Goma - the beginning,

We picked up Patrick at his hotel in the morning to make sure we would make the 1pm deadline for the UN shuttle bus form Kigali to Goma. We made it...and waited...and waited until 2:30 for an Indian peacekeeper coming back from leave who was supposed to catch the ride with us, he never made it so off we went with our driver Sami.
We were told the ride would be short, barely 3 hours to drive the 100 or so km to the DRC border. Our 3 hour tour a la Gilligan's island turned into 4 ½! It was eventful - Not only did Shelly have to sit up front to make sure our driver stayed awake, but our UN shuttle was also equipped with a speed regulator so city buses and bicycles were even passing us! Sami even stopped to chat with his brother and buy eggs along the way! No complaints for a free ride though, we’ve been very lucky with logistics so far, thanks to good friends in high places!

At the border crossing we got out of the shuttle to fill out our exit cards. We are told we have to walk across the border and that Sami will meet us on the other side. As we walk over to a dark building a Rwandan officer tells me I don't have a visa. I beg to differ and hand over my passport. Shelly and Patrick are asked to hand over their passports to a man who isn't even in uniform. They walk through without a problem, my passport however gets inspected thoroughly by the Rwandan officer, I start to wonder why someone from Rwanda cares so much about me having a visa for a DRC? Finally the man out of uniform pulls my passport out of the officer's hands and I walk through. It is dark and muddy as we walk to the DRC side we realise the power has gone off and there are no lights. We get our stamps by candle light!

We settled into hotel Ihusi, a gorgeous hotel by lake Kivu...it is dark so we can’t see much, we look forward to our meetings in the morning and seeing the lake in daylight. Goma looks promising!

Shelly, Tanya and Patrick