Merry Christmas From Rwanda

I really do lose track of time on the road. I got back to Rwanda a few days ago after spending 12 amazing days in Uganda. What a beautiful country, I will go back there again one day to see more of it. After rafting and a few days in Jinja, I headed back to the capital city of Kampala. That is one crazy city. In the downtown core, you can barely move for taxis, buses and people. You have to literally push your way through. Funny thing is people here don't expect 'Mzungus' (white people) to be pushy but sometimes you have no choice. I intended to visit Murchinson falls in the north, but it was a long drive and was going to be costly, so I ended up heading south to Lake Bunyonyi. This was better because I had to head south for Rwanda anyway. Lake Bunyonyi was stunning, I got dropped at the dock and then had to get a ride in a dugout canoe to where I was staying. It was on a tiny island called Itambira Island in the middle of the lake. I met up with a great group of people, an Australian, British, American, Russian and two more Canadians. We had a great time playing cards, even late into the night when the solar power ran out and we played by candle light. Getting from Lake Bunyonyi back to Ruhengeri was a bit of a feat despite the relatively short distance. First there was a boat to the mainland, then a mini bus to Kabale, a 80km car ride with 7 people (four in the back seat... not comfortable) over very bad roads to a Kisoro, a motorcycle ride to the Rwanda border, and finally another motorcyle to Ruhengeri.... whew... I was tired and dirty.

It's hard to believe that today is Christmas Eve. It really doesn't feel the same here. People celebrate with a meal with their families. We have a lamb for tomorrow's Christmas dinner. It's getting 'prepared' today. I did get in the mood a bit last night wrapping gifts for the people I'm spending Christmas with. No colourful paper here though, it was all wrapped in old newspapers. I wish you all an amazing Christmas with your families.