Gisenyi to Kanogo - Day 317

Date: July 1st, 2010
Distance: 78km
Country: Rwanda

I woke up and my legs were just killing me. I could hardly walk. Still, I did need to get down the road today. So that is what I did.

First I did take a truck. Maybe it is cheating, but I already did the section of road down to Gisenyi. I have an extreme aversion to doing the same thing twice. Especially when that thing include GIANT HILLS. So I hopped on a truck, and they even bought me a couple of Sambusas. (These are fried triangle pastries stuffed with stuff. In Uganda it was usually peas. Here in Rwanda they are filled with spicey meat. Yum.) They weren't going all the way to the turn with Guiterama though, so I did have to bike a bit. When I asked how far to the turn of, everyone said 3 kilometers. They were off by a factor of 6. It was acutally about 18 kilometers further. I forgot you can't ask people here about distances.

I turned my bike south, and from there the road got worse. The initial section was paved but often in poor condition. Then it was under construction. It should be quite nice in a couple of years. Rwanda is also know as The Land of a Thousand Hills for a reason. I went over two giant ridges during the day. That was not helping my legs feel better.

The kids seem to be less annoying here. They still do chase after me. It is a strange compulsion that seems to draw them to me. Their eyes turn glassy and they begin to run alongside without appearing to think about that decision at all. I am like the Pied Biker. I think if I were to go slow enough I would have a constant following of children.

It did get dark before I got to Guitarama. So I ended up asking for a place to stay in the small town of Kanogo. There wasn't any lodge there, but the people told me to ask at the Secretariat. I guess this is like the mayor's office. The chief of staff there said I could camp out side the office for the night. He even invited me to eat with him, his wife and their son. I guess this is unusual for Rwandans, but it was quite nice. They were wonderful people.

Their son had a cast over his right leg all the way up and wrapping around his waist. I didn't get a clear understanding of why he had it, but I think it was to correct some condition in that leg. Still the little boy seemed happy as a clam, despite the cast. He sat with me and drew some (what I was told were) airplanes on a piece of paper. Kids everywhere are the same.

-Dravis