Rusumo border crossing is at the eastern end of Rwanda, calm and peaceful. We are approached by a fellow just as we arrive who wants to sell us insurance but we aren’t sure what we need so we say no thanks and proceed into the building. There are numbered windows (yes!) and even a bank where we pay our visa fee – this being quite the opposite of handing over $100USD to a guy who puts it in his pants pocket, as happened at Chirundu. From window to window we go, finishing up with a police inspection of the vehicle; opening all the doors and the back really impresses them although the truck is a mess. Thinking we are cleared we drive past a small building and a uniformed guard with a gun waves us down. Good to stop for these guys. He asks where is your insurance? Oh, now I get it – we must get some third party insurance. The guard says we can cross the border, just be sure to buy some soon, he says. How pleasant is that? Over in Rwanda, a few meters away, we find Jimmy the salesman and he says I told you so. Yes. Well, at any rate a few minutes later we are off to Akagera National Park and camping in Rwanda.

Akagera was originally formed in 1934 and is the oldest park in the country. In its prime it likely rivaled any park in Africa but as has been the case in so many countries, war devastated the park. Reference to the 1994 genocide is constant – it says “before the genocide” and “after the genocide” on many of the interpretive signs in the visitors center. People use the terms in conversation to explain how things are now and why – although “why” is too big a question for a simple conversation about wildlife in a park. A massive NGO has taken on the project of bringing the glory back to Akagera much like Greg Carr is attempting in Gorongosa, Mozambique, another war-torn park. It is a long slow process.

Mixed savanna, woodlands, highlands and lakes and wetlands make for varied scenery and the park is so green it almost hurts. The regulars are here though not in profusion. What the elephant lack in numbers they make up for in size – the bulls we saw were the biggest we have encountered. We were warned of one tusk-less male who is said to be twitchy – he was quite content when we came upon him and we gave him plenty of room. Another bull just roamed around us, showing off his (enormous) good sides. The bird life is terrific – two new birds in an hour, the Black-headed Gonolek and the Long-crested Eagle. A black heron showed off by “umbrella hunting” – spreading its wings over the water so it could see the fish more easily. Wonderful game driving.

The animal encounter of note was this Black Mamba. Jim knew right away what it was, there was no mistaking it. Ready for breakfast and coffee, we pulled into this picnic site that looked vacant. We weren’t expecting a snake, never mind a snake this big and this venomous. Even if the mamba wasn’t extra deadly, the size alone kept me in the truck. Mambas have a reputation for actually attacking people, not just biting when they are bothered. The mambo can rear its head up by half of its body length – and this one was about three meters long. That’s nine feet, in case you are wondering. Holy cow (or words to that affect). It slithered off to some grasses and we cautiously parked far away and had breakfast. We might drive around all day looking for cats and birds, but now I have seen the Black Mamba and don’t need to see another one. If I have too, though, I hope to see it before it sees me.