Take a Walk on the Wild Side!

Come for a virtual tour of the Agahozo-Shalom Nature Park- with new interpretive signs!  You can read the interpretive signs here.

From the Village go to the Nature Park

There are signs in the village to direct you to the the Nature Park.  They will direct you to the school and past the greenhouses.  There are two routes to the Nature Park, but if you take the road along the fence-line you will walk up a hill through a eucalyptus woodlot and arrive here.

Welcome to the Park

Trail head of the park complete with birds of ASYV and history/goals of the park

Walk past the trail head towards the big trees

 

Under the shade of this tree entada and the acacia tree you will see an interpretive sign

This spot used to be the site of several benches which were aptly situated in the shade for a nice breather after climbing the hill- however in November 2012, they were stolen.  Maybe the carpentry EP of 2013 can make 3 more benches? hint hint. Also- this is a fabulous place to put a hammock.

Read all about these two trees and mongooses and enjoy the view

After resting in the shade, follow the path past the traditional beehive

You will skirt the eucalyptus trees and go under the mango arch

Turn the corner and go towards the sign along the trail

Read the signs about lantana, african tulip and speckled mousebird

Go towards the mango tree

Turn the corner and take the trail that marks the boundry between agricultural land the park

Sign under the wild fig tree about southern red bishop and wild fig

Continue along the trail

Read about the bitter leaf veronia tree and cinnamon chested bee eater

Continue along the trail to the next sign

Observe the markhamia trees and read about bats

Continue along the trail and turn the corner

Read about toads

Continue towards the big flame tree

Observe the flame tree and read about red-eyed dove and striped skink

 Here you have a few options.  Option 1 is to loop back towards the trail head and continue back the way you came.  Option two is to go towards the nature hut and take and alternative path down to the greenhouses.  They are about equidistant.  Option 3 is to do a combination and choose your own adventure.

Option 1- loop back to the original trailhead

Walk this way

Continue along the trail

You will see the original trail head and can retrace your steps to go back to the village

Option 2: Head towards the Nature Hut

 You will see the nature hut from the flame tree

Take the trail that goes towards the nature hut

Almost there

Enjoy a rest at the nature hut

You can read about how the nature hut was built

You can also read about the history of the Nature Park and ecology

From here take the path that goes down the hill through the agricultural lands.  You will see some small buildings for the bees and soon the school, water tower and greenhouses.

Thanks for coming on the tour.  I hope you enjoyed the adventure!

East African Botanical Resources are you out there?

As a plant nerd- I love learning about new plants, their uses, their ecologies, their cultural link to the people that know, use or love them.  I have been looking for resources to know about more plants in Rwanda and the surrounding area and so far have come up with little.  I have been asking local people about the plants, their names, their uses and such but I have yet to find a plant nerd that I can communicate with, that is willing to share some of that knowledge.

The stems of this shrub are hollow and were traditional used for straws

Last week I went on a field trip to different nurseries with one of the staff members.  We were looking into types of trees and prices for the village.  (The village also has a nursery, but doesn't have all the species I was looking for.  If the village wanted to, I'm sure they could make quite a business by collecting seeds, planting them and propagating trees.)  

So any way, we going all around Kigali and the outskirts to look for trees  with me towing along, communicating in Frenglish....yes that elusive language I learned as a French immersion kid comes in handy.... no actually, I was communicating both in English and in French because the person I was with is somehow difficult to communicate with, although excellent with plants.  That's how the day went, lost in translation mime acts along with writing down the names and prices of trees so I can submit a budget for the environment club.

Now, here I am at my computer with a somewhat illegible notebook of names of trees and plants that are in Latin, French, English and Kinyarwanda.  Especially for the ones in Kinyarwanda I am trying to rack my memory for what my co-worker said they were- or if he did.  So to the nets... collectively there must be something to help me out there.

First I try this website http://kinyarwanda.net  This website is the best tool on the net for help with the Kinyarwanda language.  Amazing.... but no luck with Umusebeya

So I put it into google and miraculously somebody has made a one line wikipedia article in Kinyarwanda about Umusebeya.  To top that off, there are latin names in that article.  Oh yes!!  Botany Gold!!   Latin names are the special password in internet searches about plants.... if you put in a common name you are more likely to get fluff, or not very helpful articles.

So here you go- Umusebeya could be Albizia adianthifolia or Albizia gummifera.  These trees are native tree species of Africa, and Rwanda are in their range.  They have large, flat toped canopies, which are excellent for shade (which the village desperately needs).  They also have flowers that attract beneficial pollinators and are important for certain species of butterflies.  They are associated with nitrogen fixing bacteria so they grow quickly, have good timber.  These species have also traditionally been used to treat many different kinds of illnesses.

For more information on these trees:
Albizia adianthifolia
 Albizia adianthifolia
 Albizia gummifera
Albizia gummifera

Also a another resource that has been helpful courtsey of google 'owns the universe' books is A Field Guide to Common Trees and Shrubs of East Africa

 Happy Botanizing!