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.

Elegant Africa FC: into the Final!!

Andy has updated on the outcome of the matches whilst I've been gone.

The team won the first two matches played while we were away;
EA vs National Police Academy (2-0)
EA vs 63rd Battalion (1-0)

In the semi-finals the team went through to the finals after a win on penalties (3-2) when the match ended in a 1-1 draw.

These results have apparently left the Musanze district quite surprised so there should be a large turnout for the matches.

On Andy and my trip to Uganda we stayed a couple of nights in Kampala and then moved on to the NRE camp at Bujagali Falls in Jinja. This turned out into a bit more than a visit for me with me talking myslf into a tandem-kayak trip down the Nile. There was nothing to worry about though and the trip was fantastic with me ending up hooked on kayaking now.

Although I'm London now for the wedding and the World Travel Market, I'll keep the blog updated with feedback from Andy.

Elegant Africa FC: win by default

This afternoon was the first match for our football team and I was ready with the video camera to record the event. We also had about 15-20 of the guys from the site there to support the team, armed with whistles and a variety of noise making things.

Although everyone was absolutely geared for a big match, it never happened. The opponents didn't turn up and the organisers declared a win by default 3-0 to Elegant Africa FC. Immediately the guys from the site came up for some reasons why the team should be so lucky, one of them being that my witchcraft involved in catching the snake yesterday kept the other team away.

Anyway, Andy and I are leaving for Uganda tomorrow to check out some things for the construction and also show him some establishments for tourists outside Rwanda including an overland campsite and safari tent camp. The football team have vowed to Andy that although he won't be there for the matches on Saturday and Sunday, when he gets back the team will have at least reached the semi-finals.

Progress & a Snake

Today I was unfortunately stuck in my office for the morning and also running around with banking etc but I managed to get out to the site about half 12. I did a quick tour through the site before the normal afternoon rain (this time of the year) which usually starts around 1:30-2pm.

The rock shaping is progressing well with rocks also being shaped for the Reception/Drop-off steps from the parking area. The latter rocks are shaped just so the top is flat and the front of each step will be reasonably flush - well, that's the idea anyway but I see the guys are shaping most of the sides. That's not bad though as these are all different size rocks so the irregular sized rocks will look good once they're laid down.

The pathway to the safari tents is progressing well albeit slowly and looking pretty good actually. Progress is slower here as the the rocks are being shaped as they're being laid and the rock is from the site - not the easiest "shapeable" rock.

At the 4x4 campsites side, the guys have cut through a ridge for the 4x4 road that will be going around that area and levelled a fair amount of the road either side of the ridge. Although not compacted yet its quite exciting to see one of the roads take shape already. This will probably be one of the first roads to be done on the site as there's no major levelling to do and being for 4x4's, won't be a "paved" road although the rock for this road will be fairly level and well compacted.

On one of the northern overland sites, the guys have started removing very large rock in order to start the levelling of the parking spot - a massive job in this case. The parking spot has to be dug out from the front with retaining walls being built around the sides in keeping with similar retaining walls on the site already.

Now getting back to the parking area, Andy and I got some guys to move rock onto an area with exposed soil so the rain doesn't wash the soil away. Whilst this was going on, there was a flurry of activity and shouts and luckily Andy and I were there - the guys were grabbing anything at hand to try and kill the little 30cm snake that came out. Aha I thought, my opportunity to catch my first Rwandan snake. Successful and holding it, I looked up to see everyone staring at me with very very big eyes. I spent about 10 minutes examining it - nobody could work the video camera and obviously nobody would volunteer to hold the snake while I took photos - so I had to have a good look before releasing it and then try and identify it from the field guide at home.

Even after I had released the snake, everyone continued staring at me and/or watching me out of the corner of their eye whilst working. Andy said that after I had left the site the guys were speculating about how much witchcraft I had that was able to pick up a snake and not get bitten. I'm sure this is not the last I've heard about this as the story spreads around Musanze and obviously, as these stories do, the length and size of the snake increases.

I wasn't able to make a confident ID from the field guide when I got home but it seems it was either one of the forest green-snakes or an olive snake. I'll definitely devise a way to get photos next time. Great afternoon though

Elegant Africa football team

I forgot to mention last week that we had just given our name to a local football team. Andy told me this when he cam eback from the stadium where all the players from the district had gone for a drawing of teams for a regional tournemant. The tournemant is organised by the Muslim commmunity for Ramadan and comprises teams compiled only for this tournemant. Andy was approached by a team which comprises most of the young players from Musanze and asked to join but mentioned that they didn't have a name for their team yet - he opted for Elegant Africa. Needless to say, they were quite chuffed with that.

The biggest competition apparently will be from the military battalion teams and the Police Academy but they are quite confident that the Elegant Africa team have a very good chance of taking the trophy. The coach is a big supporter of our project here in Musanze and also a keen player in the Musanze veterans' team. The first match our team will play is on Wednesday after Gacaca at 1pm. If possible, we'll get the big Elegant Africa Ikoro Tented Camp sign out to the pitch for the match.

Yesterday was English lessons again with around 16 people attending and all progressing fantastically. A lot of the motivation also seems to come from their opinion that my Kinyarwanda is progressing faster than their English. We also had a good discussion around development and training in Rwanda and Africa in general - things they speculate about what's happening in the rest of Africa. It was good for me too to understand more about their perceptions on what their capabilities are and why they think the reason I'm learning Kinyarwanda quickly is because of my skin colour i.e. white people are more intelligent. I immediately explained that skin colour had nothing to do with skills and/or ability and the reason I was learning Kinyarwanda quicker than them learning English was because I was "forced" to speak the language - not many English speaking people around.

With a bit of discussion they became convinced that nobody is untrainable and the fact that they had not gone to a European school does not lessen their mental abilities. Very interesting discussion though and a very important point to be kept in mind when training people.

Most of my day today was spent in the office preparing drawings etc for the safari tents and planning for my departure on Thursday morning to Kampala and Nairobi.

Some Pics from Ikoro

Cutting the road to the campsites
The reception and office area is located just to the right of where these guys are working. This particular spot will be the road to and from the campsites. Continueing straight ahead will take you to the overland sites and taking the right fork (not visible here) will lead to the 4x4 sites.









Shaping of volcanic rock

This is volcanic rock delivered to the site and will be used for the building of the stone bathroom for the safari tent. Some of the stone shaped already can be seen next to the guys. This is done by the masons who will also be doing the actual building. It appears that the shaping of stone is an inherent part of the mason's skill set and also something they will learn before they learn the actual building part.







Breaking rock (notice big iron "stake" used to hammer into cracks)
The rock that's broken will be used for foundations, roads and some will be shaped for laying the pathways through the site. This morning I spent some time with the guys at the pathway to the safari tent shaping stone as well - not as easy as it sounds.









Guys stripping the bark from the trees we have cut down already.
This allows the wood to dry before we use it in and around the site. The wood will also be used in the interiors for some fittings etc. The larger pile in the front is all the smaller trees with the larger (and huge) trees packed in the pile where the guys are standing. In the background can a couple of piles of tree stumps that have been removed can be seen as well.

Regional Tourism & Local Sourcing

On Wednesday I attended a Regional Tourism Workshop in Kigali hosted by SNV (a Dutch capacity building organisation - www.snvworld.org ) and ORTPN (Rwanda Office for Tourism & National Parks). This was attended by representatives from the World Tourism Organisation, tourism authorities from Southern &Eastern Africa including people from Ethiopia and Cameroon. The theme for the day was how tourism can be applied to benefit local communities by following Pro-Poor ( www.propoortourism.org.uk/ ) guidelines. This was a very informative and well overdue workshop for the industry in this region and it was also good to see further confirmation that many of our plans for the future of Ikoro fall within these guidelines.

Yesterday started with a meeting with a consultant appointed by ORTPN to prepare proposals on Community Based Tourism. Andy and Emmanuel (site engineer) then also met me in Kigali where we set off into the city to see what more specialised building materials were available. This is preparation for us also comparing prices with certain items from Uganda.

Starting new things

Pathway to safari tent, compacted & ready for shaped stone
Today was a partially a move in a new direction with tasks on the site. Near where the prototype safari tent will be erected, the guys have started preparing for the stone pathway which will lead to this tent but will also link up to pathways linking all these tents to general front of house area. This being done by removing about 15-20cm of soil (1m wide) and winding through the existing trees where the basically shaped volcanic rock will packed.

Also at the reception lobby area, we started preparing to build the stone steps leading up from the drop-off/parking area to the lobby. This will also be built with shaped volcanic rock. For the shaping of the rock we have asked some of the masons who are already working as normal labour to get their "shaping" hammers and start on the shaping job. All the shaping is done manually and in the traditional way that is inherent to this area.

Our first big supplies deliveries also happened today; two 10ton trucks delivered volcanic rock that will be shaped for the building of the bathroom at the safari tent (ultimately also for the front of house buildings). The reason for bringing in "other" volcanic rock is that the rock we have on site can be shaped but with great difficulty as its less porous and will break off in chunks which doesn't really help when the mason just wants to do a few little taps with the hammer to finish the shape he wants. The rock on the site is fine for the roads, pathways and foundations though so we will still be using the resources we have on site.

A group of guys has also started digging out the road that leads from the reception area to the campsites. This consists of some areas of large solid rock which has to be broken and removed.

Busy Monday

Its all go again with an early start at the site (06:15) and getting everyone's tasks sorted out for the day. This took a bit longer than usual as most had finished the sections they had been working on so we refined the perimeters of clearing in some places and marked out the outstanding sections.

Quite a few guys started moving the massive tree stumps from the main building areas and some started to break the large rocks into smaller rocks for use in roads, pathways etc. Generally a very busy day at the site and everyone slugging it out - especially the "rock breakers".

We also spoke to the guys who would be supplying the volcanic rock that has to be shaped for building - this has to start now as we need to do the bathroom for prototype safari tent. They'll come and see us for an order early tomorrow morning.

Getting back this afternoon, I got stuck into the usual end-of-month admin which I'll probably continue tomorrow during the day with a short time only at the site. This all has to be finished tomorrow as there's a Regional Tourism Workshop in Kigali on Wednesday about Community Based Tourism and Pro-Poor policies etc.

The Ikoro Leopard!!

Yesterday late afternoon I went with Andy to change the security guards at the site and chat to the night guards and hear if there was any news and/or incidents. What they did tell me (in hushed voices) was that they had seen the leopard again 2-3 days ago. (People here have huge respect for leopards as they believe they are the spirits of their ancestors) Obviously I asked what they meant with "again" - never mind the fact that they saw a leopard got my attention immediately. I also quizzed them on all the aspects of their sightings as I didn't want to get all excited about a leopard and it was actually something else.

Apparently they have seen the leopard at the site about 4 times already. Usually walking from the northern side of the site and sometimes continues south over the main road. The one time they saw it was when they had done their rounds and got back to the fire (well almost anyway) when they saw the leopard lying down next to the fire and just watching them. Needless to say, they had to be grin and bear the cold for another couple of hours until the leopard left.

Then, last night around 10pm I arrived at the site with my tent and decided to pitch it around the middle of the site somewhere. Over and above the fact that I've always said I want to be the first to camp there, I now had another reason to hang around at night - a possible leopard sighting! Unfortunately it was a bit rainy all night so no sign of the leopard but definitely a grand experience waking up in the bush again with only the birds singing and the general nature waking up sounds. Forgotten how much I miss it - definitely not the last time.

This afternoon was also English lesson time again and there was a lot of big smiles and hearty greeting when the guys saw I was back. It does make one feel good when you realise the guys actually enjoy being part of the team.

What a Pleasant Surpise!

View from Laundry to Restaurant, Lounge & Bar

Arrived back in Rwanda yesterday via Burundi and on a flight that was delayed in Nairobi for more than an hour and a half, so by the time I got back to Musanze I was ready to just relax and fall asleep.

Getting up early this morning, I went with Andy to the site and have a walk around and discuss all the progress to date. GOSH!! I couldn't believe how much had been done in the time I'd been away considering the guys are only working average 4 days a week with the occasional work on Saturdays to collect stumps lying around etc i.e. tidying up a bit. Apparently the guys were a little disappointed that they couldn't finish everything that had been marked out although there were only 3 trees left to remove, so a pretty good job then.

The massive area of Back of House where the kitchen, laundry and workshop etc will be has been finished and it looks like a massive road being made through the forest as this area all joins up with the restaurant, lounge and bar. The area where the campfire will be looks fantastic with the cleared "bowl" surrounded by trees on the perimeter through which the path from the bar/lounge lobby will lead.

The road around the 4x4 sites and the 3 ablution areas inside are done as well. Its quite daunting yet very exciting now being able to clearly see where everything will be. All that's left of the clearing proper is two safari tents and the outer perimeter of the restaurant which we'll mark out tomorrow and Monday.

I'll also get some photos over the next few days and try and get them posted on here.

London News

Travel Weekly (1 Sept 06)
Whilst in London there has also been some Ikoro related matters that we've sorted out and some new things we discovered.

The Travel Weekly magazine of 1 Sept published an article on Rwanda and included a quote from Elegant Africa about the Tented Camp. This was a fantastic piece of marketing for us so we're really chuffed with that. We also got hold of the new Rwanda Bradt Guide and all the details for Ikoro Tented Camp has been published with reference to the Safari Tents for the upmarket accommodation and also for the camping section. One of the community artisans co-operatives quote us in the guide as well with reference to the fact that we have already purchased some furniture from them and that we may be using some more of their products in Ikoro Tented Camp.

Tomorrow before I leave, Sarah and I will be meeting with Philosophy Design, our marketing company, to finalise our brochures etc for the World Travle Market 2006 in London (6-10 November).

Update from Andy in Rwanda

Andy has kept us posted by e-mail on the progress in Rwanda whilst I'm in London. He says the clearing is progressing really fast and they may have cleared everything or most by the 30th when I arrive back.

Andy has also been discussing technical issues and sourcing of materials with Emmanuel who will be our site engineer. This included gumpoles which make up the main super structure of the safari tents and the connection to the mains water supply.

The utilities company was going to cut through the road and lay pipes but it seems they've come across an easier (possibly even cheaper) option which would utilise existing structure underneath the road about 300m away from the site. We'll be quite happy if this works out as this road is an international road leading to the border with Uganda at the Cyanika border post so we would prefer not disrupting this flow of traffic.

All in all, it sounds like progress still hurtling ahead at the site.

On my way again

This morning I only spent a few hours at the site making sure that all is fine for the Andy and the guys to carry on whilst I'm away. Then it was off home to sort out money and admin for Andy.

One of te things Andy will be doing is starting to plant some banana trees in areas where we want to shield a particular location and there won't be any construction and clearing.

After this I set off to Kigali to Hotel des Mille Collines as I need to check-in for tomorrow's flight at 5am! I will spend a day and a half in Nairobi to sort out some flight tickets and also finalise the safari tents design, and then off to London where amongst other things we will finalise the brochures for the World Travel Market 2006 in November.

Long weekend - now Work

After a long weekend of catching up on admin and a trip on Thursday to Kigali, we were back to clearing today. Over the weekend we also some visitors to site including someone from Rwanda Tourism (ORTPN) from Kigali and some overland crew - all to see the progress and see what we have i mind for the locations of the different facilities.

This morning we employed another 10 guys, so we're up to about 45-50 people on site busy clearing. Andy also came back today from holiday, so him and I went on a tour to show him the progress whilst he's been gone. Now we have so many guys, most of the clearing will probably be done when I'm back in a couple of weeks andwe can start on leveling.

Today and tomorrow will I'll also be handing the baton over to him for a couple of weeks while I'm away in the UK. So loads of planning to do and making sure all that needs to be marked out for clearing is done. Planning on wages required and other planning that needs to be done for the construction of the mainframe for the safari tent prototype.

Last Clearing day (This week)

Construction of the bush toilet in progress
I decided to let the guys have off on Friday as there was a ton of admin etc waiting at the office to be done and I needed an office day. Unfortunately Andy is still on leave so I can't just leave the site at the moment and someone decides to start clearing an area that has to remain wild.

The bush toilet was finished today and must surely be one of the poshest bush toilets I've seen. With stumps covering the floor and thinner trees covered with leafy branches making up the "walls" and a rock pathway as the approach. As soon as I get some better internet connectivity I'll upload some photos of this nice little structure.

On all the areas I mentioned yesterday, the guys are still struggling on due to the the sheer size of the stumps and rocks. The big advance at the moment is the road to the 4x4 sites and the other approach roads from reception. The road is pretty much cleared all the way from reception to 1) bar delivery 2) all overland truck sites 3) near the southern 4x4 site ablution 4) the entrance from the main road.

On Sunday we're getting together again for English - Kinyarwanda lessons again and tomorrow I'm doing the now almost habitual trip to Kigali. After that, the rest of the time is office time.

Fencing & Toilet

Yip, we got the last lot of iron sheetin today and the guys finished the roadside fence and then also finished the security hut. Although the hut is just a temporary shelter, the guys did a good job and it looks quite good. Also a handy bit of shade for the security guys in the day (not that there's a shortage of shade between all the trees. We used just over 200 iron sheets of about 90cm wide for the front fence - about 140meters!

The guys building the toilet are doing some serious rock busting with an iron stake being hammered in to crack the rock. By this afternoon they had gone about 1.7m deep - still all rock. Although this is very hard work its heartening to know that we can get through it with manual labour when we need to later on during construction.

The back of house/workshop boys got themselves some seriously large stumps, two of them about a meter in diameter! Add to that the now all to well-known root enveloped rock and you have a task of note at hand.

One of the other teams kicked off today on the road going to the 4x4 sites and seem quite happy that I'm not just making it straight but winding through contours and very large trees, so progressing there quite well.

Also had to exchange some dollars for local currency today - the exchange rate is all over the shop now due to the USD moving so much (mostly down though).

Safari Tents, roads & new people

Southern border with iron-sheeting (looking toward S-west corner)
The guys finished another safari tent site and got cracking on the next one which when done means we have 3 safari tent sites done.

The delivery road to the back of the bar is done and the work there is progressing into the road toward the main entrance and parking (past Reception). Also the last two trees are going out in the approach road to the northern overland truck sites which splits into the road going to the 4x4 sites. The main entrance and parking area is now also looking a bit "bare" as the bulk of the trees and stumps are out there too - few big trees that went down today.

Today we took on another 10 people pushing our number of workers to 35. The new guys were taken out with the "experienced" ones to where they were working. About 10 people got starting in all earnest in the bar area with tall and big trees going down very quickly but work slowing down as the massive stumps seem reluctant to release their hold on the solid rock - but, they have to come out.

I also ordered the last iron sheets required for the small space left in the fence and the security hut so we can finish that tomorrow - hopefully.

Four of the guys also set off to build a temporary toilet for workers on site. This was of course a debate about where due to their consideration of how much and what size rock had to be removed but a site was eventually agreed.

English - Kinyarwanda Lessons

At 2pm today was the first of our Sunday English - Kinyarwanda lessons. I arrived 15 minutes early to find most of the work crew there already and the balance arrived shortly after that. It was heartening to see the old guys (50+) there as well, not leaving it for the youngsters only.

With a marker pen and white sheets of paper I started with the basic greetings first, writing the English on the paper for them all to write down/make notes whilst I wrote down the Kinyarwanda for the same word(s). It was a pleasant surprise to see that some of the guys already knew a small number of words with one or two knowing the odd sentence in English.

Throughout the guys were firing questions about plural and singular forms and similar words they had heard before. The lessons had been scheduled for 2pm as Rwanda was playing Cameroon (football) at 3:30, so they wanted to be finished. Naaah, the guys went on close to 4pm just wanting more and more!

Eventually I had to stop them and say that we all had to first practice the first heap of words from today - and I mean a heap of words. We agreed that I would speak Kinyarwanda with them answering in English and in that way also check each other's pronunciation.

I really enjoyed this day and it was great to see the smiles all round as people got the words right. Definitely a very rewarding part of the project.