flu malarky 2 days ago. I've enjoyed being TV-free for weeks now, but get totally sucked back in. Poor Azobe is feeling very sorry for herself - esp with the home made head cone she has to wear.
Sunday is a day of shopping for last min bits: coffee, tea, uragi (Rwandan gin), banana liquor, chili oil (which comes in tiny eye dropper bottles which I love) and a cow horn bangle.
N brought easter treats for Ishi and arranges a belated easter egg hunt in his garden. Even an april shower can't spoil the fun. Ishi tries his first mini cream egg and spits it out! The coins prove much more popular as does my sunglasses bag which becomes a coin sack for all that treasure. At the end of the day, Ishi clambers into the car and hopes N and J will take him with them.
Its my last night so I get to choose where we should eat. N recommended a tapas place straight out of Barcelona where all the artists hang out so I chose there. The restaurant kitten plays with us a while making me miss Coco. The tapas is better than I expected- excellent salsas, Rwandan sausage, mushroom samosas and chipati with guacomole. A real artists haven.
I have a feeling we'll bump into Innocent and the Ivuka Arts boys we met in Serena hotel on my first couple days in Kigali... and am right! I took my acrylic paint tubes along to give away seeing as I didn't use them and paints are so expensive here. They import giant tubs of acrylic from Kenya and Uganda at $80 a pop. I now wish I had had time to take them up on their offer of a studio space to spend a week painting with them. Ahh well, another trip.
On our way to the airport the next afternoon, we see this truck in front driving at a rediculous 45 degree angle, defying logic. Chassis must be broken and it was braking while accelerating so it could stay on the road! Oh how I'll miss it here!
Last week in Nyungwe
Mon 27th April - Fri 1st May: Got my head down this week and actually started animating, having finished most of the character building (over 10 characters with lip synch) and breaking down all the sound. Its looking like a maximum of 44 scenes dragged over nearly 10 mins. Will put some stills up soon.
Turned out some of the script wasn't fully translated, so in true animation production drama, I needed to rerecord some of the voices the day before we left Nyungwe. Luckily the right people were around. My lead female voice actress Sharon was down with a stomach bug all week but kindly agreed to finish off the chimp part.
Speaking of Chimps, N thought it was about time I saw some and arranged for us to join a small group of (paying) tourists on a chimp trek, Tues 28th. I didn't mentally prepare what was in store - following a group of semi-habituated chimpanzees up and down the steep forest hills in dense vegetation!! Left at 5.30am and returned after 2pm. Could only get one notable pic of a female but saw 3 others very clearly through binoculars, one being a 3 yr old toddler who was so cute. Shame I didn't take J's mega lens. Got pic of a chimp bed tho. Imagine, they make a new nest in the trees every night out of leaves. Adults can be up to 50kg.
Before we headed back, the traditional village being built near Banda caught N's eye and we popped in to see how its going. When it's finished tourists will be able to camp there and hang out in the King's hut (unfinished house).
Thursday was my birthday so after a whole day of rain and sound recording stress we all clambered into a project vehicle and had dinner by the lake at my favourite viewing point of Lake Kivu- Cafe L'oest by Nyamasheke. (J had taken me there the day we went to check out his boat but my camera had run out of battery and I never got a pic of the pineapple wine bottle!)
The guys sang Happy Bday in ikinyarwanda (same tune) and we ate Sambasa (tiny fried fish), Aka benze, fried plantain and I had a whole Talapia fish to myself. Yum!
I'll give myself 2 weeks to finish the cartoon when I return to London and then it'll have to brave the local postal service! N says she's had no problems receiving things in the past. She'll have to pick it up from Kigali though.
Turned out some of the script wasn't fully translated, so in true animation production drama, I needed to rerecord some of the voices the day before we left Nyungwe. Luckily the right people were around. My lead female voice actress Sharon was down with a stomach bug all week but kindly agreed to finish off the chimp part.
Speaking of Chimps, N thought it was about time I saw some and arranged for us to join a small group of (paying) tourists on a chimp trek, Tues 28th. I didn't mentally prepare what was in store - following a group of semi-habituated chimpanzees up and down the steep forest hills in dense vegetation!! Left at 5.30am and returned after 2pm. Could only get one notable pic of a female but saw 3 others very clearly through binoculars, one being a 3 yr old toddler who was so cute. Shame I didn't take J's mega lens. Got pic of a chimp bed tho. Imagine, they make a new nest in the trees every night out of leaves. Adults can be up to 50kg.
Before we headed back, the traditional village being built near Banda caught N's eye and we popped in to see how its going. When it's finished tourists will be able to camp there and hang out in the King's hut (unfinished house).
Thursday was my birthday so after a whole day of rain and sound recording stress we all clambered into a project vehicle and had dinner by the lake at my favourite viewing point of Lake Kivu- Cafe L'oest by Nyamasheke. (J had taken me there the day we went to check out his boat but my camera had run out of battery and I never got a pic of the pineapple wine bottle!)
The guys sang Happy Bday in ikinyarwanda (same tune) and we ate Sambasa (tiny fried fish), Aka benze, fried plantain and I had a whole Talapia fish to myself. Yum!
I'll give myself 2 weeks to finish the cartoon when I return to London and then it'll have to brave the local postal service! N says she's had no problems receiving things in the past. She'll have to pick it up from Kigali though.
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