Democratic Republic of Congo - Nyiragongo Volcano

At the base of the volcano getting ready for the hike.

The "bungalows" at the top of the volcano where we stayed for the night.

At the top of the volcano looking down into the lava lake. 

The lava lake at night (at the top of Nyiragongo Volcano).

A closeup view of the lava lake.

A view down the volcano to Goma.  Lake Kivu is on the right.  In 2002, the lava blew from the side and filled up this crater with lava, then flowed down to Goma (in the distance) and destroyed a big portion of the city.

A view of a church destroyed from the 2002 eruption. 

The Congo is dangerous, but also gorgeous.  Mt. Mikeno (still active) is on the left and Mt. Karisimbi (dormant) is on the right.

A typical street in Goma.  The city is built on lava rock and is extremely poor, but based in a beautiful setting. 

            

            This past weekend I traveled to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to visit the major Congo city of Goma and to hike one of the most active volcanoes in the world – Mount Nyiragongo. 

            Nyiragongo is famous in Rwandan history for two major recent eruptions – 1977 and 2002.  The 1977 eruption had lava traveling at speeds up to 60 miles an hour killing thousands of residents in the nearby city of Goma, while the 2002 eruption killed few people due to the slow speed of the lava and readiness of citizens from previous eruptions.  However, Nyiragongo has erupted over 30 times in the past 100 years, and is considered very active and dangerous.

            The trip takes about five hours to get to the top.  It’s a difficult, steep climb comprising mainly of loose lava rocks.  At the top there are bungalows to sleep in for the night, but the top of the volcano is extremely windy and cold.  The big attraction to this volcano is the lava lake at the top.  You can see lava in a sort of mesmerizing, natural state exploding and moving in a random fashion. 

            After the hike we took a tour of the devastation that Nyiragongo did to Goma in 1977 and 2002.  Over 50% of the city has been taken by lava that has caused much of the city to exist 8 feet higher than it historically has sat.  Congolese now live on top of lava rocks in a slum-esque style.  The Congo ranks 187 out of 187 countries on the United Nations Human Development Index for good reason: there are no paved roads, education is terrible, health care is non-existent, and women are raped at an unparalled rate.  The Congo has huge obstacles to overcome to have a stable, forward moving country.  Nevertheless, it was great to travel to the Congo to see the beauty of the countryside and travesty of everyday life. 

Kigali Convention Center

The hallway at the top floor of the hotel, where all suites will be situated. 

The large building in the back is the hotel, the small building in front is the convention center, and the dirt area (soccer field) will be the IT center.

Excavation of up to 50 feet was done to place these large rain water tanks for the convention center.

A view of the convention center from the top floor of the hotel.  The circular area is the base of the dome.

Standing at the top of the hotel in front of the Kacyiru roundabout. 

A view inside the hotel from the roof.  The hotel pool will be placed where the crane currently sits.

At the sewer plant with Leo, my collegue from the Chinese construction firm.

The architct's rendering of the hotel, convention center, and IT park upon completion. 

Last October I left the Peace Corps and began work with a British firm to help project manager the Kigali Convention Center.  The center is planned to be a crux of the Rwanda and the East Africa Community for events and conferences.  Currently all major conferences and events (including President Kagame’s state functions) are held at the Serena Inn in Kigali, so the Kigali Convention Center would replace the Serena Inn as the go-to place for high profile events.

The center will be a 300 room, 5 star hotel connected to a convention center and IT park.  There is currently proposed a museum that will bring further tourism to the center.  The convention center is designed to have a clear dome (similar the Reichstag in Berlin) that will become the iconic image of the country.

At $360 million, it is also one of the largest projects in Africa too.  The entire project is slated to finish in 2014, and is being design by German architects and built by a Chinese construction firm.  Due to the variation of cultures on site (Germans, Chinese, Rwandans, Brits, Americans, Indians) the business language on site is English.  This is due to the contract being written in English.

My role is project manager, where I overview the construction site daily and report to the board of directors and client on the progress and any potential issues with the project.  Due to the size and complexity of the project, it is a great job to learn about various aspects of engineering, design, and procurement.  

Volcanoes National Park



The intore dancers and drummers before we head out for the hike.

One of the many gorgeous trees in the rainforests of Volcanoes National Park.

The dangerous buffaloes watch us from a safe distance.

Time to eat!

The big silverback looks over the Kuryama group of gorillas.



Eating in the trees.

Being herbivores of a prodigious size, gorillas spend a lot of their day eating.



When people think of tourism in Rwanda, the number one destination is Volcanoes National Park.  It has a lot of the elements that make a successful park: only two hours on a paved road from the capital of Kigali, located amongst gorgeous tropical volcanoes, and (most important of all) has some of the last rare mountain gorillas in the world. 

Volcanoes National Park is an extremely small park, and shares a national park boundary with Virungas National Park in the Congo and Bwindi Impenetrable Park in Uganda.  These three countries have combined with various other organizations around the world to preserve the last mountain gorillas in the world.  Current estimates state that there are less than 800 mountain gorillas left.  If it wasn’t for the efforts of Dian Fossey’s studies and conservation efforts between 1967 and 1985, it is possible that the gorillas would be extinct today.  Most of Fossey’s time was spent in Rwanda at Volcanoes National Park, at a camp between Karisimbi volcano and Visoke volcano (the camp name was a combination of the two volcanoes, called “Karisoke”).  She raised awareness through her research and book “Gorillas in the Midst” which details her time and research with the gorillas.  Her death changed her novel into a movie about her life, and (combined with the poaching of other gorillas) raised further awareness for conservation efforts of these amazing animals.

The conservation is a daunting task for several reasons: poachers, land encroachment due to gorillas living in a country with a density of 600 people per square mile, and gorillas having 97% of the same genetic makeup as humans.  When visiting the gorillas, tourists can only stay for one hour due to the stress of humans being in the gorilla’s natural environment.  Tourists cannot take flash photography, must turn away and sneeze due to the fear of transmitting viruses/colds to the gorillas, and cannot eat, drink, or bring anything unnecessary around their habitat. 

My family and I visited the gorillas at the beginning of January.  It was a long climb through villages and rainforests to get to the “Kuryama” group (“kuryama” is Kinyarwanda for “to lie down”), but was well worth the $500 ticket, harsh dirt roads, and long hike.  We had a great time, but were exhausted afterwards.  Attached are pictures of our day which took place on the west side of Visoke volcano.