I woke up early today, around 6:30, and went to the lodge by myself to read and write. It was one of the most beautiful mornings I can remember and I walked back into my room and got the camera to snap a couple pictures (attached). Then I read and wrote for an hour or so before Maggie woke up and joined me. We ate breakfast together and then decided to head back to Kigali. But first we needed to figure out how to get back from Kiniji to Masenze.
We paid for the room and then asked the hostess to arrange for boda boda’s to pick us up at the guesthouse and drive us for the 15-minute drive to Masenze. We maybe would have walked it again but neither of us were sure we could retrace the route through the forrest that Samuel had led us 2 days before.
The hostess was on the phone calling the boda boda drivers when a man walked in. She hung the phone up.
“He’s driving to Masenze.” She said. “Ask him to drive you.”
“Can we ride with you?” I asked.
“Ask my client.” The man replied. “His name is Richard.”
We walked to the parking lot and saw a white haired man with slicked back hair and a walrus-like mustache sitting in the passenger seat of a large van.
“You Richard?” I asked.
“Yup!” He chirped. “Need a ride?”
“You read my mind.”
“Get in!”
Maggie and I got in the van with another woman.
We drove for about 20 minutes. Richard was a really nice guy – he was an American from California. He told me he used to live in New York and lit off the fireworks over the East River for the 4th of July for a long time. Small world.
The van pulled over on the road.
“Okay.” The driver said, “This is the closest we’re going to Masenze.”
Hmm – I guess that tidbit was lost in translation. Richard wasn’t going to Masenze after all. Maggie and I and the other woman hopped out.
“How far is Masenze?” I asked the woman.
“2 kilometers.” She said. “A boda boda can take you for 300 francs (60 cents) or you can wait a half hour for the bus.”
Suddenly we were surrounded by boda boda drivers.
I looked at Maggie. “Its only 2 kilometers and it’s a country road. You want to boda it?”
“I don’t care – whatever you want to do.”
Another boda boda driver pulled up. He had a small head and beady eyes.
The woman pointed at him when he wasn’t looking. “Do not take him.” She warned. “He is bad.”
“What do you mean “bad”?” I asked. I wanted to know if he was a bad driver or if he was a bad man and he’d rob us.
“He’s very bad.” She repeated.
I’d heard enough.
“Lets just walk it Maggie.” I said. “Its only a mile and a half.”
She nodded.
The woman told us to walk straight and then make a left at the roundabout. We set off down the road with all our gear.
We made it to Belvedere bus with 5 minutes to spare.
The entire ride back to Kigali Maggie and I soaked in the beautiful scenery and talked.
We got back to Kigali in 2 hours, locked our stuff in the hostel and headed took boda boda’s to the bus park to buy our tickets back to Kampala. We wanted to do another overnight bus but when we spoke with the bus operators they told us there was no overnight bus from Kigali to Kampala.
“Maybe that’s a good thing.” I said to Maggie. “I don’t think we should be wandering around Kigali at 1:00 in the morning.”
In Kampala we have Mad Max – our trusted cab driver that is always on time and a consummate professional in every facet. Here we didn’t know or trust anyone.
We decided to go with Kampala Coach because the buses were roomier and supposedly nicer.
“The only bus back to Kampala leaves at 5:45 in the morning. You need to be here at 5:15.” The Kampala Coach operator told us.
We had the same problem. We’d need to leave our hostel at like 4:45 – 5:00 in the morning to make it on time. But that was our only option. We bought the tickets and headed back to our hostel.
It was another ardous day of travelling and Maggie and I just ate and then did a little Christmas shopping at a crafts store. We were both concerned about the early morning departure the next day. In addition to being super early you need to make sure your boda driver isn’t drunk or looking to rob you. I made a mental note of the exact route we’d need to travel to get to the bus park and if the boda boda driver veered off that path I’d know something was up. With many things in life I trusted that we’d be okay so long as we were prudent and calm – and with that thought in mind I fell asleep.
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