For the love of Nature

Hey Travel Lover,

"If you truly love nature, you will find beauty everywhere." Laura Ingalls Wilder

Do you believe the quote above? Do you love nature? Do you visit parks and lakes when you travel?

By now you should be firmly seated in the virtual cinema front row, enjoying the recount of our Rwandan experiences. Fasten your seat belt tightly as we take off on yet another adventure in “the land of a thousand hills” (Rwanda’s nickname if you are wondering,) . If you’re feeling lost, catch up quickly on the adventures from Days 1 & 2 here (Day 1 Day 2)

For day three of our adventure, we had initially planned to see Lake Kivu, one of the highlighted and “must visit” attractions in Rwanda. While thinking if there was somewhere else we should visit, I called my friend, a resident in Rwanda to get her take. (Never underestimate the power of networking). She suggested a trip to the twin lakes – Lake Ruhondo and Lake Burera – and because I love twins I was immediately sold on the idea. Besides, it had the added advantage of being located at the base of Rwanda’s largest volcano and I had never seen one.

My friend assisted with planning logistics for the two hours and forty minutes trip. It turned out way cheaper than if we had sourced ourselves. (The more the savings the happier the tourist right 😄). She informed us that two people will pick us up; the driver and someone who could converse easily with us in English. The first sign of trouble came when we saw only one person in the car, and when we asked about the other person, he simply said that he understood English, and we could go.

As we embarked on the journey, we passed by lovely scenic views. I was also grateful I dressed for the cold as it kept getting colder the more we ascended. At some point we were stopped by the state police patrol and the engagement took over 30minutes. We didn’t understand why we were stopped, and the driver couldn’t explain it well either. Finally, after what seemed like several hours, we realized that though glass tints were permitted in Kigali, it wasn’t permitted in our location. The driver had to remove the tint before we continued our journey.

After getting “released” we continued our drive on the long-winding hilly road, and kept wondering when we would arrive at our destination. Some LONGGGGGG minutes later, we saw the Arrow “this way to Lake Ruhondo”. What a Relief!!! Although the road didn’t look too good we forged ahead and after several wrong turns we arrived at the lake. On arrival at the twin lakes it was a little short of our expectations however there was still so much beauty to behold.

The surrounding volcanoes, the blue skies and of course the lakes all made up the magnificent sights. With the sight seeing ongoing, I couldn’t help drifting into thoughts of “why didn’t I just stick to visiting Lake Kivu”. Anyway we took some lovely pictures and headed back to base. Since the thought refused to leave me, I made myself a promise to return to Rwanda and visit Lake Kivu.

So, Travel Lover, do you love nature? Would you visit the twin lakes when in Rwanda? Would seeing an inactive volcano excite you? Let us know in the comments section.

Till Next Time

Live, Love, Laugh

Ajalaress

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