Land of a 1000 hills

There's a reason Rwanda is known as the Switzerland of Africa and this afternoon I discovered why.


Following the partly constructed road to Uganda five of us; three teenage boys, Antoine and myself, squashed bags into every corner and took the old salon car into the misty misty hills.


As we spluttered higher into the mountains, a patchwork of fields opened up. Squares of bananas, beans and sugar cane clung to the steep slopes, while avocado, papaya and mango trees lined the road side. Storks, cranes and ibis picked though pools at the bottom of waterfalls.  I said I'd never seen an avocado tree and one of the boys sniggered..


Children running along the side of the road benefitted from our trade as we bought bags of shelled peas for supper. And the sweetest of pineapples were chosen from underneath an umbrella as we stood inside a cloud. It's easy to see why one of the rarest of animals in the world, should make this it's home. We'd reached Muzane, where in the forest above the town, roam the Mountain Gorillas.


It was also the home of Antoine's wife, Annunica and their 4 children. For the first time that night I heard Antoine story. Every Rwandan has one. But Antoine is my friend, he is the same age and we have much in common, but I didn't flee Genocide with a 4 day old baby in my arms. 


Antoine's story will be published in a separate article.