"Delicious 30"

    So I celebrated my 30th birthday in Africa. Not because I took a vacation, but because I live in Rwanda. If you had asked me a year ago what I'd be doing to celebrate the big 3-0, let me tell you... the answer wouldn't have come close to the truth. What is the truth? I'm glad you asked.

     A week before my birthday I was in Kigali attending the nursing conference hosted by the University of Rwanda. A few of us decided to grab dinner at a restaurant that Steph wanted to visit before her departure from the land of 1000 hills. Rhett, a visiting surgical resident from UVA joined us.  A few drinks later while discussing his vacation plans for the remainder of his time in East Africa, I more or less had invited myself along on a weekend adventure. To be fair, Rhett did say that I should jump on the opportunity and he was right. The opportunity that lay before me was extremely unique, fascinating, and a once in a lifetime experience. By the next afternoon it was all settled; I was headed to the Congo for the weekend.

     Now, you may be thinking to yourself, "Isn't that the country where there appears to be constant instability?" "Didn't one of the doctors on ER almost get killed there?" "Wasn't there just an article in the Washington Post when Alex was home for New Years about some rebel skirmishes in the northeast along the border with Rwanda?" "Didn't her father tell her not to go there?" And the answers to all these questions is, Yes. Now, mind you, when I first moved to Rwanda in August, I thought anyone who mentioned visiting the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) was a little off their rocker. Ok, to be perfectly honest, more than a little off their rocker. And yet, I had consented to stay 2 nights and 3 days in the country so I could go hiking.

Mount Nyiragongo (Wikipedia)

     It was no ordinary hike. Mount Nyiragongo is located in Virunga National Park in the DRC approximately 12 miles north of the city of Goma. It has an elevation of 11,382 ft with a crater diameter of 2 kilometers. Within the crater is a lava lake. Along with Mount Nyamuragira, which isn't far away (we could see it the following morning), the two volcanoes account for roughly 40% of Africa's volcanic activity (thanks Wikipedia!). Accordingly to our tour guide, Roger, the most recent eruption occurred in 2002 when lava flowed out of a lower elevation fissure and all the way to Goma. Over 9 feet of lava buried parts of the city, which have since been rebuilt, 9 feet higher. Apparently, the lava flow during eruptions of Nyiragongo is very fast partially due to the steepness of the volcano and I'm sure partially due to some geologic phenomenon of which I'm unfamiliar, but it can go as quickly as 60 mph. This is apparently quite unusual and what makes this particular active volcano quite dangerous. So naturally, I thought I'd hike it and camp at the summit in celebration of my 30th birthday.

     So let the adventure begin! It started with a long, interesting bus ride. In order for me to reach Gisenyi, Rwanda I had to take two busses, one from Butare to Kigali and then Kigali to Gisenyi. By no means is this the most direct route, but without a car of my own, it's the best way to go. Fortunately, Vanessa had a department meeting Friday morning in Kigali so she gave me a lift the first half of my journey. Once at the bus station (which is always a total and complete zoo) I discovered that our trusty bus line, aptly named Volcano, didn't run to Gisenyi. Fortunately, one of the Volcano guys walked me across the parking lot, dodging moving busses, people, vendors, probably animals as well, to Kigali Coach where at 9:29 am I bought my ticket for the 9:30 bus and ran back into the madness to get on the bus. I got the last seat... the jump seat right next to the door. Now the good thing about this jump seat is that you actually have room for your bags and feet. I very wisely dropped the dry bag with the three sleeping bags on the bus step and fit my day pack in front of me. I say it was wise for me to place the sleeping bags on the step because as I discovered about 15-20 minutes into the 3.5 hour drive the bus door tended to fly open at high speeds. The other people on the bus thought it was hilarious that the only muzungu (literal translation: crazy white person) was sitting there and every so often had to shove the door closed so that I wasn't flung off the bus when going around a crazy curve.

     I managed to keep my car sickness under control and by the time we reached Musanze (north of Kigali where Volcanoes National Park with the Rwandan gorillas is located) I was able to switch seats and grab my own. Between Musanze and Gisenyi our bus got pulled over for speeding. The odd thing about this traffic stop though is the two heavily armed police officers had everyone get off the bus. At first I thought nothing of this and then about a minute later I realized this was odd and whipped out my phone to text my ever trusty roommates who agreed this was weird. The officers then made us all get back on the bus to collect any baggage we had left on it. Finally, they let us back on and we continued on our way. I have no idea why we were stopped in that fashion. Maybe they were looking for something specific, maybe our driver had just said something to annoy them. I have no idea, but it's the first time since moving here I thought, "This is odd."

     Upon my arrival in Gisenyi about 1 pm, I was met by Innocent, the owner of Green Hills Eco-Tours, the tour company the guys and I had booked our trip through. He is very sweet and kind and was all set to drive me to the border so that I could cross into Goma. I was very excited. First, Gisenyi and Goma are located on Lake Kivu. I have learned in my travels that growing up on the East Coast of the U.S. has ingrained in me a need to be nearby water. I didn't grow up on the water, but we go to the river during the summer and it's just a 30-minute drive downtown to go sailing or walk along the harbor. I need water. So coming down a hill and seeing how big Lake Kivu is and how beautiful it is, almost took my breath away. I just love water.

Lake Kivu
Facing Southeast towards Rwanda

     When I was told that you walk across the border, I was very intrigued. I had these thoughts of grandeur of crossing the Rwanda/Congo border and feeling so accomplished, brave, and exhilarated. Perhaps this is how the Von Trapp family felt as they hiked across mountains, crossing borders and while I will admit the mountains of Rwanda are not the Alps, this thought did pop into my head...

Headed into the wilds of Congo

It was none of these things. In fact, it was completely uneventful and monotonous. I filled out my departure card for Rwanda, showed my passport twice, walked approximately 100 yards to Congo, showed my passport again, and I was in the DRC.

Newest stamp in the passport

That was it. The Congolese had a little trouble finding my visa that Innocent had given them the day before, but while waiting I went to the public health folks and had my temperature taken and showed my yellow fever card. Innocent stayed with me the entire time, walked me to my hotel, which was another 300 yards from the border, made sure I was checked in and the room was ok, gave me a lecture about not walking in Goma at night before heading back to Rwanda. The boys (I'll get to them) were still out on their gorilla excursion and were due back soon. I quickly settled myself in my room and then found myself at the pool, looking at the lake with a beer and new book in my hands.

Looking east to Rwanda

     It wasn't too terrible of a way to spend the afternoon. Very relaxing with the exception of the UN planes landing and taking off every half hour or so. We have an airstrip in Butare that is almost never used and I have grown so accustomed to not hearing noise from the sky that it surprises me when I do. The boys finally made it back to their hotel about 2 minutes away after a 3 hour post gorilla hike excursion to the Goma market to buy masks. Apparently, they were quite the bargainers. My hotel arranged a cab for me to take to their place for dinner (where I corrected the dish they had ordered me; they literally picked the only thing I wouldn't eat on the menu) and they regaled me with tales.

Mickey, Me, & Rhett

Mickey is a visiting medical student from McGill University in Canada. There is a program in Canada where you can enter medical school basically straight from high school (he explained the details but in all honesty I don't recall them all... must be the old age) and is just 22. He's ridiculously smart and talkative. Being from Quebec he speaks French and this lead to the three hour excursion in the market earlier in the day because he refused to be ripped off. Rhett, is a visiting surgical resident from UVA who tacked on a week of vacation to his rotation here. I'm sure he's heard all the possible jokes about his name growing up in Georgia, so during his few weeks in Butare we kept the Clark Gable and Gone with the Wind references to a minimum. He has traveled to more places I can recall and even worked on a game park in Zimbabwe. They are both very fun and personable... and also graciously allowed me to crash their bromance. I was informed that it was probably a good thing I hadn't spotted the volcano yet as according to them, it looked pretty intimidating. We all called it a relatively early night and agreed I'd let them know when I was picked up at the hotel by Innocent Saturday morning.

     The next morning after an awesome breakfast I was scooped up and then we got the boys. I met Roger, who was our guide on the mountain. Roger is awesome. So incredibly sweet, funny, and full of knowledge. We drove through downtown Goma and that's when I realized, I was truly in Africa. Rwanda is so incredibly different from other African countries. While the mountains and surrounding area of Congo was beautiful, Goma was a slum. There was a thick haze of volcanic dust and smoke as we drove. Trash burned in the streets and there were piles upon piles of it. Everything was gray and sooty from both the volcanic soil and fires. A child was going to the bathroom right next to the fruit his mother had spread out along the road to sell. I have no photos of Goma as the Congolese are not fans of tourists and photos, which I understand, and it's so vividly ingrained in my mind I don't think I needed a camera. One thing I did notice is that unlike Rwanda, Congo still has a number of trees. Most of the homes in Rwanda are made from red mud bricks while in Congo they're made from wood. For me, it painted a very difference landscape despite being within 20 miles of the Rwandan border. It's only when you leave Rwanda that you realize you're really living in Africa.

     It was still hazy as I finally caught view of Mount Nyiragongo. And the boys were right. It went straight up and the summit was lost in the clouds. I was certainly intimidated. When we got to the starting point, the sky had cleared and I was even more intimidated. The start of the hike looked to be 20 miles away from the summit.

Mickey and Rhett at the starting point.
Hello distant summit.

A zoomed view of Mount Nyiragongo from the start.

Then the other hikers started to show up with their gear and weren't hiring porters to carry it for them. All of my friends who had previously done this hike told me to hire someone. It costs $24 plus tip and I figured not only was it employing someone but it would also make my vacation way more enjoyable if I was carrying a water bottle versus a 25 lb day pack (I'm really good at packing). I told the boys that I might get shamed into carrying my bag as we sized up the UN crowd hiking with us. But in the end I hired someone and I really hope that the UN folks that stopped carrying their packs halfway up paid their porters appropriately.

    It took 5-6 hours to reach the summit. For the first 4 hours every time we stopped I think we all felt as though we hadn't made any progress whatsoever. The volcano looked just as far away as it had at the beginning of the hike. When it finally was noticeably closer I felt a little relieved.

Lunch break, complete with Mars bars.

Explorers

Our attempt at a Brady Bunch photo

I didn't think the hike was the hardest I'd ever done (that prize definitely belongs to the 14,000+ foot hike I did with my surrogate brother Chris in Colorado in July 2013) but it was pretty strenuous. I was not complaining when we took safety breaks to make sure everyone was still together. We took several safety breaks because I was in fact hiking through an area where the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) hang. And of course, unbeknownst to me, the day before I arrived in the DRC had agreed to an offensive against the rebels with UN and U.S. support. So, yes, this is why my father had told me just three weeks before to NOT go to the Congo.

     But in all honesty, I felt incredibly safe. We had three Virunga Park Rangers with us who were heavily armed. As I've probably previously mentioned, similar to the machetes, I am completely desensitized to people in uniform (army, police, prison guards, bank guards etc.) strolling the streets with AK-47s and it was no different in Congo. One ranger in the front, one in the middle, and one in the rear and while I know the porters weren't armed with guns, I'm certain they all carried knives. I didn't think my 1" pocket knife gifted to me when I left the safety of Bucknell University for the wilds of the University of Maryland would do much good, but I had it on me. As we got higher up and passed the ranger station with another 5-8 park rangers they allowed us to spread out a little more. I stuck right behind the boys who were right behind our lead park ranger (the one with multiple magazines duct taped to his weapon). The last 30 minutes of the hike were ridiculous. I was climbing volcanic rock at, I'm not exaggerating, easily a 45˚ angle, maybe more. At this point, the boys took off (freaking jack rabbits). They were the first two to the top, even ahead of the ranger, and about 10 minutes ahead of me. I was the 4th to the top and the first gal by at least 15 minutes. I was expecting the elevation to get to me more, but I was pleasantly surprised.

Last 30 minutes of the climb... this is where the boys took off.

Looking down to the second crater as I
was roughly halfway up the last haul.

I made it!

     As I was still catching my breath, the boys informed me that 5 minutes before I reached the summit the crater was very clear and you could see the lava perfectly. As I peered over the edge I could faintly see it and a whole lot of steam. I was a little disappointed but, I'm not going to lie, I felt as though I had just climbed Mount Doom, minus the orcs and all (think Lord of the Rings for those who don't understand this reference). As the wind shifted and the temperature dropped it became one of the most mesmerizing and fascinating things I have ever seen in my entire life.

The initial glances at lava.

Steam clearing.

Amanda was a Dutch woman on the hike with us who also just happened to be a geologist. She was explaining all sorts of things to me. We could sit along the edge and watch the molten lava boil up, cool and harden (thus turning black) and then see and hear the cracks starting to form as it broke apart and another area boiling sucked the hardened pieces down. It was amazing to watch. We could feel a slight warmth from the rising steam when the wind was right despite the chill in the air.

Our hut is on the left, a mere 20 feet from the craters edge.

Roger and the lava lake.

After the sorting of huts, I changed into my thermals and Roger made us hot tea over a lovely fire. The wind was chilly but all in all I was fine. As Roger cooked dinner we had fun talking with Amanda and her husband Benjamin, goofing off, and simply looking down into the crater at the bubbling lava lake.

As night fell, it became more and more breathtaking with every passing minute. There was lighting bolting down in the valley and clouds illuminated above us. Below you will find a picture the boys captured of me with the lave glow from the rising steam and lighting in the clouds. It's fantastic.

      Roger made us a delicious dinner of rice, stew with veggies, sausage, beef, and fish. It was so nice to sit around the fire and eat and talk. He also shared with us the local alcohol of Goma, which is clear, tastes suspiciously like Children's Tylenol chewable tabs, and is packed in plastic pouches. You slit the corner and suck it out. We had a grand time. I finally called it a night about quarter to 9. I was exhausted. Roger made a hot water bottle which was great because I'd been hanging out in flats and not my gortex boots so they were a little chilled. Probably 30 minutes later the boys came in and I tried without success to pawn the hot water bottle off on one of them. I was actually hot. All my friends who have done the hike said that it's freezing, it rains, it will hail, it's windy... Rhett and I opened the tent (within the hut) door we got so hot. The wind was non-existant as we slept. I removed every layer I could and while Mickey snored to one side of me, Rhett tossed and turned on the other. We didn't sleep more than an hour and probably not in more than ten minute increments. So needless to say I wasn't thrilled when Roger knocked on the hut in the morning telling us it was time for breakfast, but I did want to see the sunrise, so once the boys were booted, I changed and went back to the edge of the crater to see. Again, it was very steamy and the wind had picked up so I scurried back to see what deliciousness Roger had for breakfast.

Roger cooking up a storm.

     We started our descent at 6:45 am. We were all a little nervous about the first section down. It was steep and all volcanic rock that you easily slipped on. If you slipped and fell forward, there was no way of stopping. I took my time and even the jack rabbits I was with took it easy. I slipped and fell on my bottom, which left a nice bruise, but otherwise we were all fine. One hiker in our group slipped and cut his hand pretty badly. Mickey, Rhett and I all agreed, there is no way they would do such a hike in the US/Canada without a twenty page waiver, if at all. It amazed us that only one person (that we know of) has died on the hike, and well, apparently thats because sections of the rim can undercut and the ledge crumbled beneath her. Thankfully, we all made it down safe and in one piece. As we hit the jungle section towards the end of the hike the rangers made sure we were much closer together for safety and at 10:45, we were back to the starting point. We wished the hikers who were about to begin good luck and Roger shortly had us in a car and on our way back into Goma.

Our lead park ranger, Augustine.
Photo credit Mickey on my camera

     Now, as previously mentioned, Mickey is Canadian. This means that his visa to re-enter Rwanda is different than Rhett's. I have a work visa so I already knew I wouldn't have a problem getting back in, I was more worried they'd confiscate my ziplock bags I'd packed everything in. Anyway, when the boys entered the DRC Thursday Mickey applied for his re-entry visa to Rwanda as he needs to be pre-approved. He received a reference number in return. I believe the process is for immigration to then email the approval directly to him, but this did not happen. As we were on the summit of the volcano, Innocent had called and asked if he had the email, which he did not. Immigration was to resend it, we would head to the hotel I stayed at on Friday night and print it, all cross the border together, and meet Amanda and Ben at the bus station and head back to Kigali together, where we were very excited to have some indian food and drinks.

     Well... things didn't go quite as planned. As it turns out, Rwanda's immigration website was down... There was no email sent and without the website there was no way to see that Mickey had in fact been approved to cross the border. Even his invitation letter from the University of Rwanda was not enough, so we decided to order some beers and wait it out. Afterall, it was just barely noon, how long could it possibly take? "We should order food guys." "But if we get approval we just want to go, we can get something in Gisenyi before catching the bus." By 2 pm I tossed my bathing suit on and we all jumped into Lake Kivu to cool down. It was lovely and not freezing as I was expecting. We were only in for 5-10 minutes since there was no beach but it felt great. A storm rolled in and we pulled out a deck of cards and started play Rummy. Roger thought we were all a little crazy for going swimming, but had fun watching us play and learned a little.

Storm rolling in.

     By now it was closing in on 4:30 pm and we were tired, hungry, and had just learned the border closed at 6 pm. We held off on ordering food all afternoon because it had gotten to the point of if we got Mickey's approval we really would have to leave immediately. We finally decided about 5:15 pm that we would all stay in Goma for the night and cross together in the morning. I didn't want to get on a bus by myself at that hour and none of us wanted to leave Mickey alone in Goma despite his protests that he would be fine. Then, I'm not really sure what happened. I think pure exhaustion and hunger caught up with Rhett and I and the cost of staying in Goma another night and all of a sudden at 5:48 pm Rhett and I were trying to cross the border. Right after handing my passport to the DRC official, there were some doubts expressed, but it was too late. My passport was stamped and I had to go, which meant Rhett was committed and despite thoughts that maybe Mickey should just try and cross he stayed with Roger and went back to the hotel for the night.

     As if that in and of itself wasn't chaos enough, we found out upon crossing that the busses stopped running to Kigali about 6:30/6:45. It was 6:15 by the time we finished at the border. Innocent finally showed up to get us to the bus station and as the taxi pulled up he jumped out to possibly stop the bus from pulling out of the station without us. It was halfway out when they stopped it and a Rwandan quickly ushered me to it. It had started to drizzle a little bit and I thought Rhett was right behind me. Then I turned around and he wasn't. He and Innocent were discussing something and then the bus started to move without him. I started to shout that he had to come with me, they started to slam the door close, I started to open it, the bus is now going down the street and I'm trying to grab my bags and jump off it, when Rhett comes jogging down the street and jumps on, just to ask me where his bag was. I had no idea where his bag was. Turns out the Rwandan who had ushered me onto the bus had already stored it, but it took another 15 frantic seconds to figure this all out. If the people on board didn't think we were crazy white people before, they definitely did now.

     By the time we both sat down, we just kind of looked at each other and wondered what the hell had just happened. We didn't get to properly thank Roger and Innocent and the last hour of our life had been just ridiculously chaotic. We had left Mickey and felt terrible, despite knowing he would be fine. We sent emails to Mickey and Innocent and of course while still on the bus to Kigali we learned that not only was the immigration website back up, but that Monday had been declared a holiday so that I really didn't need to race back to Butare. We finally slept and pulled into Kigali just passed 10 and while I told Rhett not to worry and that we'd be able to get a taxi (which we would have been) I was glad not only that he was with me, but that he had a taxi driver he knew coming to get us. The crazy zoo of a bus station was like a ghost town minus the taxi drivers hounding us.

     They dropped me off at my friend Becky's and that was our adventure. Becky made sure to leave the newspaper out for me to read while she made me the best grilled cheese sandwich of my life.

I finally made my way back to Butare Monday evening (Mickey having gone directly there arrived safe and sound from Congo about 1 pm) and Tuesday night the Butare crowd and I got Chinese for dinner to celebrate my actual 30th birthday. I have to say, it was an unforgettable one.

Lessons Learned:

1) You might regret not doing something, but you will never regret the money, time, and experience of actually doing it.

2) Life is an adventure, make it happen.