WEATHER: WARM AND 27C
HIGHTLIGHT OF THE DAY: Having no plans all day
BUYS OF THE DAY: Rwanda is a little on the expensive side 5AUD for a packet of biscuits
WORD OF THE DAY: We’re off to see the Gorilla’s
ANIMALS SEEN TODAY: None
CAMP SITE RANKING: Same as last night – no change
Well it was nice to have a rest day that was actually an allocated rest day. We got a sleep in till 7.50am with breakfast at 8am, what a luxury! I had a list of things I wanted to get through today starting with the washing. There was plenty of basin/wash space; plenty of line space, throw in a lot of sunshine and this was a washer’s heaven. Everyone had done or was doing some washing and making the most of the wash opportunity.
A group of us then decided to walk into town. The mission is pretty much located on the main road into town and after a 15 minute walk we found ourselves at the main local market. We get a lot of stares normally anyway, and Ruhengeni being the gateway to the gorillas you would expect that they would be used to seeing ‘white’ people walking around. In their defence it was a local market, so all fresh produce, meat, haberdashery, clothe makers, shoe sellers etc. It was set up in a big square block, so we pretty much did a lap and then left. I was a little weirded out by all the stares we were getting, I don’t think they were nasty, but as you walked past they would smile and joke with the people next to them. Maybe because we are so beautiful maybe? Once again a photographers paradise, with all the colours of the clothes, cute kids and stalls, but I think we may have been lynched if we had of taken a photo in there. The good thing that came out of it was a young fella of about 8 latched onto us and asked where we wanted to go. So he took us to another market a further 10 minutes away, but this was also a local market selling the baskets, clothes. shoes, hardware, pots and the bits and bob stalls. After the boys had played soccer yesterday, they wanted to buy two balls, one for the club and one for the boys who can’t play with the club. After the second seller we got a great price of 2 for 5000 (10AUD). So that was nice of them.
From there I had to make a visit to the chemist to stock up on my cold and flu tablets for my last ditch attempt to try and nip my cold in the bud with the gorillas tomorrow. Sean was with us, so when I went in and asked for the tablets, he brings out the box, pulls out a packet and hands it to me. On the back they were called Fluffy’s. Hmmm name doesn’t install any medical faith, but Sean read the ingredients and it all looked okay so I paid my 500 francs (1AUD) for the packet and another thing crossed off my list.
The supermarket was the next stop to stock up in schnacks and water. The prices are so expensive according to Africa, but still cheaper than back home. We shouldn’t complain as we haven’t spent much money and I really hate it when people complain over a few dollars. For example there was a money changer that Jools got to come to the mission to help us get some Rwandan francs. The rate was 590 for a small note and 600 for a big note, so they were trying to exchange a 50USD for the better rate of not even .10c to get 30USD change as they only wanted 20USD exchanged. I mean really? If it was large amounts of money getting exchanged, okay that makes a difference, but 20USD is a small amount in the scheme of things.
Anyway, rant over, supermarket done, post office and phone top up were on the list. The MTN shop was right next door to the supermarket, so I got a 2000 franc card (4AUD), which doesn’t sound much, but that 4 buck gets me about 33 text messages back home – insane value!!! The post office was hard to find, so after being in town for nearly 2 hours, I would work out how to get my Globetrotters stamp another way, it was time to head back to the mission. By this time our new friend had a few more friends join him and he now had one of the balls the guys purchased, playing soccer with his mates as we walked. How can you take that ball back off him now? They had smiles from ear to ear, so when we got back to the accommodation, the guys gave it to him to say thanks for showing us around. They ran off straight for the football stadium I am sure to show off their new ball.
The rest of the day was spent transferring photos for myself and others, trying to access their terribly unreliable internet but getting on long enough to upload 2 blogs and change my status update on Facebook before letting Em and Ballbags use my computer for some Dream team football competition thingy.
There is an air of excitement on getting to see the gorilla’s tomorrow. We have an early start at 5.30am, so people were just getting their gear ready and making sure all their batteries were charged and ready to go. It is a bit of a process to get this done as there are only 6 power points for the 22 of us, but everyone just waits their turn and it all gets done eventually. I wonder if it’s frustrating for people when I have like 4 things to charge (IPod, camera x 2, laptop, Playbook, phone – oh that makes 6) but I only charge one thing at an time, as I would be pissed if one person was hogging all six points at once. Oh well no-one has said anything to date, so I can’t be annoying to many people with all my gadgets.
I also had a meeting with Jools in the afternoon as Kitty Manager to double check our spend and what we had, if anything, left in the kitty. He was very thorough and had all his receipts and it works out we have a little bit of money over, so we are going to go out for dinner tomorrow night ( this will be nice), get lunch paid for on our travel da back into Uganda and then a final dinner in Eldoret. Nice way to finish off the kitty. There was a balance of 200USD, but I told him to keep this and split it with Chris and Liz and I would tell the rest of the group what has been done. No-one would expect an 8.50USD refund. Would they? If I had to I would pay them the 8.50USD out of my own pocket if it came to that.
Early to bed, most of my dorm was tucked in at 8.30pm. Most of us were reading for a while and then lights went out to wake up to a day of trekking with gorillas. As someone said when the lights went out it felt a little like Christmas Eve with the expectation of a great day ahead. This is pretty much the highlight for all of us on this tour. Seeing everything else has been just an additional bonus. I just hope all our peeps see and have the most amazing experience, as it will be no good, if one group comes back disappointed when the rest of us get an amazing adventure. I have my fingers crossed.
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