Day 3 - South to Gisenyi on Lake Kivu (25/9)

Another day shoots by, though not as quickly as a kamikaze cyclist, bearing a huge sack of potatoes, flew down a hill past us today (and we were doing 30mph!). Sadly I missed the best action shot of him but you get the idea...

Others took their health in their hands when grabbing a tow

while the majority plod on along the pavement

 
or bundle in, very close

We stopped at views of the mighty Virunga volcanoes (home of the gorillas which sadly we shan't be seeing),

tea plantations,

and admired the industry of Rwandan farmers, who build cane tripods as far as there's land to cultivate and look to grow cabbages enough to feed the whole of Rwanda.

We were headed west towards Gisenyi on Lake Kivu (fifth largest body of water in Africa), through which runs the border between Rwanda and the DRC.  The Congolese town of Goma virtually merges with Gisenyi, save for that pesky border, patrolled by machine gun-toting guards (of whom of course no photos!) Luckily there's another, less "formal" border where no guard seems much to bother, a place of bustle and activity where everyone comes and goes pretty easily ...

According to Lieven, you can tell the Congolese because they carry burdens on their backs, whereas any self-respecting Rwandan bears it on their head.

Hot springs (without any discernible sulphur smell) bubble and steam near to our hotel, the water so hot that I couldn't submerge my finger for very long. Hardier souls, however, bathed

We finished the day watching an equatorial sunset (sadly slightly underwhelming due to cloud) and pied kingfishers diving into Kivu; our lunchtime buffet was so filling that again we're skipping dinner in favour of bananas and passion fruit from the market.