Rwanda TravelogueDays 7&8 - July 16-17, 2022Up for a leisurely breakfast and to pack our belongings for a return to Kigali. Venuste took us to the Akagera park gate where we met Tito for the journey back to the capital. Detour in Kigali for the compulsory PCR test to allow us to visit the gorilla reserve. We arrived at the Hotel Serena at around 3 pm to check in. As before, this took much longer than it should have done - there were two guys variously typing on their computers and making phone call, but nothing seemed to be happening. When I asked what the hold up was, I was told that the room was being cleaned. I expressed some surprise that they didn't have a room ready by halfway through the afternoon. After a certain amount of dissatisfaction from me over the wait, the desk manager picked up a key ring, asked us to follow him and told us he had upgraded us. He used a secure key to operate the lift and we went up to the fifth floor - the lift had no button for this floor. He unlocked a door to what turned out to be the Presidential Suite. It was the only accommodation on the fifth floor and was huge. Entrance hall, further hall, three en-suite bedrooms, dining/board room, kitchen, lounge, study and two balconies. We kept on getting lost. List price of the room was $3500 for one night... We had dinner on the balcony, which was nice. A leisurely breakfast and pack, and met Tito again for our drive to the Volcanoes National Park. We arrived at Virunga Lodge, which overlooks Lake Ruhondo and Lake Bulera, at around 1 PM and checked our room and had a light lunch. Spent the afternoon relaxing for our first trek on the next day. Exercise is quite hard around here - this lodge is at around 7000 feet... |