cary999

abranz - may be fun for you but what about your readers, you don't care, right?

regards -tom

abranz

dear tom,
are you really having problems reading my posts?
i'm sorry if you are.
this is the way i have been typing and posting for many years.
it has become my habit or you may say, my 'style'.

cary999

e.e. cummings beat you to it. He was also a poet like you. Have fun.

regards - tom

tinydancer

I think tom (who never capitalized his name btw) is pulling your leg.

The only reason I mention doing Rwanda & Uganda as opposed to Rwanda & Kenya, is because having done it, I feel torn between what was my favorite. I loved being in Rwanda, and especially Virunga Lodge & the gorillas. And I also loved the rest of our safari. But I keep having this feeling of straddling a creek. With one leg over there, and one leg over here.

For example, in Tanzania and Kenya, we stayed in tented camps, and drove around on safari. We had to have an escort to and from our tent at night, and walking outside at night (to see the stars for example) was out of the question. All the animals we saw were from our car (barring the ones outside our tent, which on occasion there were).

In Rwanda, there were people everywhere, and lots of colorfully dressed women. We could walk back and forth between our cottage and the dining room unescorted, and we didn't have to worry about predators or ellies outside our door. Obviously, there's a big difference between sitting in a vehicle on safari vs. walking up a hill to have a close encounter with gorillas.

When I heard people talking about having spent 3 weeks in Rwanda and Uganda, and how beautiful it all was, I kind of knew that the chance to go back again only to Uganda, and return to Rwanda was close to nil for us. Thus, I wondered if it wouldn't have been better to do a longer trip to Uganda and Rwanda, and do Kenya/Tanzania on a separate trip. I guess it all depends on how likely it is that you'll go back again (and again...) to Africa.

I don't think anything one does on a trip to Africa can ever be a mistake, because it will all be good. So just do what grabs you the most. At only 50, you'll have plenty of time to go back again (and again....)

You will love it either way, so do what fits your life today.

abranz

tinydancer
"At only 50, you'll have plenty of time to go back again (and again....)"

i really do hope so. i fell in love with so. africa in 2002 vowing to return soon and look at how long it has taken me.

you do have a good point contrasting the 2 experiences.

abranz

what to do????

i have started receiving responses to my queries about rwanda and now i have a question for all of you.

this is a proposal i received to my request for 2 gorilla treks and 1 to see the golden monkeys.

Day1/ 2011 Kigali – Ruhengeri-Kinigi
city tour - visits genocide memorial, lunch and then drive to kinigi.

Day2/ 2011 Gorillas in the mist day 1
drive to Kinigi park headquarters for group, guide allocation and briefing.
hiking and tracking gorillas. sight and stay with the gorillas for one hour.
in the afternoon, visit lakes burela and ruhondo or visit the local traditional healer.

Day 3 Gorilla Tracking 2
drive to park headquarters for briefing and guide allocation. trek up the mountain for another memorable experience with gorillas.
afternoon spent at leisure or on optional activities.

Day4/ 2011 Golden Monkey Tracking
drive to park headquarters for briefing and guide allocation.
trek up the mountain to the bamboo zone, the habitat of the golden monkeys. visit one of the families and return to the base. drive to gisenyi on the shores of lake kivu. overnight at malahide.

Day5 / 2011
drive back to kigali.

what choice would you make between a day with the golden monkeys v/s a day on safari in kenya?

cary999

TD - No I'm not "pulling leg".
I feel that writers should write not for their convenience but to communicate with their readers. If you want to communicate with English readers, you should use common business English language as used throughout the world today. Spelling and grammar problems/errors can be overlooked if we feel the writer is trying their best. But enough from me here, no more off-topic, finished here about this.

regards - tom
ps - a "sig" line can be anything/anyway you want

tinydancer

Oh, do the monkeys. As long as you are there. We didn't, only because DH wasn't interested, but other's who did said it was very easy and very good. If you don't, you may regret not doing it. As Nike says "Just DO it!"

How many days in Kenya?

Cateyes555

I have not been to see gorillas or monkeys - yet but you said in your original post that you would do 4-5 days in Rwanda and 8-9 in Kenya. So I would vote to definitely see the monkeys because it sounds like you will still have plenty of days in Kenya either way.

atravelynn

One day on safari in Kenya? Not enough to do it justice or make the transport time and investments pay off. I'd choose the syeknom nedlog.

I've decided my personal style is to write sdrawkcab.
ʞool uʍop ǝpısdn ǝɥʇ ɹoɟ oƃ ll,ı 'ʇxǝu

Three primate treks with two difference species is a nice trip.

Leely2

You'll want to stay in Rwanda longer, or at least I did, so include Golden Monkeys. I trekked to them on my first day to ensure I'd be well-rested for gorillas. But any order would be good.

Don't know if you need additional operaors, but Amahoro Tours is listed in the Bradt guide. They can arrange for very a la carte services and are based in Ruhengeri--apparently they usually have permits available.

In any case, enjoy your planning. Being in Rwanda was one of the highlights of my life.

abranz

tinydancer and cateyes (love both your names by the way)

thanks. i think i will.

i read that the golden monkeys trek was opened only in 2003 and like you had said earlier, i may not return to the area again and i don't want to regret missing them.

abranz

atravelyn,
i'm sorry i was not very clear with my question.

i meant losing a day in kenya by adding it to rwanda.
rwanda 5 + kenya 8
or
rwanda 4 + kenya 9.

how did you do the upside down? i absolutely love it!!!
i can figure out the backwards but the upside down is killer.

abranz

leely2,

i like your idea of doing the golden monkeys first to acclimatize myself to trekking.

i think i am going to go with r & n. i have received responses from a few others as well but
r & n were the first and their itinerary and price is good.
i will confirm rwanda with them while they work on my kenya itinerary.

i think 'dropping names' a la fodors may have helped as well.

atravelynn

In the middle of the day, it hit me what you meant about Kenya and 1 day.

I'd still do the golden monkeys because 8 days is a good amount of time in Kenya and it is more likely you'll return to Kenya again than Rwanda. Hopefully you'll be back to both, maybe more than one return, but I like to use the best odds.

The upside down type occurs I'm on Fodors doing a yoga headstand.

Actually it's from this site: http://www.fliptext.org/
I can't stand on my head.

atravelynn

Here is what I wrote about Kinigi Guesthouse in my report.

<i>• Kinigi Guesthouse:
It’s a 7 minute walk or a 90 second drive to the Ranger Station from Kinigi. The guesthouse has dorm rooms for four with shared facilities in a nearby building. There are also private rooms with your own facilities and that’s what my Room 9 was. I think Rooms 8, 9, 10 have the nicest location. Inside it is quite basic, but there is a TV with CNN and some other channels. One hint I’d give is to use your bag to block the inch or so of open space under the door because when it’s dark outside, the lights inside attract a lot of insects that can enter through that open space. The grounds are filled with flowering trees and many plants for great bird watching that even impressed Kirenga.

The restaurant served food throughout the day with breakfast starting at 6:15 am. Breakfast was always eggs, sometimes prepared to order and sometimes as omlettes on a serving tray. Most mornings there was also a toaster and bread available and there was always a bunch of little bananas.

My meals in the Kinigi restaurant were delicious and included the fruit salad, listed under desserts, with every order at both lunch and supper. It was an outstanding addition to any meal when there was pineapple to mix with the wild tomatoes and bananas, and it was good as a two-ingredient fruit salad when they ran out of pineapple.

For anyone doing numerous treks where costly accommodations in PNV can add up fast , Kinigi Guesthouse is a nice option. I’d return and ask for #9.

The link shows 86 photos total. The first 60 relate to the treks, then the rest are of the area around Virunga Lodge, Iby’Iwacu Cultural Village, and Kinigi Guesthouse. Each gorilla group is labeled. If I could read noseprints, I would have labeled each individual gorilla too. </i>

http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/...hotos-_-Sharer

abranz

atravelyn,
you have captured the gorillas and the golden monkeys brilliantly in your photos. their eyes speak so eloquently.
i can hardly wait.

i think from all that i want to do and how much $ i am willing to spend on this entire trip, kinigi is my best option for 3 nights.
am i showing my naiveté in asking if there is daily maid service at kinigi guesthouse?

thanks for sharing your upside down secret. i love it but don't dare make it my 'signature style'.

atravelynn

You are asking the right questions. There is every-other-day maid service. The maids were enjoyable company as well.

I found one of the housekeeping practices unique and it will give you some insight into the character of Kinigi Guesthouse. The laundry from guests and room linens was dried by spreading the items out on the trimmed shrubbery and bushes. Clotheslines may have been in short supply or not conveniently erected or maybe lines of hanging clothes were just considered unsightly. Who knows?

A twist on topiary.

One thing--bring a flashlight/torch, which you'd probably be bringing anyway, because when you walk back to your room after the evening meal at the main dining area, the stone steps are uneven and there is lots of gravel. The grounds are nicely groomed, but at night it is hard to note the uneveness.

With Kinigi so close to the ranger station, you can walk there in the afternoon (assuming your gorilla visit does not take the entire day) and visit the local women's gift shop next door. When you get back from the gorilla visit, you may not be in a shopping mood and just want to get back to the room, clean up, maybe eat.

loru100

Here is the photobook from our trip in 2008 to give you some idea of what's in store...have a great trip!

http://tinyurl.com/9y9o7u

Leely2

Kinigi is great but you should be aware that it is a very basic option--just to keep your expectations in line. Not sure that is what you're looking for.

And I too really enjoyed talking to my fellow travelers and the women who work at the guesthouse.