Monkeys!!!

Sorry I haven’t written in a while, guys. So much has happened that I haven’t had much time to visit a computer lab and upload information. I will give you a few updates of the latest events.

Last weekend was pretty packed. Saturday morning, we all took an oral competency test in Kinyarwandan and I bombed it. After the test, I went and hid in my room for a while. Feeling better that afternoon, I went on a hike with two other volunteers through the forest by the university. It was fun but the trek was very hilly. I was gasping for air about half of the time and I was only walking. It made me realize how out of shape I am. In the United States, I never worked out and now that I am here, I am having to walk everywhere.

That night, the volunteers put on a talent show and dance at the local Chinese restaurant. I was so exhausted from the test that morning and the two-hour hike of death that I left before everyone else. Fortunately, I was able to see the whole talent show before I left. The acts included Rwandan traditional dancing, belly dancing and Spanish music, juggling, guitar playing and singing, and a little play. Needless to say, it was very entertaining. I loved it.

Of course, after a late night at a talent show, we all decided to visit Nwungwe National Park the next day. A few volunteers slept past their alarm clocks but most of us loaded up at around 8 in the morning and took the two-hour drive to visit the monkeys and hike the beautiful trails of Nwungwe. Nwungwe is in the south and is basically a huge jungle with Colobus monkeys, chimps, baboons, cats, and a few other animals. We chose to visit the Colobus monkeys (all 400 of them) and I tell you, it was one of the best experiences of my life. I am not exaggerating. The jungle was so amazingly beautiful and wild. Half of the time, I thought I was going to fall and break a leg but it was all worth it. Oh, was it worth it. Visiting animals in a zoo is one thing, but seeing them in their natural habitat is something completely different. Another element of the hike, which made it so enjoyable was that it was so freaking difficult. And we took the moderate trail! Okay, I know I am not a hiker or outdoorsy person but this trail was literally cut out of the jungle by a person with a machete in front of us. We all had walking sticks with us and I had to keep thrusting mine in the ground so I wouldn’t fall down the trail. It was so steep. At other times, I had to hold on to trees and random branches so I could keep my balance. The trail was so steep and hilly that, on the way back, I fell uphill! I got so much mud and random stuff on me. I had to grab on to trees that were nasty because they had this green algae stuff growing on them. I felt so adventurous; it was great. And when we finally arrived to where the Colobus monkeys lived, we got to see them swinging from branches to branches and playing with each other. The monkeys would make these incredible leaps between these super tall trees. And if they missed, they would grab the next branch on the way down. The trees were so tall and there was so much foliage underneath them that we didn’t even feel the rain that was coming down.

Once we came out of the jungle, we sat by the road and ate our bag lunches. One of the Colobus monkeys came out to investigate when he saw us all eating. He was not shy at all, and the guide had to keep scaring him to keep him away. He kept staring at our food and at one point, he ran toward one of the volunteers and tried to steal his sandwich he had left on the ground on top of his bag. It was so funny. I was able to get about two feet from him, and I just watched the little monkey while he ate leftover banana peels. He was so cute!

Unfortunately, we finally had to leave. I totally want to go back though and I would love to live near there too. Because we were so high up, we had an awesome view of Lake Kivu and we could even see the DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo) border. And the border was hundreds of miles away. It was amazing. I got some good pictures, but I could never capture it completely. Sometimes, you just have to see it in person.