Last week I was lucky enough to fly a charter from Kigali the capital of Rwanda to Mwanza in Tanzania on the Southern shores of the inland ocean Lake Victoria.This was my first trip to Rwanda, so I was stoked (happy) when I learned the charter took off out of Kigali at 0600 (very early)....Not because I like to get up at the crack of dawn, it meant positioning in Kigali the night before the charter providing a chance to explore Kigali.
Before leaving Mwanza to Kigali I was given a shopping list by the base pilots there for the large wax encased cheeses that Rwanda produces and of course Rwandan coffee (Bloody good coffee!). Also before leaving the Mwanza base I was assured it is safe to walk on the streets at night....now after spending a few years on this continent I was a little weary of this particular advice especially in a African city!
Enroute whilst passing over the Southwestern corner of Lake Victoria I passed over Rubondo Island which is infact a National Park. I have heard from other pilots that have landed on the island that the Elephants that inhabit this island are monstrous in size like as if they are prehistoric creatures.
This escarpment is on the Western shore of lake Victoria.
This ribbon across the landscape is Kagera River it marks the border between Tanzania and Rwanda....Well this was the exact moment my GPS beeped to say I at the FIR boundary (the border in Aviation speak).
This photograph is of a village in Rwanda, the majority of villages are not constructed with any particular order. There are a few villages near the border which are perfectly laid out like this one pictured above...I am GUESSING this village is a village built to re home refugees from the Rwandan genocide. One thing I particularly noticed after flying over the border was the intensity of population compared to just over the border. In Rwanda every hill, every swamp and every other piece of land is either cultivated, covered in villages or roads.
Two old Boeing 707's parked on the apron in Kigali.As soon as I got on the streets of Kigali I did my cheese and coffee shopping before walking the 1 kilometre to the pizza restaurant I had been recommended to eat at. I had already decided it was safe to walk on the streets at night...no one would surly attempt to mug me in streets where there is an armed soldier or guard stationed every 20 metres down each side of the street.
Flying East into the sunrise early in the morning.
The first rays of sun reaching this chain of hills just inside Tanzania. The hills look as if they belong to a geographical fault line....do not quote me on this.Also check out:
