Just one more thing . . . . .

     My night in Gisenyi was my last night in Rwanda, so, like Columbo in the old television series, I find I have just one more thing to say about Rwanda before, literally, crossing the border into Uganda.  More importantly, I have photos that just are crying out to be included, even though they didn't fit neatly into my narrative.

     For instance, check THIS out!  I bet you've never seen a bigger straw gorilla!  And that's beautiful ragged-top Mount Sabinyo in the background.  I believe this gorilla is where gorilla trekkers in Rwanda get started on their treks.  I don't know for sure because I did not go gorilla trekking in Rwanda, but even so, this was one really impressive straw gorilla.
     The reason I didn't go trekking in Rwanda is that each country that offers gorilla trekking (Rwanda, Uganda, and Congo) requires permits to go trekking.  The money goes for the very expensive undertaking of gorilla preservation.  Rwanda's is by far the most expensive.  Congo is cheapest, but I confess to being a little scared of Congo. As Moses says, anything can happen in Congo.   I decided to split the difference and plan my trekking for Uganda. 

 












Seems like just about every meal I ate in Rwanda included potatoes and beans.  Good thing I really like potatoes and beans.  I was interested to see them growing all over.  Growing stuff in the African climate always amazes me. There really are no seasons.  None of these fields has been cultivated by any machine, but rather by hand.  When one needs some potatoes, one simply digs potatoes and then plants a new set in the huge mounds (at least 3 feet high by 5 feet wide).  You see plants of all stages of development growing together in harmony--none of this artificial uniformity one sees in American agriculture.  And crops are sometimes interplanted, as you can see with these beautiful red-flowered beans planted amidst corn.
 

 And flowers that we in Wisconsin can only grow in greenhouses seem to flourish everywhere.  It was stunning to see such blooms in late November.  These were on Paradise Island in Lake Kivu.