Today we arrived in Rwanda, and I bet you’d like to hear all about this beautiful country. Well today’s not your lucky day because I’m not here to tell you what you want to hear, I’m here to keep it real.
Honestly if I were to tell you about Rwanda after being here only a short 3 hours I’d be doing you a disservice. With that said I’ll keep it real by sharing what we’ve been up to for the previous 3 days. As the title states we go hard, actually it says Canoe Trek, but as we all know those who trek in canoes go hard.
Anyhow, day one arrives and we’re all juggling oranges; that’s when Kevin’s like, “Yo, y’all ready to beast this lake in a canoe” and we’re like, “Uh, obvi. We were born ready..”. I may be rephrasing but for entertainments sake let’s keep it as is. To be honest, what came out of our mouths was probably more humorous. On that note we stood in a circle, prepared ourselves mentally, and left the Hotel Edirisa like Spartans ready for war.
Luckily the manager of Hotel Edirisa decided to guide us along the trek. His name is Owen, who will be leaving Uganda for the first time in a few short months to study in America. Owen had already called taxis to pick us up so we were on our to the heart of Edirisa. The heart is where we met Gorilla Highlands number one man Miha (I hope I spelt his name right). We all go through orientation, meet the other members of our canoe trek group, and then make way to the canoes.
“Throw the bags in the canoe, let’s get this puppy rolling”, says a rather outspoken individual who goes by the name of Luigi. We throw our bags in and get rolling, well rowing. Savannah and I were on opposite canoes, and what makes me laugh is this: We are faced forward, and then slowly rotate our heads towards one another, and then our jaws drop. I’m still not sure what was going through her mind but I was taken back by the rolling hills and gorgeous lake.
A short while later we were without a doubt wet from splashing one another with our paddles. So were wet, and then we dry off from the sun, and that’s when we make it to the first checkpoint. We all manage to get off the canoe without falling in the shallow water below us. We drink coffee, talk a little, and then board the canoes once again.
Off we go!
This time we had about a two hour push to the next checkpoint/ lunch. We’re all rowing along sharing stories, getting to know each other, and genuinely having fun. And that’s when it happens. The sun hides himself behind a few dark clouds, and the thunder begins to roar. No rain is coming down yet, but we all know it’s coming, and it’s coming soon. So like my vikings ancestors I grabbed a paddle and began to row like a crazy mofo. I think this went on for a good 10-15 minutes before we got off the canoe and found shelter. I kid you not that the second we all made it under the tin roof the rain shot down from the sky.
I could barely hear anyone talking to me because of how hard the rain hit the tin roof.
After we ate and played a few epic games of ninja we all jumped on the water boats and headed for checkpoint 3. This time we would set up our tents, eat dinner, and have a lovely time sharing stories around the warm camp fire. We each pushed our comfort zones by sharing stories with complete strangers. I told the story about me being a little boy attempting to get my first kiss. Too bad I was chased up a tree with an axe. Her older sister was crazy to say the least. The story that I remember best is Avys. She made the courageous decision to hike 500 miles through Nevada I believe. She ends up getting shot at, then hangs out with the shooter(aka hunter not paying attention), and then meets the shooters mom later that evening.
The next morning we all rose early. Breakfast was delicious. Then we all headed out to discover where the Botwa people lived. The Botwa people are in general very short but very fun. I mean not even 10 minutes after arriving they were having us shoot their bow and arrow. From what I’ve learned during the hike is that these people were locals and then they were screwed when people came from far away lands. As time moved on the Botwa people reduced in numbers significantly. Unfortunately these people stopped fighting and decided to pick up the bottle instead.
From the local Botwa community we went to another hill, a very steep hill. The tallest hill in all of the area in fact. The sites were amazing, and the climb was a workout to say the least. Everyone put in a tremendous amount of energy in getting to the top of the hill. Nick, one of the marines in our extended group made it to the top first. (I second ;)) He a beast. We took a pic overlooking the lake and surrounding hills, owen did a double back flip, I tried and failed and then we went down the hill.
A local community danced for us, and we danced in return. Colin and Avy did a duo. Avy and colin did a lot of hopping around, but Colin playing his harmonica at the same time was impressive. DD went hard by “gigging” as local Portlandians would say. To be honest that’s all I remember of the dancing, but what came next was intense.
The rain began to pour, and our dirt paths became muddy slides. I don’t think a single person made it down the hill without slipping on their bum-bums. I made the pour decision of not bringing a rain jacket, and I paid the consequences. Soooo if any of you think Africa’s hot and on the Equator think again, because it does rain. And it rains hard!
We did make it down to the canoes, and then the following day we ended the canoe trek with a beautiful swim at an even more beautiful resort. Some played pool while others threw the Frisbee disk. I tanned lol. The day finally did come to an end, and as sad as I was to leave I knew that it was time. We packed the car and headed back to Edirisa Hotel for our last night in Uganda. And a beautiful night it was indeed.
-Alvin Swearingen
