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Monday, August 16, 2010

A Boat Trip to Napoleon Island

When we returned home from Bisesero, seven members of our group left us to head to Volcano National Park to go on the gorilla trek. As Linda and I had given up our two spaces for the gorilla trek, two people who wanted to go, who had not previously had spots on the trek, were able to go.

The following few paragraphs have been contributed by Linda.

After our return from Bisesero, we had a free afternoon. Earlier that day, Graham had started some negotiations with Andrew, one of the boat captains on Lake Kivu, to take us on a short cruise out to Napoleon Island and then to Peace Island – there is a bar/restaurant there – as a relaxing break. The original plan was to go right after lunch – but since lunch would take a few hours at least (an earlier post has tackled this interesting approach to restaurant meals!), and then because a trip to town (Kibuye) to find internet access and supplies was also planned, we didn’t actually board the boat until around 5pm! As the sun goes down shortly after 6, I was starting to get a little apprehensive about this journey. And Napoleon Island is actually a lot further away than it appeared from shore.

Lisa opted out of this cruise as she was feeling unwell earlier in the day and she didn’t want to get out in the lake and then start to feel unwell again. And then of course there was her worry that the lake would release its carbon dioxide and we would all be killed.  She was no safer on shore, but I digress.

The gorilla trekkers had all departed and Rich, Shyrna, Charles and Olivier also all stayed behind. This left a small crew of 10 (plus Andrew our captain) as we set off on a rather slow cruise in our leaky craft out into Lake Kivu. As we arrived 40 minutes later (it should be noted that Andrew charges by the hour!), the sun was about a foot above the horizon. I honestly wasn’t sure what the purpose of stopping here would be, but there was some discussion about a colony of fruit bats on the island – and it turned out that arriving there at dusk was the best time to see them.

Once we had all scrambled out of the mini-African Queen, Andrew led us up a trail to where we could see the bats. Up is the important part of this journey. There was a small trail that had been marked out by some intrepid hikers before us – but it was very rough and quite a steep climb. Some of the group were in flip-flops and shorts so there were a few scrapes and mosquito bites to be had. Andrew and most of the group were well ahead and out of eye-sight very early into this trek. Colleen, Tina and myself were bringing up the rear, and again I have to say my caution-mode was starting to kick in. The last place I wanted to get lost was this island in the middle of Lake Kivu. But we followed their voices and eventually caught up. The sound of all our voices (and possibly Andrew rattling some branches) awakened the bats and here is where the fun began. I couldn’t say exactly how many bats there were, but in the 100s of thousands is probably not far off the mark.  As they took flight out of the trees, they flew right over our heads. Remember Hitchcock’s The Birds and that sound? It was a combination of creepy and pure excitement to witness this flight – most of us got pictures and video – it really has to be seen to be believed. And the size of these bats would be comparable to a large crow or even bigger.

After almost 10 minutes of bat-watching, we all agreed it was time to head back to the boat. . The sun was now officially below the horizon, yet there was still some minimal light in the sky. However, as Andrew’s small vessel had no running lights and an apparent slow leak, and we were at least 40 minutes away from the Centre Bethanie, we agreed to not stop at the bar on Peace Island, but just head straight back. So we did – although this time Andrew went much slower than the cruise out. Now I thought that this was due to the lack of running lights and that any faster speed might force that slow leak into a much larger hole, but my fellow ship-mates reminded me that Andrew was charging by the hour. So, about an hour after we left the island, we were back on shore at Centre Bethanie – Andrew likely using the lights on shore to guide us to our destination. Although my nerves were starting to get the better of me, it was an experience of a lifetime to witness the bats in this untouched habitat. It was a good day!

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