Motos and photos

My first real Saturday off shot way up on the awesome scale when we arranged 3 motos to take us to La Palisse, a hotel/resort on the lake not too far from us. The moto ride was about 30 minutes when we took the back road shortcut, and it was super fun to race along bumpy dirt roads in a sort of convoy. My moto driver raced to the front to pass Robin so that we could pull over and get some sketchy gas from a lady who brought it out in a 1L water bottle from the back of her shop. I didn't even get off and then once we had the gas we went off-roading around an old man, over a bunch of rocks and after one close call with the bumper of a truck, we were back on the dirt road. After that I was (sadly) number 3 in line but it was funny because by the time the first 2 muzungus went by, the kids or whoever we were passing at the time would yell and wave at me as I brought up the rear. 

I managed to take one pic as we were pulling into the parking lot, here is Sarah just ahead and Robin, as he was parking:

This was yet another confirmation that I need to get my motorcycle license when I get home. I may also get one of these guys to teach me if I can find the time. 

The hotel is in a birding area so as I typed this earlier, there were birds chirping and singing in the trees. Some crazy tourists in speedos were fishing with nets in the water and yelling at each other in a language I couldn't quite make out. One older guy threw the tiny fish he caught to shore, calling out to his friend to see. They were also wading around slapping the top of the water with sticks -- herding fish??

Anyway, we are extremely happy that they showed us this place and that the trip here only cost about $3 US one way. I think I have found my Saturday hobby for sure!

It is probably hard to see the bird in this photo, because I don't have my real camera here, but see if you can find the one that looks kind of like a bald eagle, near the top of the tree. 

We definitely needed a weekend off after the marathon of training. We finished off our second week of training with a ceremony for all the teachers with the usual speeches and certificates. Now we are moving into the mentoring phase and will be coaching the teachers in their schools and classrooms. It's hard to believe we've been here a month this coming week!
 
Coming home tonight by moto was even better than the trip out. The hot, hot day was starting to fade as the sun was setting in a bank of pink clouds. The wind cooled us down as we sped home in a cloud of red dust, waving at kids calling "muzungu! muzungu!". Everyone was making their way home in the cool of the short dusk, and the roads were crowded with people and animals. When we arrived home, our security guard came out to meet us as the local boys were driving the cows by our house. A few handshakes, a few smiles and goodbyes in Kinyarwanda and there we were: home.

It was the perfect end to a relaxing day.