Akagera: The Beginning.

So as most of you may have noticed, I stopped posting. No it's not because I got bored. I went to the savannah for a week and was camping with no running water, no toilets, no electricity, no beds. Just me my sleeping bag and kick as Rwandan chef and the crew. It was an adventure to say the very least. Now the problem that has come up has been the fact that I have no where to type. I've attempted writing in my actual note book, but I use it for field notes so one page baboon data others about my day. And well, low and behold it got confusing. So instead I made bullets of every day and I decided instead of telling each day in about 7 new posts I'm going to summarize my experience. Some day are particularly entertaining and those will absolutely be told in full detail.

So to began.


We have arrived in Akagera, for those of you who don't know, it's a giant national park in Rwanda home of a crazy amount of species and insane biodiversity. Here's what I know and what I wonder within 10 minutes into the ride.
1. The dirt is all clay and this is going to be an issue with everything.
2. Is this bus going to make it through this crazy landscape
3. Oh my god I saw a giraffe.
4. I can literally feel dirt in my teeth.
5. Is it healthy to breath in all this dirt
6. How the hell do you close the windows
7. Oh man, wayy to hot.
8. But the dust!
9. This looks much more how I imagined Africa.
10. Leg cramp.
11. I am so cramped in here.

Struggling with fitting on the bus.

And that about summarizes my first thoughts upon entering. Now there are villages scattered all around the park, one which we drove though. And all around you would see goats, little kids, women carrying ply wood or bananas on their head with such grace and occasionally a cow. (cows are apparently a big deal here. If offered a cow you're being proposed to)

Throughout the village the children would run after our bus, some littler ones would jump up and down when they saw us and wave. The adults would vary rarely offer a smile, one intact even spit on our bus. Which I was startled with. A group of boys chased after us on bikes trying to sell some crafts. It was a pretty awesome experience. We stopped once for charcoal (which was neatly wrapped in leaves) and were stared at by a group of boys, who were to say the least baffled by our existence. 

By the time we got to the campsite, it was pitch black. But you could just tell the few in the morning would be breath taking. We had a nice little campfire which a few of us sat around at. An hour or so later we all head off to bed but not before munching on some indian food we picked up. Palak Paneer…My absolute favorite. The restaurant wrote little notes on all our packed dinners.

This is the only way to brush teeth.

Home sweet home.

So to prelude my night story, we have a rule here. Since, well, everything in Africa can kill you, don't go anywhere without a buddy. So 3am rolls around and I wake up, with a bladder so full that it can't be ignored. So my mind started racing. Let me st up the scene a bit. It's dark, cold, I've never been to this campsite, there may be wild cats, perhaps venomous/deadly snakes everywhere. My two tent mates are dead asleep, they may kill me if I wake them up. So my question that I keep asking is, "Will i get in trouble if I go alone?" But more importantly, "Will I get eaten if I go alone?" So after about an hour of debating I finally decide to venture off by myself and let me tell you..I swear to the sky above there was something out in the bush watching me.