rwanda – rene bauer photography

Tracking The Mountain Gorillas

The volcanos look down to me. In the dusk it felt kinda mystical. I knew there are the mountain gorillas, maybe even awaiting me. Pictures of the movie of King Kong slipped in my mind when i looked up to the steep slope of that mountain. But arriving the headquarter, crowds of tourists watched the performance of dancers, before heading to their gorillas groups, lead by experienced guides.

A strenuous three hours walk trough dense rainforest brought the five of us with our guide and a armed guard to our gorilla group. the Susa group. On the way, Eugene, our guide explained about the environment here. Two porters carry the bags of the other four, while i trust my camera gear no one but myself. And then, the first glimpse of a dark fur in the lush green bush. Th big group of gorillas were scattered around in the bush. But we found the silverback, the oldest and leader in the group. While the animals were moving, we follow the silverback, watching him resting and eating and moving uphill again. For one hour we observed those amazing creatures, before we went downhill, out of the forest, and it seems like out of a day dream again.

Februar 16, 2017Februar 16, 2017 by Rene Bauer Categories: Africa, animal, landscape, nature, reportage, rwanda, travel, Uncategorized, wildlifeTags: Africa, animal, eastafrica, gorilla, hike, maountaingorills, mountain, nature, rainforest, rwanda, Travel, volcanoes, wildlife Hinterlasse einen Kommentar

Rwanda – Lake Kivu

Rwanda, also called ‚the land of thousand hills‘, is unique for a road trip. I wished to travel by motorbike from hill to hill, taking those many curves and stopping for stunning views. One of the most beautiful route is along Lake Kivu with its shores, the forest and fields at the coastline. Just a few impressions from that trip…

Februar 16, 2017 by Rene Bauer Categories: Africa, HOPE, humansofplanetearth, landscape, nature, portrait, reportage, rwanda, travel, Uncategorized, waterTags: Africa, africaoverland, eastafrica, girl, lake, lakekivu, lakeview, landscape, overland, overlandafrica, overlander, ricefields, roadtrip, rwanda, Travel Hinterlasse einen Kommentar

Rwanda – Nyungwe Forest

A dense jungle on both side of the road. A few times a steep slope gives the view free over the green, lush forest. Morning mist crawls up. Despite my early start this morning, i was too late for the chimpanzee tracking. A canopy walk would be an option, but too pricey. I decided to go for a guided hike instead. With only my guide, i walked trough the huge green. He explained about the plants, spotted some smaller animals, as frogs, birds and also mountain monkeys. A bat flew off when we approached its hide too close and some squirrel crossing in high speed our path. Not quite an adventure, but nice hike after cities and long road drives.

Februar 14, 2017Februar 14, 2017 by Rene Bauer Categories: Africa, flower, HOPE, humansofplanetearth, landscape, nature, portrait, reportage, rwanda, travel, Uncategorized, wildlifeTags: Africa, animal, eastafrica, flower, fog, forest, frog, green, hike, hiking, jungle, landscape, mist, monkeys, morning, mountain, nationalpark, nature, nyungwe, renebauerphotography, rwanda, Travel, trees, walk, wildlife Hinterlasse einen Kommentar

Churches Of Genocide

Piles of clothes covered with dust lying on benches and at the floor. Dust also on the air, mixed with a rotten smell. Light beams trough the many small holes from grenades pieces to the dark walls full of bullet holes. A team of American specialists working with masks, some with full covered dresses, to clean and preserve the clothes from victims of genocide in the church of Nyamata. Skulls and bones buried in the mass graves nearby, some are displayed for the visitors to show the cruelty of killing innocent people, women and children with primitive weapons, tools or simple sticks. The team of conservators tells me, occasionally they still find human bones in bunches of clothes.

A few kilometer away, a similar tragedy of humanity was happen in the church of Ntamara . The area around the church is preserved like a archeological site. New roof over the building protects from rain, paths leads between buildings and trough green garden, boards content explanations. But the horror of the history is written in the wall. Bullet holes, missing corners where grenades exploded and blood stains on the wall of sunday school where children smashed to death. A big pile of dirty clothes still remains in the kitchen, waiting for further treatment and preserving, while the life in the village goes on…

Februar 7, 2017 by Rene Bauer Categories: Africa, reportage, rwanda, UncategorizedTags: Africa, church, conflict, ethnics, genocide, genocidememorial, hutu, kigali, memorial, neverforget, ntamara, nyamata, rwanda, tutsi, war Hinterlasse einen Kommentar

Kigali Genocide Memorial

At entrance gate every passenger has to get off the vehicles for security check. After the car is parked a friendly staff at reception welcomed me with a smile and explained me there is a photography fee of 20 US$ inside the museum building, but outside it’s free to take pictures. Due the low light in the exhibition rooms i decided to focus on the stories, and taking only few shots from outside.

Just behind the welcome hall a room with rows of chairs is prepared to show an introductory movie. A brief overview of the history and some heartbreaking stories of survivors of genocide brings the viewer goosebumps.

In the museum a path leads from display to another, shows photos and and explanations on big boards or short movies on screens. Another room displayed stained clothes, broken skulls and piles of bones from victims of this horrible time.

The head full of thoughts and impressions i took a short walk trough the area. There are mass graves on terraces just beneath the museum. Some dried roses laying on the concrete lid of the graves and names of victims are carved in the stoney board next to it.

In the small, but pretty rose garden a few blossoms are left. And almost as sign for the future, the sun breaks finally trough the clouds and shines on the red flowers.