6-7 Nov 2019: Heading to Rwanda

It happened fast. Over the weekend, while South Africa won the rugby world cup in Japan, my friend Anita manipulated my birding lists in order to determine which African countries I should visit to maximise my ticks. With one eye on the rugby, and the other eye on the computer screen; the one hand filled with biltong and the other with a beer – we determined that a few days in Rwanda or Uganda could be most profitable. As I had a few days to spare before commencing a birding trip in Ethiopia a flight to Kigali in Rwanda was booked and a driver with a vehicle arranged in short order.

Hime Safari, Rwanda.

The flights to Kigali basically took the whole day. I arrived at Oliver Tambo airport at 0900 and departed to Nairobi in Kenya at 1200. The connecting flight to Kigali was delayed and at 2130 I met up with Hime Safari, my very pleasant dreadlocked driver for the next few days. A quick sleepover at The Nest guesthouse in Kigali, accompanied by an excellent breakfast, set me up nicely for the long drive to Nyungwe National Park near Lake Kivu. This brought back some memories, as some years back I had been deployed on the opposite shore of Lake Kivu, on a UN mission at Goma in the DRC.

Lake Kivu, Rwanda

We booked into the Gisakura Family Hostel, a cheap but very clean guest house on the outskirts of Nyungwe. Entrance to the park, for three days, amounted to US$ 100, and a very helpful park official took the best part of an hour to do the transaction via the internet. A local park ranger/birding guide was arranged for the next day, and I was all set to find the 28 Albertine Rift specials.