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!

The Making of the Nature Hut

As you know from, past blog posts, I am a big fan of the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village Nature Park. It is a truly wonderful place and we wanted to make a nice meeting space up there to encourage more use of the park.

Rainbow on our last day of work at the Nature Hut

In the third term, Nathan (one of the other cousins) and I worked to build a Nature Hut. We started September 12th, 2012 and finished October 17th, 2012.  We had the help of many of the maintenance workers, a team of 27 students, support of the directors and also help from various families and the environment club during Saturday Service.  We started dreaming of this project in second term and managed, with alot of hard work, to make it happen in the third term.  It wasn't always easy but with teamwork, Nathan and I managed to keep the momentum of the project going when we hit bumps along the way.

Nathan and I in the finished hut

This is our How to Make a Nature Hut PDF which has many wonderful pictures and the steps it took to get from start to finish.

We opened the Nature Hut on October 22, 2012 with the help of Anne Heyman, founder of ASYV.

Opening ceremony- photo by Steve

Anne cutting the ribbon- photo by Steve

Natural building team at the opening ceremony-photo by Steve

Natural Building team with their certificates of achievement- photo by Steve

The girls in my family who were part of the Natural Building team and Mama Annociata

We also had the closing staff meeting for informal education at the Nature Park on November 1, 2012

End of year staff meeting at the Nature Hut

Nathan and Miki helping Mama Emerthe on the slackline

I can only hope that the Nature Hut will be well loved and used in the years to come!!

Sunset yoga at the Nature Hut

A Visit to Akagera Park with the Environment Club

Practicing with the binoculars 

Yesterday we had a lovely trip to Akagera Park with the Environment Club.

We woke bright and early, got our picnic lunches from the kitchen and departed in 4 safari vehicles supplied by Intore Expeditions.  The safari vehicles were a surprise for the kids and they were very excited about them.  There were many pictures taken with them beside the safari vehicle, pretending to drive, on the roof of the car.  I can only imagine what their facebook pages are going to look like soon. :)

A guide giving the students an orientation of the park

We arrived at the park and the guides there gave the students a great orientation about Akagera Park, about the other National Parks in Rwanda, how Rwandan Parks compare to other parks in East Africa, and what it is like being a guide.  After that we hopped in the cars and went in search of animals.

On the search for animals

We a saw impala, topi, waterbuck, zebras, buffalo, many different kinds of birds, turtles, hippopotamus, giraffes and elephants!!  I think the elephants were the highlight of the trip because they are difficult to find in Akagera Park and they are so majestic.  That being said, the students were excited about all the animals.  If you have spent anytime in Rwanda, you might of noticed that Rwandans make alot of different sounds to convey emotional states- especially surprise, awe, and happiness.  It was the soundtrack of the day yesterday.

Elephant

Buffalo and turtles in the muddy ponds

Hippos

Impala

Look at that!

Giraffes

Lilac-breasted Roller (Coracias caudata)- I think. Second opionon?

Zebras

Delicious packed lunch from Chez Hilam

Beautiful lunch spot.  We could even see an elephant and some hippos grazing near the lake with the binoculars.

I think the pictures say the most about how fabulous the day was.  Thank you to everyone helped out to raise funds for this trip.  It was truly AMAZING!  Thank you also to Shelley and Paul and everyone at Intore Expeditions for supporting this trip not only financially, but with encouragement and organization.  The drivers were fantastic- teaching the students about the different types of habitats and animals in Akagera.  For example, it is the rainy season right now, and our driver Andrew, explained that the topi and buffalo have their babies at this time of the year when the food is abundant so they have a better chance of survival.

Topi with their babies

Thank you from the Environment Club!

Thanks so much!!!