Saturday, 12 May 2018

Lions, eles and a leopard

Sarah and Wil arrived earlyish on the 16th March, so having dumped the luggage we went to Java House for a hearty breakfast.  Then chilled because they'd had very little sleep, especially Sarah who'd been travelling since the 14th

Spent Saturday doing not a lot except sorting stuff to go to Akagera on the Monday As I mentioned in the previous post the church was closed, I had prepared for a service in case,so actually didn't have work to do.
I think we went to Sakae for dinner, which was nice but Wil didn't enjoy as much as I thought he would. 
Sunday we attended the Cathedral in the morning and had a jolly time at the Marriott enjoying coffee after the service then I left Sarah prepping our picnic etc for the next day whilst I went to take the service at Gikondo in the afternoon.
Sarah and Wil like to play cards so I was reminded how to play rummy and I enjoyed that, we played a lot during their visit.

Next day we set off for Akagera at 5 arriving nice and early and collected George our guide, it had been very wet and consequently everything was rather muddy, no sign of big creatures but the birds are always worth spotting, we did see a tortoise and mongoose plural? and eventually some elephants, but the lions and rhino are elusive as ever.  Peter did manage to get the car stuck in the mud!!

We did the sunset cruise, sadly no sun !  But an enjoyable time, just us and the very knowledgeable guide.
Pleasant evening, drinks and dinner.

Tuesday a later start after breakfast and a few hours safari drive with Peter, then a quiet time by the pool, Wil swam but Sarah and I just chilled on a sunbed with a cold beer and perfect chips!
Then a night safari, again just us.  Emmanuel the guide, we had a good sighting of a bushbaby. 






Then we got stuck in the mud up to rear axle. 






 Seeing we were looking for leopards I thought it was a bit dodgy getting out of the truck!  anyway an hour later help arrived and pulled us out.  Off went the helping truck and phoned back a leopard was on the road, we took off (in a big landcruiser safari vehicle ) in a start which wouldn't disgrace Lewis Hamilton, hanging on for dear life.  Reached the other vehicle and of course leopard gone, so back to the Lodge with Emmanuel saying we'd get a refund, when another call....the leopard's back shall we go?  Definitely!   Again at F1 speed we reached the other truck....leopard hiding....but then he wandered back onto the road and sauntered off ahead of us.  not brill pics, but we saw one at last.




Needless to say we declined the refund, I had more fun that evening than I'd had in a long time.

Wednesday we returned to Kigali which was uneventful, however the heads of African countries were here...all the roads were blocked, tried to get into town and ended up circumnavigating the city....ended up at the German Butchers for coffee and samosas (Wil's favourite) and came home.  
The next day managed to get into town and after visiting District office in Kicukiro to try and get church re-opened met up with Sarah and Wil at UTC for coffee.  Then to Davy to get my wifi sorted, to Ubwama Hotel which has a fab view over the city.  Then back to Davy and Got Wil sorted with wifi which he can use anywhere.

Saturday sent Wil and Sarah north with Eric for a few days whilst I concentrated on church.

I'll finish here and continue on the next post.









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