Rwanda is safe

This will be my fourth trip to Rwanda, but my first as a tourist. It is an astonishingly beautiful country nicknamed "The Land of a Thousand Hills". I have also heard it called "The Switzerland of Africa". Yes, it is impoverished and densely populated, but if you can see past its "third worldness" it is a truly wonderful place to visit as not only is it beautiful but its people are kind, generous and very gracious to visitors. It is also very, very safe.

Many Westerners know Rwanda only because of the 1994 genocide (Hotel Rwanda, rent it if you have never seen it), so it is understandable that I am usually asked about safety when I tell people I am traveling there. There is no disputing that the genocide was a horrific event. In 90 days, Hutu extremists murdered close to a million Tutsis. The dead counted for nearly 10% of the Rwandan population. That would mean the equivalent of 30 million US citizens.

The genocide ended when the Tutsi rebel army won the civil war that had been raging on and off for several years. Huge numbers of Hutus fled the country and large numbers of Tutsi, living-in-exile, flooded into the country. The new government basically started a new country from scratch. Where they have come in the past 16 years is pretty darn astonishing. During this entire time the country has been led by Paul Kagame, the current President. There is considerable debate as to Kagame's methods, but I don't think anyone disputes that Rwanda's economic growth and its security are nothing short of amazing. Last year, Rwanda's GDP grew 8%! Thats almost unheard of in sub-Saharan Africa. Certainly, some of this is due to a large infusion of foreign aid ("pity money" as some Rwandans call it), but there is some true leadership and vision going on there, too. Kagame's very committed to science and technology: Internet and cell service is WAY better there than in Evanston.

The government is also hyper-vigilant regarding safety and security. In addition to constant concern about ethnic hatred bubbling to the surface, they know that economic growth and prosperity require security. The army is huge, well trained and ever-present. The police are numerous. Apparently, crime is dealt with severely. The net result is a very safe place for visitors. When I have lived there, Caucasian female college interns walked the poorly-lit streets of Kigali at midnight with purses in hand without concern. I feel safer there than any European capital.

I know less about Uganda, but there are some similarities. The post Idi Amin Uganda has had its ups and downs, but overall it has been considered a very safe place for travelers in the past 20 years or so.

So other than Alex's stated desire to wrestle a gorilla, I think we will be okay. Cathy says I am posting way too much before we actually leave so you may not see any new drivel for a while. Or at least until tomorrow. I have a long essay titled "Paul Kagame: Visionary Leader or just another African Dictator?" coursing through my veins. It will make Cathy cuckoo.

Bill

Bill and Alex go in search of their ancestors

Well, we have not even left yet and already I may have a mutiny on my hands. It seems that Alex is upset that I did not use the above title for this blog instead of Banzhafrica. I had jokingly suggested we use the "ancestors" title--he liked it and did not think it was a joke. He is now threatening to set up a rival blog to compete with me. After short contemplation, I say "bring it". Healthy competition is a good thing. I bet he thinks his English degree from Duke puts him in the pole position. However, I will not go down easily. Perhaps I will amend the title of this blog in an effort to reconcile with the boy. Let me sleep on it.

This week I have received a bunch of emails from the guide of our tour containing information about the bombings in Uganda. In these messages he reassured us that we will be in very rural areas, and as such, not in a high risk situation. It prompted me to contemplate how time and experience can change the way we react to certain life events. In 2003, our original itinerary had us flying in and out of Nairobi. Several weeks before our trip, British Airways cancelled all London to Nairobi flights indefinitely due to information that Al Qaeda was planning to try to attack commercial aircraft at the Nairobi airport. Our guide re -routed us through Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania but Cathy and I were so shaken that we came very close to canceling the trip. Thankfully, we muscled up the courage to forge ahead because we went on to have an amazing trip. This time when I heard about the Ugandan bombings, I was completely unfazed. In fact, I think it is likely that we will be even safer as a result---Ugandan security will be on ultra high-alert.

I certainly have not become more brave. Its simply that I have had time to intellectualize how incredibly remote the chance of being harmed in a terrorist incident is. Remember the ever-so-recent failed car bomb in Times Square? That car was on the corner of 45th and Broadway. Do you know how many times I strolled by that exact corner this winter? About a zillion.

In the last ten years, Uganda and Rwanda have been amongst the safest places one could travel. More on why this is in upcoming posts. So fear not, our journey will definitely be going off as planned. Whether you will hear from Alex on this site or somewhere else remains to be seen!

Ciao

Bill

How the trip came about

My love affair with Africa started in the summer of 2003. Cathy, Alex, Drew and I spent a month traveling in Tanzania, Zambia and South Africa. We spent about an hour in Zimbabwe and have the passport stamps to prove it, but it doesn't really count. The first three weeks we travelled with good friends and were guided by Jim Heck of Explorers World Travel. Except for a trip to see Victoria Falls, the first three weeks were spent game viewing in "the bush". I found the game viewing fascinating and exciting. I was never bored. When there wasn't action on the ground, there were almost always birds to watch. There are more than an thousand species of birds in East Africa.

In the years since, I have returned to Africa three times, always to Rwanda. The first trip Cathy joined me but the second two were solo trips. All three trips were related to a medical project I was working on and not intended as tourism. However, Africans take their time off very seriously, and I was never able to convince anyone to work on weekends. So, on each trip I went gorilla trekking on Saturdays. The famed Mountain Gorillas of this region number only about 700 and can only be found in the bamboo jungles of the Virunga mountains, a beautiful range of volcanic mountains that share the borders of Rwanda, Uganda and the DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo). Most of the gorillas seen in Western zoos are Lowland gorillas, a far more common, smaller, less beautiful species. The Mountain gorillas were made famous by the movie "Gorillas in the Mist", which dramatized the work of Dian Fossey. There are 8 "habituated" gorilla families in Parc du Volcans in Northern Rwanda (and Congo). A very limited (and lucky) number of permit-carrying tourists are guided by experienced rangers to these families each day: once found, you are allowed to observe the gorillas for one hour only. You are supposed to stay 10 feet away from these amazing ancestors at all times. What is truly stunning is that you can easily get that close! With the exception of the birth of my children, my three gorilla treks are the most exciting and awesome events of my life. Since the first trip with Cathy, I have dreamed about taking the boys.

In May, I got an email from Jim Heck offering me two spots on an August Primate Safari to Uganda and Rwanda to trek for chimpanzees and Mountain gorillas. My initial response was no-way: I have been away from work so much in the past year I could not imagine asking for yet more time off in the peak summer vacation time period. My interest was tweaked enough, however, that I checked the vacation schedule, and lo and behold, none of my partners had asked for time off during those two weeks: karma. I played the cancer card against myself and then summoned the courage to email them all with my request. Being the amazingly generous group that they are, they all immediately told me to attack my "bucket list" with gusto. I knew that Cathy was unlikely to be able to get the time off, that Drew was committed to his summer music festival in California but the itinerary would allow Alex to arrive home in time for the start of law school orientation.

So off we go. The only thing left to do is to figure out how to get Drew to Rwanda in the future. I am sure I will think of something.

Best,

Bill

Banzhafrica Prologue

Dear Friends,

Alex and I are going on an adventure. In the first two weeks of August, we will be traveling to Uganda and Rwanda on a Primate safari. Depending on WiFi availability, we will be writing to update our readers frequently. Though our focus will be on African wildlife, culture and politics, we will feel free to opine on a wide range of topics. We hope that you will post comments on our musings and also keep us updated about the comings and goings in your lives.

Best,

Bill