Iby’Iwacu Culture Village - Kigali, Rwanda – Amsterdam, Holland – Panama City, Panama August 25 to 26

After we checked out we met William and he drove us to the Iby’Iwacu cultural village. What a fun time this was. Here is some background on the village:

"Despite Rwanda’s limited ethnic diversity, the country’s 3 major ethnic groups (Hutus, Tutsis and Batwa Pygmies or just known as Twa) have bonded into almost one rich and comprehensive culture composed of various norms, values and traditions.

The cultural village was started with the intention to harmonize conservation and local community needs. Since poverty is the root cause of poaching in most African destinations, an alternative to benefit the community adjacent to the park and deter them from hunting down wildlife was highly sought after. Creating a cultural village would help to highlight the significance of tourism to the life of a local community member.

The cultural village helped in rehabilitating the ex-poachers who realized the impact of the wildlife they were hunting to the lives of their families and future generations. The village was also to act as a preservation means for the Rwandan culture as most youth were ignoring important cultural values and norms."

Our guide said that the Twa have a similar village, but tourists don't like it very much. He said they smoke a lot of marijuana and you have to get there early or they are too stoned to give a tour and they have a strange sense of humor, being a bit mischievous and they often come grab your purse and run off with it.

We were welcomed and had to walk under the arch.

We were greeted with this guy chanting in our faces and musicians playing drums. The video is hilarious.

we had to walk under this to get to the King's house

We were taken to a replica of the King's house and they made us honorary King & Queen. While it was great fun once we were inside the house and they explained the lifestyle, it kind of went on and on. (wanting us to ask questions or comment and there really wasn't anything else to ask) Plus, part of the role of King and Queen was us removing our shoes....I guess we both were just too tired at this point to want to, so they allowed us in with our shoes on.

 going inside

 she was asking our permission to enter the King's house

 then, she dressed us

 we were presented to the people

 the place where the many wives waited to be called to the King's bed

the King's bed

We then were introduced to the Medicine Man who was a hoot. He explained the various natural remedies and showed how to mix them. After that they had me stand next to him for the photo op and he holds the muddle stick at his crotch and demonstrates what one of the herbs is for. I laughed so hard!

 our guide William & the Medicine Man

 

We then moved on to see how they made fire.

 

Then on to the shopping stop. Unfortunately they didn't have much. After having so much at the village in Tanzania I held off buying things because I thought I could get them here and at the same time support the locals. I did buy a couple of small pictures for a $20 donation plus we donated at the end after the final performance.

Next we tried our hand at grinding grain.

 

After that we got to try the bow and arrow. They had us hold the arrow with 2 fingers that just didn't seem natural. Eventually I got the hang of it.

the target

Next they showed us a typical wedding ceremony. Showing everyone bringing lots of food in their baskets and the bride being carried in. They go inside the wedding hut to consummate the marriage. They all listen at the door to make sure it's a success. (we hear her moaning that it was a success) So everyone cheers and the celebration begins.

 

We are then seated for a final performance of their dances.

 

Now it was time to drive the couple hours back to Kigali Airport for our return flight home. We arrived an hour too early to get into the airport, so we waited at an adjacent coffee shop and then went through the TSA check point to enter the airport around 5:30 for our 8:15 flight to Amsterdam and connection to Panama City.

We were told there was a good restaurant (one person said 2) so we waited to eat there. Once we got there the only restaurant was the same coffee shop as the one outside the airport and it was smaller so for food they went downstairs and outside to get it from the other restaurant. Food was not bad and we had some time to shop a bit. I finally found a magnet and a Christmas ornament for Rwanda.

We had hoped to get right to sleep after getting on the plane, but they were a bit late taking off and then after we were in the air they served dinner around 10:00. It seemed everyone else on the flight was wired and it took a while for them to calm down. We both “slept” through dinner. We arrived in Amsterdam at 7:20 in the morning. We had a bit of breakfast on the plane, but we wanted to have another one of those huge chocolate muffins at the airport. After that we went in search of the hotel that had showers for 15 euro. We were pleasantly surprised that the small rooms (shower, sink and commode) were very nice and clean and the shower helped us feel a bit more human. We stopped to buy some Neuhaus Belgian Chocolates. (we wished we had bought more of them, they were so good)

We waited for our flight that left at 1:05 in the afternoon and we arrived in Panama City at 4:55. (27 hours and 35 minutes total travel) A drug dog checked everyone as they boarded the plane. We skipped the space cakes on this trip (did that last time). Then, as we landed in PTY our names were called over the loudspeaker. There was a lady with a clipboard and she had us do a medical questionnaire verbally and then she declared us healthy and gave us a note with that on it. I guess since we had been if Africa....

We had planned to take the bus to Albrook Bus Terminal, but opted to grab a taxi since we were kind of worn out. We had a nice driver (no English) who was very interested in our African trip. Back to reality and it was hard getting back to Spanish as tired as we were. We got tickets for the bus to Coronado and even though it was a small Coaster they stowed our bags and it was a nice ride. We waited about 5 minutes for a cab that could bring us into Coronado. At least 4 pulled away as soon as we told them where we needed to go. (not all taxi drivers have the card to get in) We were thinking we needed to call Sharon to see if she could pick us up when one finally pulled up and took us in. Finally home! It was about 8:00 or 9:00 at night when we finally made it. Phew!