Gorillas in the Mist

At the end of April I visited the fair country of Rwanda. It was my first time leaving the country since arriving in Kenya in September of '05. To get to Rwanda we had to travel through Uganda. For a lot of people in America, I think their view of Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda are the movies The Constant Gardener, The Last King of Scotland, and Hotel Rwanda. These movies do not paint these countries in an especially good light and focus on a major blackeye in the nation's history (note: I've never seen The Constant Gardener - I don't know what its about. A guy how gardens all the time? Does that reflect negatively on Kenya?). But, these things happened in the past and Uganda and Rwanda have made huge strides since the time of genocide and brutal dictatorship.

So this trip was a couple months ago, so let me just highlight: Uganda and Rwanda are beautiful with many terraced hills and winding roads. They are much cleaner than Kenya and have better road systems. While in Rwanda I visited some genocide museums and went to the bamboo forest to see the mountain gorillas. We were SO close! I could have reached out and touched them, but thought better of it. I also left my gorilla costume at home. It was such a great experience. Check out the pictures and if possible some of the videos from that trip.

I plan to go back to Uganda in August to go rafting on the Nile River. Should be fun... and life-threatening.

Pictures from Rwanda:







Those are gorillas, although from the back they could be my Uncle Mike. C'mon Mike, I'm only joking ... a little.

So my school term is half over. I'm crazy busy, but I'm seeing positive results. My time is winding down: less than 6 months!

PS: A new group of Peace Corps Volunteers came to the country last month and I met them at the airport and did a short orientation for them for a couple days. I felt like a celebrity when a few of them recognized me as the Matt from the popular website mattgoestoafrica.com

People actually read this thing!