Global Health Corps retreat in Rwanda

Had a pretty amazing week in Rwanda with the Global Health Corps fellows based in Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Malawi.  We spent 5 days on Lake Kivu, a volcanic lake in Eastern Rwanda.  We stayed in a nasty hostel our first night in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda (ie smelly unisex bathrooms and shower stalls, challenges finding toilet paper), so expectations were quite low when we arrived at our spectacular lakeside Presbyterian retreat center.  It was a joy hearing about the work fellows have been doing in other countries, discussing how to address certain challenges we are facing, and bonding with a really cool group of Americans, Ugandans, Rwandans, Malawians, and Burundians.

The whole crew 

 View at dusk from outside my room

 The retreat center

 Fellows (from Uganda, Rwanda, and an American in Malawi)

 Ben and Raymond in front of the view

 Jen, Liz, Ally

Kigali to Kampala in pictures

The one good part about taking a bumpy 9 hours bus ride is some great scenery..... sorry for the out of a moving bus window quality...

Outside Kigali

 Tea plantation

 Laundry

 Border crossing

 Border

 ......then I took a nap

....then I woke up

Savannah

....then I saw a zebra by the side of the road

.... then I saw five zebras by the side of the road and cursed myself for not having the camera ready

...more nap

and some cute kids

Sipi Falls

I'm in the midst of a bit of a chaotic time at work, but I wanted to at least post photos from a trip this past weekend to Sipi falls.  There are three waterfalls that make up Sipi falls, and they are each quite spectacular.  Once again, we were among the only visitors.  Waterfall #1 is in the first two photos, #2 is in the third, and #3 is in the fifth.