abg shanks: October 2014

Mountain gorillas are found in only 3 countries in the ENTIRE world, and we in Rwanda are lucky to have them right here in this small landlocked African country. Only about 880 individuals are thought to exist in DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo), Uganda and Rwanda.

The habitat where these giant beauties live, is 2 separated high elevation (7,000-14,000 ft above sea level) rain forests, one in Uganda (Bwindi with ~480 individuals) and one forest which straddles the 3 countries (Uganda, DRC and Rwanda with ~400 individuals) but where the animals can roam freely--though they do tend to keep in their own 'territory' within the park limits. This tri-country forest in Uganda is called Mgahinga, in DRC is called Virunga and it was in Rwanda's Volcanoes National Park, where we went to visit them.

The map below shows Rwanda, with Kigali located in the middle of the country, and the dark green area up in the northern part of the country is the protected Volcanoes National Park. Remember the entire country of Rwanda is only about the size of Maryland.

(We are pretty sure you will want to click on some of the photos as you view them to enlarge them.)

Rwanda highlighting the Volcanoes National Park

This is the same park where in the late 1960s Diane Fossey came to study the link between gorilla and man, under the direction of world renowned anthropologist Louis Leakey. Diane is widely credited for the survival of the mountain gorilla and she herself is buried up in the park while this mighty beast lives on.

Visiting the habituated gorillas is not difficult, it just takes some planning, some time...and money. So we, along with 2 friends, purchased our tickets in advanced ($350/person for residents and for non-residents it costs $750/person), hired a driver with a 4 x 4 vehicle and left Kigali at 4.30am on a Monday morning in October and drove the 2-hours up to the park headquarters outside of Musanze see above).

Volcanoes Gahinga and Muhabura en route

driving the last stretch to Sabyinyo and the park headquarters

Sabyinyo

Mts Mikeno, Bisoke, Karisimbi (from left to right)

We learned that there are about 19 gorilla groups habituated but only 10 are open to the public--the other 9 are trekked and studied for research. Daily trekkers follow the gorillas for continued habituation and also for their safety and security (in the past these forests have been home to poachers and rebels--thankfully the last poacher was caught in 2002).

Only 8 visitors/band (what you call a group of gorillas) are allowed for a 1-hour visit every day of the year. The band we were assigned to visit was the Agashya band, named after the silverback or alpha male of the family. Agashya's family has 22 members and at around 9am we set off looking for he and his family.

Buddy, Aly, Karen and Laura

hiking through potatoes and daisy fields to get to the forest

Bosco, our guide, giving us a talk just as we entered the forest

the dense bamboo forest

the 1st gorilla we encountered...eating bamboo shoots that
gets them drunk

contemplation

got a string of bamboo possibly stuck in his teeth

a mother with a ~3 month old baby

look at those eyes and that 'do'!

a bit tipsy

a 2nd mother with a few weeks old baby (the umbilical cord
is still attached)

wonder if his head is spinning?

Mr. Agasha the alpha of the family--resting after
breakfast--he probably weighs near 500 lbs!

pensive

Agasha's son--he is MASSIVE for a black back (young
male)

Agasha and some of his family resting after
breakfast

they don't really care we are there

we are sure he was feeling tipsy from all the
bamboo shoots he ate

part of the family at rest and our farewell photo

the group who visited Agasha and family

our certificates

The trip was fabulous and we were so lucky not to have any rain nor have to hike far in the forest to visit Agasha and his family. We had about an hour hike before we found the trekkers, then with our 1-hour visit, the hike out, lunch in Musazne and the drive back to Kigali, we were home by 4.30pm. A must do trip!

view of Kigali after a super day trekking

Until our next adventure...savannah and safari is what we're looking at! Stay tuned...

We knew way back in March that by the time Aug/Sept rolled around it would be time for a trip outside of Rwanda. We chose Italy as some friends told us of a week long bike/barge trip along the Po river in the Po delta in northern Italy (see map below). We researched and booked the trip in May and were off to Italy at the end of Aug/beginning of Sept for 2 weeks. (Don't forget to click on any photo to enlarge it as you peruse through).
mappa

With as much biking as we love to do, we've never done an organized group trip by bicycle. It was new to us, but we did enjoy it a lot, met some very nice folks and found other bicycle trips which we will probably do more of, in various forms, in the future. Touring by bike is becoming very popular and we found there are guided trips, self guided trips, barge by night, hotel by night, camping by night, etc. The choice is yours, depending on the country(s) you want to visit and the amount of money you want to spend. We'll update you again when we do another one...as you can be assured there will be more!

This trip started by us leaving Kigali, stopping in Entebbe, Uganda and with a very short layover in Istanbul, Turkey then on to Venice, Italy. You leave Kigali in the late evening/early morning hours, fly all night and arrive in Italy in the early afternoon, the following day. The time zone was the same, so we didn't experience any real jet lag, just the normal fatigue of flying long distance. We made it safely to Venice, though our bags arrived a day later. After only 1 day of being inconvenienced (luckily we had planned an extra day before the bike trip started) we left the Marco Polo International Airport outside of Venice by train bound for Mantua (Mantova in English) where we would meet up with our fellow cyclists, our guide and the Vita Pugna, our barge home for the next 7 nights.

Buddy at the train station waiting for our train

a comfy way to travel

This bike/barge trip is operated by http://www.girolibero.com/en/catalog/from-mantova-to-venice-aboard-the-vita-pugna-115 and was really a nice way to travel. The Vita Pugna is one of the smaller barges with room for only 20 passengers, 1 captain, 2 kitchen cooks and 1 guide. This company does this trip back and forth Mantua-to-Venice and the reverse, Venice-to-Mantua all spring, summer and fall long...and the trips are usually completely full! They all start on a Saturday and end on a Saturday.

our home for 7 nights with the provided bicycles

The route from Mantua-to-Venice (or reverse) connects the lowland plain of northern Italy with the Adriatic Sea. Water is a dominant feature in this unique landscape with many canals, 3 major rivers, inland lakes and lagoons, all intertwined with small towns and renaissance cities such as Mantua and Ferrara, both with rich histories of ruling dynasties such as the Este and Gonzaga families and ending in the pearl of the region, Venice.

Mantua is not only one of 110 provinces in Italy, but also a provincial town and capital city--more like a small town of ~48,000 inhabitants. The province of Mantua has a vast network of partly navigable canals which are used to irrigate the fields and drain the marshlands. Here are a number of photos of the town with it's many Piazza's (squares) just one weekend in August.

one of hundreds of cobblestone roads we will see on this trip

Castello di San Giorgio from the outside

beautiful columns and stone work

the moat around the Castello di San Giorgio

the Castello di San Giorgio was built by Francesco Gonzaga
same Gonzaga family as the University in Spokane, WA

one of many outdoor capuccino stops

a tobacco/souvenir shop

We had forgotten how many people smoke...we saw more smokers in the 2 weeks we were in Italy than we have in the past 7 months we've been in Rwanda.

The Cathedral built in the 13th Century

locals hangin' out

delicious shortbread type crispy 'biscuits' famously from
Mantova

yummies in many a window

a busy Saturday afternoon in the Piazza Broletto

our 1st gelato! so rich and creamy

window candy

a beautiful astrological clock and the Rotunda di San Lorenzo

a very bike friendly town

and dog friendly too

San Lorenzo's Rotunda (a small church from the 11th century)

Day 1--meet the boat at 4.30pm and do Mantova by foot, our bike trip was to begin on day 2.

Day 2--40 kms--around the lakes of Mantova and a free afternoon of cycling.

our small cabin with 3 portholes, 2 beds, 2 closets

and a small 'head'--toilet, sink and shower

cycling around the lakes of Mantova

a small 'neighborhood' church in Mantova

ornate wood window frames

the inside of Saint Andrea's Basilica

more of those delicious Sbrisolona Mantova shortbread

back on the boat for a dinner on the deck (that's
Fabio, our guide on the left)

Day 3--55 kms--Mantova-Governolo-Zelo

the boat sets sail, while we ride off...
our 2 cooks (Sara and Vera) dancing, bidding us farewell

A stop in the small village of Bergantino, where street entertainment, carnivals, fair rides and carousels got started. Most carnival and fair rides today were either commissioned from Bergantino or built with Bergantino expertise.

Carousel and Street Entertainment Museum of Bergantino

a photo of 1950s Italian carnival operators

Next stop was a small cheese factory making Grana-Padano hard cheese--very similar to Parmigiana (but don't tell the Italian's that!). It's one of the most popular cheeses in Italy. It was a delicious stop!

the evening bartender---while out playing darts in the
sleepy town of Zelo

Day 4--50 kms--Zelo-Ferrara-Adria

Vita Pugna leaving Zelo--we left by bike

one of the sleepy villages we rode through

entering the village of Ficarolo

the church in the Ficarolo piazza

before arriving in Ferrara the path takes you along pear
orchards and vineyards

pear trees along the route

We arrived in the historic town of Ferrara.

Dinner in the dining room on the Vita Pugna was always fresh and interesting--that is thinly sliced watermelon over cantaloupe with watercress and balsamic vinegar for the vegetarian in the bunch--the others had salmon over their melon--really delicious.

Adria by night

Day 5--40 kms--Adria-Porto Vero-Chioggia

stopping to watch the fisherman with their nightly oyster haul

on our way to have a swim in the Adriatic Sea

the water was great and the beach was lovely

looking across the Venetian lagoon from Chioggia

having just arrived in Chioggia--Rod and Buddy

Chioggia known as 'little Venice'

Thursday morning fish market

the 2nd oldest clock in the world--the 1st being in
Salzburg, Austria

looking down at the market from inside the clock-tower

San Andrea tower which houses the 2nd oldest clock in the world

Day 6--30 kms--Chioggia-Venice

Lido Island shots...

weaving down the alley-like 'roads'

the red carpet of the International Venice Film Festival
(no we did not see any stars)--it was starting the following day

rowing regatta in the lagoon--we watched, cheered and
celebrated the end of our cycling trip

getting closer and closer to Venice

celebrating our last day of cycling

Mary Beth, Jill, Bob, Jackie, Kit

Andre the captain

the cyclists

a water taxi

Our first view of Saint Mark's

sailing to our dock with Venice in the sunset

Day 7--walking tour of Venice

Saint Mark's

a floating veggie market

the Grand Canal

and old square

Gondola's for hire

Gondoliers

Saint Mark's Cathedral

the famous square

gorgeous architecture

famous Venetian (Murano) glass

the Grand Canal

Carnevale masks

more gelato--delicious any time of year

sandwich shop

Day 8--departure. And that is the end of our 8 day/7 night bike/barge trip. We had a really lovely time, biking, boating, walking, swimming and meeting new folks. Now, it's off to the airport for a rental car, so we can head north and go into the Dolomite mountains of Northern Italy for a week by ourselves.

the view from heading up into the mountains looking
back towards the plains and Venice

downtown Asiago where we stayed

mushroom season--all kinds of mushrooms

having an Aperol and a beer

the main Piazza in Asiago

looks a bit Swiss

WWI war memorial in Asiago

Asiago from the war memorial

heading towards Bolzano

Walther von der Vogelweide Piazza, Bolzano in the rain

fresh breads of the region

taking the gondola up the mountain through the vineyards
to the Renon plateau for some hiking

The Tyrolean village of Mittelberg Monte di Mezzo

earth pyramids--very similar to the hoodoos in Bryce
Canyon National Park in Utah

out hiking with a Dolomite backdrop

too beautiful not to...

the small train that takes you deeper into the Renon

taking the gondola back down after hiking all day

beautiful views of the Dolomites

our hotel on the Piazza...Stadt Citta--beautiful and old

Fabio--our guide from our bike trip, Aly and Buddy--
we met him here for an apero after a glorious day of hiking

another very bike friendly town (like so many Italian towns)

After a lovely 2 days in Bolzano, hiking the Renon, meeting up with our bike guide Fabio and visiting Otzi, the ice man in the Archeological Museum of Bolzano (http://www.iceman.it/en/node/233), we continued our journey in and throughout the Dolomites, before heading back towards the Adriatic Sea and ultimately Rwanda. The Dolomites are gorgeous and we were lucky with the weather as we wound up and down passes and throughout this beautiful part of Italy. Enjoy the journey with us...

We wound our way down to the small village of Fonzaso to visit an old friend of Aly's. Marconi used to live in Burundi back in the day, and we hadn't seen him since 2006. The two days spent with him were fun filled, eating, drinking and reminiscing about old times.