Efficient Drainage

Pathway leading to Safari Tent sites
The pathway leading to the safari tent sites has become something I'm really proud of and the guys who are building it. The original plan was to build this pathway with volcanic rock and let it meander through the exisiting vegetation without creating any formal garden beds along it.

The outcome after a few weeks of rain and consequent plant growth has exceeded my expectations - not referring to the amount of work done but the final look of it, it was almost too easy.

The other great thing about how we built the pathway sunken into the ground is that there is no visible water run-off and no pools of water after the rain. The rain just seeps into the soil between the rocks and into the soil along the path where the grass and trees etc are growing. I must admit though that seeing the efficiency of it now during the rains is quite humbling as I didn't think it would work that well.

This very natural method of drainage we'll now make sure we use in the roads around the site too as this is clearly the way to avoid waterlogging of areas. The other thing is that had this pathway been built with paving and/or cement we would definitely have had to provide for drainage channels etc etc. Yes, everyone is working hard to achieve the results we want but Mother Nature seems to be on our side in a big way - as far as this is concerned anyway.

Back in Rwanda again

Stairs up to Reception from Drop-off point
Yes, after attending a very successful World Travel Market in London, I'm back in Rwanda. This wasn't the usual fly-back to Rwanda but driving back through Kenya and Uganda - quite interesting this time due to the massive amount of rainfall at the moment in central and east Africa. Very muddy and wet indeed.

On arriving back in Musanze Sunday afternoon with Andy, we stopped quickly at the site to greet the security guys and I had a quick look around the front areas. The guys have been working like demons and have acheived loads. The stairs up to the front of reception are taking shape too.

Monday was not a working day so my first working day again was today and was a bit like a homecoming with everyone coming up and welcoming me back. The road to the 4x4 campsites is also progressing very well with the southern part and approach cleared and rock being laid for the actual road. Most of the road down to the overland campsites is also ready for the rock to be packed in. My most pleasant surprise though was the pathway to the safari tents the guys were busy with when I left.

This now looks like a stone path through a wild garden with all the vegetation having grown quite a bit with all the rain. Immediately Andy and I got around to getting some other plants in along the way. At another place where the guys are battling breaking through a massive big rock I introduced an age old method i.e. making a very hot fire on the rock followed by pouring water over the hot rock. This resulted in quite a number of cracks which got some large chunks of rock out. There was a bit of surprise as to how I would know something like this as mzungus don't usually.