Julie, Ban, and I took a weekend away to Nyungwe Forest, a rainforest located in the southwest of Rwanda, near Lake Kivu.
The forest is surrounded by tea plantations, which create a gorgeous blanket covering the hills.
Me and the pre-forest landscape, hiking poles in hand.
Incredible scene. In the distance you can see Lake Kivu beyond the last dark hills. Lake Kivu runs up the western side of Rwanda and is shared with the Democratic Republic of Congo.
More Rwanda, Lake Kivu, and Democratic Republic of Congo.
Inside the rainforest, hiking to a waterfall.
A river inside the forest. The intensity and variety of greens were surreal.
The trio, having had our first glimpse of the waterfall (see the light-colored patch just to the left of my head).
Feeling triumphant at having made it this far without breaking any bones--it was a wet, muddy, slippery, and steep hike.
Treading carefully along the river into which the waterfall leads.
The waterfall! Destination achieved.
Antoine, our guide, being helpful and informative.
The force with which the water was falling was intense.
Getting soaked as I take a closer look.
The river through the forest.
Back at camp, we faced a monkey invasion. Here, a little guy chills on the roof as his dad (not pictured) tries to break into the kitchen around the corner.
Clean and feeling accomplished, we relaxed around the fire in the guest house's gazebo.
The next morning, we walked to more tea plantations, but found ourselves in a race against the rapidly approaching rain.
I'm laughing now . . . that will be shortlived, as moments later we find ourselves sprinting down the road trying to escape from the hail beating down on us (those clouds should have been warning enough).
Here it comes.
Thankfully we found a small wooden hut on the side of the road which we were able to share with a few equally unlucky Rwandese during the worst of the storm.
I didn't know it could hail in Rwanda, but the rain came down with a mixture of frozen drops which left a few dents in my head, I think.
