to Cyimbiri Guesthouse: Congo Nile Trail, Day one: not so easy

September 4, 2015

"The sign said easy to moderate....I'm waiting for the easy part to start", Rachel says after about 20kms of climbing. We started the day with a 3km climb out of Gisenyi then a 3kms descent to Bralirwa Bay on a paved road. Past the Primus Brewery the pavement ends and the road becomes sandy dirt, rocky and mostly up. We reach the sign that tells us we are on the Congo Nile Trail (CNT). The name is because the road follows the watershed between the Congo and Nile rivers.

With all the thunderstorms the past few days, we are happy that the road isn't muddy like around Mt. Elgon in Uganda. The road winds up and across pennisulas tough climbing, and giving us beautiful views of Lake Kivu. Every hillside is completely covered with some kind of crop. Fewer children shout "muzungu", and ask for things such as water bottle or pens not just for money. The man at the Rwanda Development Group (tourist office) said education is being done to keep the children from asking for money. When we stopped for a break in Rwinyoni and children gathered around us, an adult waved them away. We have heard "Bonjour" more today.

From Rwinyoni, the road mostly descends for about 10 kms to the Cyimbiri waterfall. Just past here is a sign for the Cyimbiri Guesthouse, turning off the main road to the right, and then the left fork, the road descends to the the lake. Through school grounds, the guesthouse is located right on the lakeshore and even has a sandy beach. Once settled in our room, we were offered coffee and bread with peanut butter and jelly. Great coffee!

The guesthouse (orginally by Baptist missionaries) is run by the organization ALARM (African Leadership and Reconciliation Ministries) that is a community development project through the cooperative Coffee Plantation http://alarm-inc.org/where_we_serve/rwanda. The evening meal is typical African food of rice, beans, potatoes, cabbage and BBQ beef.

The thunderstorm finally arrived in the evening. Always the best feeling when inside staying dry. This is supposed to be the dry season!