Kibuye, lake Kivu I had been anxiously waiting to take the boat ride on lake Kivu. I had already swam in it and I had tasted it also. Now I got to enjoy the ride. Some parts remind me of Lake Geneva. This country is wonderful. We stayed in a nice hotels with each our big terrace, Greek style, Mykonos looking type of a hotel. My mom wasn’t interested in the boat ride. The water just like animals, she doesn’t like. According to her you don’t know who can come up from these waters. Considering lake Kivu is a volcanic lake that produces methane gas besides Kivu fish I don’t think there is a lot in there. She asked if I was going on a speedboat but no Francine had booked a local with a dugout boat. She should know my adventurous spirit by now. She stayed back in the hotel to relax. However, she didn’t relax. She prayed the entire time for my safety. I enjoyed the boat ride. I did notice that it does flip over easily and she was right telling me dugouts aren’t the safest thing. Anyway, it didn’t matter, I swim like the best and I am born from the water. My father’s family were all related to the maritime business. I have been swimming in rivers since 5. The dugout boat had nothing on me. We arrived on an island in the lake and explored it for a little while. I can’t believe some of them are for sale. I really want to buy an island. It is my dream. This dream might become reality in Rwanda one day. From the lake we arrived downtown Kibuye and visited the museum of environment. This museum had just been opened. It discusses energy. A lot of images from the Port of Ghent in Belgium describing energy. It is an interesting place and has a botanical garden showing the unique forest plants that heal diseases. I had put my hands in nettles while I was in the forest, the porter ripped open a leaf and put it on my hand. The nettle bumps were gone in less than 10 minutes. Seems as if we still have a lot to learn from these traditional healers. Kibuye has very good of lake Kivu. It seems this lake is everywhere in the country. I can’t believe the beauty of this place. On to the next sight. By the time I leave I will have visited this country from North to South, East to West. I turned on Justin Bieber in the car to set the mood for the next place. Leaving Kibuye, I saw rice fields! I can’t believe the blessings of this country. It grows everything. Even non believers would become believers in Rwanda. This country has a Godly presence. Right when I thought, I saw a waterfall along the way. It only gets better. Francine Carron October 12, 2015
Mom was happy when I returned from #lakekivu #dugout boat. She had another doomsday scenario in her head. She prayed the entire time while waiting for me #rwanda #rwandalove (at Lake Kivu, Rwanda) Francine Carron October 12, 2015
Made it to another #island that was once inhabited… #lakekivu #kibuye #rwanda (at Lake Kivu, Rwanda) Francine Carron October 12, 2015
This #lakekivu is too beautiful I had to taste it #rwanda #rwandalicious (at Lake Kivu, Rwanda) Francine Carron October 12, 2015
I was trying to do the @carlarocio710 #holiday pose on an island in #lakekivu #kibuye (at Lake Kivu, Rwanda) Francine Carron October 12, 2015
Alone on the #dugout boat enjoying #lakekivu with no one around. My mind stayed ashore, she doesn’t trust these boats LoL #rwanda I am definitely more #African than her, she is not in for these adventures…. #tumblrpost : #microfinancemasala (at Lake Kivu, Rwanda) Francine Carron October 12, 2015
In a #dugout boat on #lakekivu #kibuye #rwanda (at Lake Kivu, Rwanda) Francine Carron October 12, 2015
First day of my Rwanda holiday OMG! Last night when I went to lay in my bed, I just started to laugh. Ohhh the bed was soooooo comfortable with fluffy pillows. I forgot that feeling, I couldn’t stop laughing from happiness. Never been that grateful for a bed! I slept 8 hours straight! & without Advil PM. That’s the forte time this happened in Rwanda. With no alarm, I woke up fresh and still quite early and my 9-year old son Skyped me. Finally, I have a strong enough wifi connection that can hold a video Skype call. I put in my headphones and went to have breakfast. My son and I virtually had breakfast together. I was eating at the breakfast table in Rwanda and he was eating at home. He helped me select what I should eat for breakfast. He saw a donut and that one I had to eat for him. He was able to wave at the Chef who was making me an omelette. For a moment it felt that he was here in Rwanda. We video Skyped at the breakfast table for 2 hours. The day feels weird without the tea union. It had been a big part of my life for 2 weeks straight. I also find out that you can’t have chicken in a taxibus and no heavy market goods. Numerien didn’t believe me that it was illegal. Smggghhh…. I miss the Union and all its people already. I saw that the hotel has a beauty centre and decided to go for pampering. That day I also went to the pharmacy to buy amiable pills in town, just in case I get infected since I have been grubbing on food that I shouldn’t eat. I bought a double dosis Nausicaa :) Walking through Gisenyi, I got a couple of good photo snaps from the Nyiaragongo volcano in Congo. So much steam that comes out of there. In the night you can see the red fire in the background of Gisenyi. This place is just beautiful, we walked to some amazing ‘rich’ people neighbourhoods and into the market. The market of Gisenyi is quite big and they are constructing a building to move it into a proper construction. A type of shopping mall, one can say. These markets always upset me. They sell second hand clothing mostly. Second hand clothing that comes from Europe and America. These are the clothes that we put outside our houses for charity. They are being collected all over and sold in bulk by Western businessman to African whole sellers. The clothes are then resold through retail in the markets. It pisses me off! These clothes should be given for free! On top of all of this, these second hand clothes are very expensive. Second hand clothes from America and Europe are considered premium quality while new clothes are considered bad, low quality from China. My argument is that most of these Western clothes are also made in China. Thus, this reasoning makes no sense. No matter what quality, these clothes should be free. They were donated to be given away for free. This phenomena is all over Africa, not only Rwanda. On the positive side, it is sustainable. Gisenyi is small and we are quick back where we left off. I found the mosque that was keeping me up last week. Its actually far from where I stayed. Back at Lake Kivu, I watch the sun set and order yummy food. Lake Kivu is so big that it looks like an ocean. The water is always warm and the methane gas extraction continues to fascinate me. I might go out tonight ;) after watching #rwandaday live President Kagame is just saying that Kinyarwanda learning centres are being set up so that Rwanda’s or adopted Rwandans wanting to return home can prepare. I want to learn the language ! Let me find out where these will be. Francine Carron October 3, 2015
Totally #zen by #LakeKivu #Rwanda #rwandaful #rwandalicious #rwanda (at Lake Kivu, Rwanda and Congo Border) Francine Carron October 3, 2015
Enjoying the Sunset at #LakeKivu Gisenyi #rwandaful Vacay in #Rwanda Day 1 #tumblr #blog : #microfinancemasala (at Lake Kivu Serena Hotel) Francine Carron October 3, 2015
Sunset over the #millecollines above #LakeKivu #rwandalicious Picture taken in #Rutsiro #Rwanda #tumblr #blog : #microfinancemasala Francine Carron September 30, 2015
Francine Carron September 26, 2015 The children swam behind me and I thought them to float. Amazing day and clean water in Lake Kivu !
I want this #island #LakeKivu #millecollines #landofthousandhills #Rwanda Francine Carron September 26, 2015
During the bike ride, I saw the children swimming in Lake Kivu so I took off my shoes and jumped in ! #Rwanda #LakeKivu Francine Carron September 26, 2015