June 9th, 2012
Parents I am sorry if you read this post before I talk to
you on Skype. Know that I am not an idiot and I am not trying to get killed. I
know this probably deserves a verbal explanation but this experience was too
good that I had to post it before I lost internet.
Someone is looking after me right now. Matt, Nickles and I
decided to go on a safari this weekend. They are college graduates with real
jobs, so a seemly responsible group. Friday night we left from Gisyni and took
a 3 hour bus ride to Kingali. The only way to get to this Safari in Rwanda is
by car, so Matt rented a car. Saturday we left early and literally drove through the jungles of Rwanda
with a piece of shit map till we got to Akagera National Park, the park borders Tanzania. The park rangers
said we could drive the safari if we followed the map. They didn’t advise us
against it and made it seem like other people did it, so we went for it. We
wanted the experience and freedom to do it on our own. Packed in our RAV4 we took off across the
park. Armed with a few knives, map, compass, water, and a half a day’s worth of
food we were more than ready to embark on an adventure to find wild giraffes.
Driving around we didn’t see anyone, but maybe that why this is considered the
best park in Rwanda, so secluded… wrong it had been raining… well torrential
downpour the day before. We continued still following the map in search of
giraffes. The roads are not kept; you literally just drive around till you find
animals. Keep in mind we are following
the “roads” using this provided map. All is going great until we drive into a swamp
and we are stuck. One might ask how you end up in a swamp, well we were driving
on grass and grass was still ahead but then we suddenly sank. No one around,
phones out of range, water about 3
inches from the bottom of the car, and animals somewhere in the park we are
forced with the choice of sitting in a swamp until someone can find us or push
the car out. We assess the area and decided to try to push the car out before
the car gets flooded. Mud flying and it’s about an hour later, car hasn’t
moved. Finally we use some tool in the back of the car to wedge under the tire
to try to get some traction. Mud flying still we start to move slowly then the
back left tire pops. We tried to change the tire but because we were literally
sunk in so much water we couldn’t get the car up high enough to change the
tire. This is the point where our safari was no longer fun. I literally thought
someone was going to have to find us, we would have to stay the night in our
car and hope for the best, or even worse text my parents asking them to send a
helicopter to find me in the middle of Africa. Determined and honesty scared
for our lives somehow we managed to make it back to a main road, not before we thought we blew the transmission. With the useless
map , flat tire, and a compass that didn’t work we somehow managed to find our way. We found the rangers station and OH MY GOD
I was never so happy to see other people in my life, I wanted to hug them! They
were able to give us a jack that worked and we were able to change the tire.
The only advice these ranges offered was don’t worry this kind of thing happens
all the time, they have had several people stranded in their cars for days. If
it were not for the state of shock I was in I probably would have killed them
with my Wal-Mart knife. WHY IN THE WORLD
DON’T THEY MARK THE ROADS OR ADVISE PEOPLE NOT TO DRIVE AROUND BY THEMSELVES.
WHY DID THEY SAY WE COULD DO IT WITH A MAP!!! How many lost tourist does it
take to finally decided that telling people its ok to drive becomes a bad idea?
If I was wasn’t at the mercy of these people they would be dead! All three of
us looked pathetic, cover in mud, and on the verge of a mental break down. Finally
they directed us toward the hotel we had reservations at. From the rangers
station and our hotel was about 1km, on the drive finally we spotted the
giraffe we had been looking for. Damn thing almost got us killed; I was in no
way amused! We made it to the hotel, but as if things couldn’t get any worse
they did. They said they had record of our reservations but they had not been
paid. We made the reservation, and Matt had paid but what could we do.
Covered in mud and Kingali being 3 hours away we paid them for the night. The
hotel didn’t take anything but cash so that basically depleted us of all our
funds. With barely enough money to eat, and make it back we found a young man
that worked at the hotel who could speak English and helped us out. Thank god
he was here because he was able to work out a deal with the hotel. That night
we all had beds to sleep in, and for the first time in 2 weeks a legitimate
shower.
Because we all looked pathetic the park rangers took pity on
us, the next day we woke up and they took us on a guided tour… the one they
should have offered us in the first place!!!!! We drove around for 5 hours and
saw baboons, monkeys, zebras, hippos, warthogs, water buffalo, alligators, and antelope.
It was a truly breathe taking experience, so beautiful. We were completely secluded
and the only noise you could hear was the sounds of the birds or hippos coming up
for air. I loved it but we had certainly worked for this experience. We had to
cut the safari short because we had to get back to Kingali. We ended up hiring
the same guy that worked at the hotel to escort us back to Kingali so we would
get back without any more excitement. Yes we were way in over or heads but don’t
think we are idiots. The website, park rangers, and other people made it seem like this
was an adventure tourist regularly tackle by themselves. Dad and Patti I know you
are probably sitting there thinking why did we send her there? But you know
this could have easily happened to us on our McKinnon family vacation, but
please know that I am safe, capable of pushing a car out of a swamp and
changing a flat tire. Who would have known all the skills I would develop while
I am here, I think this an experience we can all learn from. You have raised a
very resourceful daughter.
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