A Tale of Two Cities: Gisenyi & Goma

Gisenyi (Rwanda)

That shade of blue. I love that shade of blue.

In Kigali, you see this vibrant cobaltish blue sprinkled into the orange/green/white palette of the hillsides; on the long drive to Gisenyi, you see it stand out against the lush greenery of the passing countryside’s villages, sometimes painted on a door, gate, or roof.

We went to Gisenyi for a weekend trip courtesy of Garron’s company. He had some conference to attend and I was more than happy to tag along.

With a driver and a 4x4 (the Corona would not fare well on this trip), we snaked through the hills and countryside. The views were stunning. Every bend gave way to some towering hill, covered in a green patchwork of terrace farms. That mysterious giant who keeps figuring into my blog must have had an artistic streak: it looks like he took square samples of grass carpet – in varying shades of green – and pasted them to each hill. For good measure, he also uncorked a few waterfalls here and there. Banana trees with huge floppy leaves (that look like he took a giant pair of pinking shears to their edges) sprout all over the hillsides; from a distance they look a little bit like that pesky crab grass whose lighter shade of green and thicker blades can interrupt the uniformity of someone’s front lawn.

The road was not without the occasional precarious pass, but overall, the roads were in good condition. Sometimes when we passed through a village, the driver would lurch to a 5 mi/h crawl in order to gently negotiate a pot-holed road. I almost wonder if the locals created the potholes just so that they could have the opportunity to carefully stare at each car and its passengers as it passed.

Even on some of the more remote parts of the journey, there was always someone walking along the road. I marvel at the way women bundle babies to their backs with colorful swaths of fabric. The babies look positively smushed against their mothers’ backs.

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Rwanda Fast Facts, continued: 90% of the population is engaged in subsistence agriculture. Primary exports are coffee and tea.

We passed fields of crops and even caught some glimpses of tea plantations, marked by tea plants with leaves an alarmingly bright, radioactive shade of green.
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Gisenyi lies on the western border of Rwanda, a small town tucked on the banks of Lake Kivu. Part of Lake Kivu lies in Rwanda; part lies in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). As you arrive in Gisenyi, the road slopes downhill, offering a view of the majestic Lake Kivu.

If it weren’t for the faint outline of blue hills on the horizon, you could almost forget that it’s a lake. It’s so vast, you could easily mistake it for an ocean.

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Excuse you! Lake Kivu is gassy.

Given the lake’s proximity to several volcanoes, volcanic gases seep into the earth under the lake and when the gases reach a certain concentration, they can erupt through the surface. A little bit like burping. When this happens, the methane and carbon dioxide clings to the surface causing oxygen-dependent organisms in the area to asphyxiate. The locals know where it’s safe to swim and where it’s not, so follow their lead!
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Saturday, we wandered along the road that hugs the edge of the lake and stopped at Bikini Tam-tam, a restaurant with striped pavilions for beachfront dining. We paid a funny entrance fee and were told that there would be music and a drink included in the fee. As Rihanna’s “Umbrella” played over the loud-speaker during our meal, we had the vague sense that we were fleeced out of some money. But we were pleasantly surprised...

After lunch, we sauntered over to a grassy plot where we were treated to a chorus of singers, some bongo drums, and inspired traditional dances. The male dancers wore colorful patterned sarongs and beaded suspender type straps draped over their bare chests. Some had maracas-like noise makers tied to their ankles that looked like rows of roasted chestnuts. The female dancers sashayed in coordinating fringed sarongs and thin iridescent ribbons around their foreheads and necks in the colors of the Rwandan flag. The dancing looked positively exhausting – plenty of aerobic jumping, stomping, and tumbling.

The concert also included a brief departure into pop music… A group of young hip-hop dancers – outfitted in baggy jeans, un-laced sneakers, and hats cocked at funny angles – lip-synced and grooved to Dr. Dre, Tupac, and Justin Timberlake. The chorus of singers – in their traditional garb – kind of sulked in the background, some with their arms crossed, giving off the impression of ‘I’m so annoyed that we have to include these jokers in our show.’

Outdoors, under shade of trees and against the backdrop of the beach and lake, it was a fun little cultural interlude.

Afterwards, we continued wandering on the road as it split from the edge of the lake, and curled steeply upwards into the hills. There was plenty of traffic on the road – people traffic, that is – and it was hysterical the way some people stopped dead in their tracks as we passed. The road boasted spectacular views of the lake and dramatic drops into wild green hillside.

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Less Agreeable Fauna #1: Bird with koosh ball on its head.

I don’t know this bird’s technical name, but a group of 3 pranced around our hotel grounds like flamingoes, with the same type of rhythmic, legs-bending-backward gait. These black and grey- plumed birds had unusual tufts of yellow feathers sprouting on the top of their heads reminiscent of that 90s phenomenon, koosh balls. In spite of my pleading to stop, Garron liked to antagonize them by hissing their way. When the feathers on the back of one bird's neck stood up, I quickly moved to another table. Far away.
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Goma (DRC)

Sunday we traveled a whole 5 or so km to the border of DRC which was surprisingly unfortified. Despite the lack of arms and (relatively) smooth visa process at the border, I was still uneasy. There’s a low-level WAR going on just 20 km north of this area, and Mike – Garron’s colleague and travel companion this weekend – stridently suggested that I remove my watch since mugging is a bit too common there.

Once inside the DRC, a taxi driver picked us up and drove us through the city. In 2002, the city was devastated by an eruption from the volcano Nyiragongo. Lava flowed into the city and buried parts of it up to 2m deep. We drove over dirt roads the color of coal. We saw homes from their 3rd or 4th floors and thoroughly rusted trucks buried in the ground. Like a junk graveyard.

Although Goma is bigger than Gisenyi and apparently sees a healthy number of tourists, it seemed much less inviting than Gisenyi. Piles of old trash were a real eyesore, the roads were noticeably much worse, and the city felt dead. Moreover, the volcano – still active – bubbles in the distance and the specter of eruption hangs over the area like the mist that clings to a hill.

But, like most everything, it’s worth a visit………………