Lake Muhazi

My uncle has a distinctive feature of being able to get me hooked on to something with his stories, and I don’t stop thinking about that particular something until I’ve seen or felt it. And, as always, the fulfillment of my fantasies happens unexpectedly – Uncle just tells us during breakfast to pack up and go. And that’s how my favorite Rwandan adventure began – the trip to Lake Muhazi, near the capital of Kigali.

I found myself in the well-tested company of Uncle, Branimir and Matija, while our host Danko, a Salesian who has been living in Rwanda for a very long time, drove ahead of us. In fact, Danko is in charge of the lake house that I hadn’t stopped thinking about for days prior to going. And, before I forget, my uncle’s Slovenian friend, Danilo who is also a Salesian, was there as well.

Naturally, arriving at the lake, it never entered my remotest thoughts to spend the entire day listening to the serious conversations of our priests. I kept thinking about jumping into the lake. However, I needed someone to keep me company - in case , God forbid, something unexpected would happen. I succeeded in recruiting Matija for that purpose. I cannot tell you how happy I was.

We drove around in a paddle boat a bit, talked a bit, kept silent a bit, and enjoyed ourselves a lot. Every now and then I yelled to the ones that remained on dry land; trying to persuade them to join us. But, it seems that the only thing they are capable of is round-the-clock babbling and discussing awfully boring subjects.

The water in the lake is warm and great for swimming, as well as a testing ground for my acrobatic jumps. I got exhausted playing Tarzan so much that I don’t really know how I managed to crawl up to my room and change for lunch. Danko prepared a real feast which I ate almost asleep. I only have to thank his fish and duck meat for not falling asleep right away. And I had to wish him a happy birthday, which, it seems, was the real reason of our visit and the good time on the lake of my dreams.

To be continued...

Translated by: fra Branimir Mlakić
Edited by: Valerie Kae Ken