Kara relives the 2017 Vision Trip’s day at the museum

Birds sang their morning songs and the sun kissed our tired faces as we emerged out of our hotel room doors. Welcome to day eight.

After breakfast and devotions, we set off to the Ethnographic Museum which is situated just a few minutes up the road from where we stayed the night. The museum is one of six of the Institute of National Museums of Rwanda and displays historical, ethnographic, artistic, and archaeological artifacts which allowed us to gain a deeper insight into Rwandan culture.

After perusing through the museum, we made our way around the outside of the building to the back garden where we were to watch a traditional Rwandan dance. On our way there, we couldn’t help but get distracted at the monkeys that were leaping from branch to branch and boldly wandering across our walking path.

We continued up the trail and reached our destination where the dance was to take place. For the next hour we sat listening to the beating of drums and watching in awe as the vividly dressed dancers told the story of their history through movement . . . (and of course the nightmare for all the introverted team members came true when the dancers pulled us out onto the floor to dance along with them).

After the museum we had a quick lunch and then made our way to a coffee plantation called Huye Mountain Coffee. Our lively tour guide brought us to see the coffee trees explaining everything there is to know about coffee. We got to see where the plants grew and where the beans were washed, sorted, and roasted. Of course the coffee tour would not have been complete without sampling the coffee, and I must admit, it has my stamp of approval!

Well-caffeinated and having purchased almost all of Huye’s coffee supply, our team loaded back onto the bus for our three-hour journey back to Kigali. We arrived ready for dinner and a good night’s sleep!