King Ted and Queen Julie

At the cultural village  Julie and I discovered we had been appointed King and Queen of the village.

The village is a re-creation of a traditional village with a replica of the King's house and a number of smaller houses for guest accommodation. The village is the creation of the founder of Eco Tours with whom we are travelling, and his story is quite inspiring and reads like the script of a film. Edwin Sabuhoro founded the village to provide an alternative form of employment for poachers so they wouldn't have to resort to capturing and killing the mountain gorillas to keep their families from starvation. His story is worth a read at
http://rwandaecotours.com/the-beginning.html

There are examples of various crafts, including a traditional healer and a blacksmith. We got to try our hand at shooting with a bow and arrow and after about 30 shots I managed to maim a banana leaf. No meat for us for dinner tonight. Julie got to try her hand at making flour from sorghum. There was a musician who sang accompanied by a stringed instrument called an inange, sort of like a guitar. It started to pour with rain so the traditional welcome from the dancers took place inside the King's house, so we were up close and personal with them and in the heat of the moment we got up and joined in, much to their delight.

Demonstrating the effect of the latest natural medicine

After the welcoming dance and after the rain cleared we took a walk around the surrounding potato fields and met some of the people in the neighbouring village. We were accompanied by a retinue of local kids, starting with four but ending up with six.


Dinner was local vegetables and bananas (I wasn't kidding about no
meat - Rwandans aren't big meat eaters, which isn't surprising given the quality of the meat). Lots of potatoes, sweet potatoes, beans, spinach and the inevitable plantains (like a banana but not sweet and cooked and served as a vegetable).

After dinner there was another song of welcome for the King and Queen, and more singing from the musician - a long and complicated tale about a local warrior, the King of Rwanda, the Queen Mother and the King of Burundi. Then we got to talk with all the workers and had a question and answer session where we had to ask them something and they would ask us something. They were all former poachers so we asked them about how their life had changed since the formation of the village. It was a bit eerie to think we were sitting chatting with people who used to make a living from killing gorillas. But it was good to hear them talk about how they they now regard the gorillas as their cousins and wouldn't ever contemplate returning to their previous lifestyle. In return they asked us about how we deal with poachers in Australia and whether there is any scheme like this to rehabilitate them. They were impressed that poaching wasn't as big a problem for us as it had been in Rwanda, but I'm not sure they were impressed by the fact that we just throw them in jail or fine them big amounts of money.

The only way to dry your hair when there is no electricity

Finally it was time for King Ted and Queen Julie to retire to thier respective beds, in one of the smaller round grass-thatched houses. Each house has a smaller one at the back which contains an eco-toilet and a space to have a wash in. Did I mention that there is no electricity, and that water for bathing is heated up on a fire and delivered in a bucket? Light and warmth is provided by a charcoal fire in the middle of the house. They aim to make the experience as authentic as possible.

Aerobics African style?

The bunks however are very comfortable and after all that dancing and singing and the warmth of the fire I had no difficulty in getting a really good night's sleep. Certainly an interesting experience but I think one night might be enough!

 

I get to do some metallurgy and wear a funny hat

Julie learns a new recipe to try when we get back to the apartment in Kigali