Tanzania

Hello friends,

We had to get from the Rwandan border to Mwanza and it was going to take several days. But then I got sick. At first I thought it was nothing. Then all of a sudden I was very ill. Fever, aches and pains. It looked like flu. But in Africa, if you think you have flu, you suspect malaria.

I had malaria. In a dingy hospital, I had a test. "What will we do?" asked the DOCTOR. I was horrified. She'd never heard of the drugs we carried, just in case. While Malc tried to contact home, I started to get very sick very fast. But at last we were told to go ahead with the treatment we had.

It worked. I was feeling better very soon. We were taken to the house of a local Anglican priest who kindly put us up while I recovered and in a few days, we were able to continue.

I'd survived. But I never want to go through that again.

Hugs and Kisses everyone, keep in touch!

Niamh.

Rwanda

Hello friends,

What can I say? Rwanda is a fascinating little country. We only had a week but it's a tiny country so we saw a lot in that time. First we went to Ruhengeri. We wanted to climb a volcano. Don't ask me why. Some sort of death wish no doubt. Did you know I have asthma? The climb was vicious. It nearly killed me. But I did feel quite proud of myself when I stood there at its summit. All 3811m above sea level.

Then we went to a place called Kibuye. We were horrified at having to spend twenty dollars on a room. We usually pay no more than five or six. But the place was gorgeous. It sat on the shore of Lake Kivu so we spent a day resting and swimming. Quite nice.

Then on to Butare, home of an impressive museum I'd wanted to see. There we met a very nice lady indeed called Nicky. She even put us up in her house for a few days. Great to spend time with someone who speaks English as a first language. Very sad to say goodbye to her.

Kigali, the capital, was last on our list. We didn't have enough time there at all. All the time, the countryside is stunningly beautiful and Kigali was breathtaking. Little mud huts climbed up the surrounding hills. Really pretty place. All we managed to do was visit the Genocide Memorial Centre. An excellent exhibition but a very sombre place.

And that was that. We had to leave. Tanzania was coming up...