Akagera Birthday :)

Yesterday, I took Dad and M to meet Rose at her house in Kacyiru, where I also met our Secretary for the first time - an absolutely lovely lady called Teresa.

Rose joined us for melange at Karibu and the rest of the day was very relaxed. Everything was closed as it was not only a Sunday but also the day before the national elections.

Today, we were up extremely early - 4am for a 5am start to Akagera National Park. It was also M's birthday, and Dad managed to get up and blow up balloons whilst she was getting ready! Very impressive at that time in the morning :op

This time it was another driver, Emmanuel, who took us. He was just as nice. I highly recommend Bizidanny's tour company for anyone thinking of making the trip. He's one of the few who is also really fast at replying by e-mail, too.

We had an excellent guide through the park, also an Emmy. Got really, really, close up to my favourite animals: the hippos, and got to take home a giant land snail shell, which is apparently sacred here and sometimes used to drink tea from :)

I'd been to the park once before, last January, and hadn't thought to take into account the seasons. Because it was the end of the long dry season, there were fewer animals. We didn't see any zebra, but it was still a lot of fun and completed our five-province tour.

An added bonus on the way back was that we were really close to Jambo Beach and Lake Muhazi where I spent New Year and Paddy's Day; the great VSO retreat, so we stopped off for a drink and a bite to eat there. Glad I got to show them.

Baboon and baby at Akagera National Park

We ended the evening at Chez Lando, where D joined us for a bite to eat.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY M :)