Has it really been a month?

Considering how often I update this, I'd be curious as to who still reads it. Haha, anyhow I'm writing from Kigali, Rwanda and having a great time. Before I get to current events I feel like y'all need a bit of a recap.

So yeah, things finished up in Mikinduri on April 24. Pete and I wrote a 35 page joint audit of the entire organization which is apparently currently being used at a large meeting in Nairobi as we speak to determine the future of the organization. Whoa. The month ended fairly well, we were given a live chicken as a reward for our hard work (his name was Tasty and he was lightly battered and deep fried) and seemed to have deserved it. By the time we left meetings had be regularized (as opposed to "whenever") and projects were to be consistently monitored and audited per our suggestions. There were some hard times though. Kids (who weren't being given the money they were asking of us) began throwing rocks at us, someone turned off our water (we fixed it ourselves) and I got some nasty skin infection from an allergic reaction. Such are the trials of a foreigner in rural Kenya. All in all though, while I don't know if I'll ever spend another full month in Mikinduri (there is nothing to do), but I know I'll keep in touch to make sure all is well.

From Mikinduri it was back to Nairobi with Pete. We saw a movie (300, it was sweet!), hit up the bar scene, had buisness meals with Silvanos (our chief advisor), enjoyed sushi and generally revelled in the joys of urban life (did I mention there was drinking?). Pete Dumoulin is by far one of the best travel companions I have had the pleasure of chilling with. His presence is sorely missed and our time spent in Nairobi was the culmination of an epic one month experience.

From Nairobi I travelled to Lake Nakuru to meet up with Alejandro (another friend from the McGill trip) and off we went to Kisumu to spend the night. Kisumu is supposedly the 3rd largest city in Kenya, but you wouldn't know that from its relaxed atmosphere. We were able to walk around at nights with no hassle (impossible in Nairobi), and eat spring rolls and pizza. From Kisumu it was off to Kampala where we spent two nights camping at a backpacker's hostel. Our fellow backpackers proved extremely entertaining as one of my nights was spent out at an outdoor concert until 6 AM (some of the most popular artists in Kenya and Uganda were on hand), and the second spent at a houseparty hosted by a British guy who has been living in Kampala for over a year now. Very, very, very good times in Kampala.

From Kampala was the 9 hour bus ride to Kigali. We arrived in the late afternoon at the One Love Club hoping to set up our tents, but their "campgrounds" was actually a cement parking lot. We booked a room instead. Our first day in Kigali has been plagued by rain (although it's quite sunny now), the fact that it's Labour Day (changing money is pretty much a no-go) and the absence of a working ATM in the city. Aside from that the city is gorgeous, the people are very friendly and I've been getting to use my (extremely rusty) français. Plus there's passionfruit flavored Fanta!

From here we spend another two nights in Kigali, then move to Gisenye or Kibuye (we thought about trekking to the Congo, but upon research found that "active militia and Interahamwe rebels in the Eastern Provinces" was a fairly strong disincentive to making the trip. Oh well, haha. Instead of Congo, we'll head to Butare (still in Rwanda) and use that as a base to make our way to Bujambura, Burundi. Bujambura (although a travel warning exists) is probably safer at nights than Nairobi, so there's no need to worry about us. There we'll do some day trips to other parts of Burundi, return to Rwanda and from there I'll head to Jinja, Uganda for whitewater rafting and back to Kampala for another round of bar attending. All this is up in the air though, so if the next entry says something totally different, don't get all mad at me.

The bottom line? Life is grand.

Cheers,

-Dave