On the Road to Rwanda

Thanks to CircMaster, we have some rather exciting "flat" traveling news. (Flat as in "Flat" Stanleys, or, in our case, "Flat" Caulis).  "Flat" Cauli II, who, you may recall, enjoyed a Caribbean cruise with Boss Lady, is now bound for Rwanda.  This will be her first trip to Africa (and only her second trip anywhere outside the Hoosier state), so she was pretty excited, as you might well imagine.

"Flat" Cauli II will be reporting as our special flat feline correspondent to Africa.  Perhaps she and her travel companions will send us some cool photos and exciting reports.

Kigali Kitties at a Youth Hostel

We were curious to know about cats from Rwanda.  What's it like over there from the kitty viewpoint?  We spoke via Skype with some cats who live at a youth hostel in Kigali, the capital city.  They reported that life is pretty much the same for them as it is for many of us felines in America. There's dumpster diving--pretty much a universal street kitty thing worldwide--but there are also loving human friends and plenty of wild critters to play with.  Kigali is a large city, but it is clean and safe, mewed our cat contacts.  There are many interesting attractions, some of which are of the small winged dinner or rodent variety.  Cats everywhere are predators, whether our food comes in tins or on the run (or wing). Everybody has to earn his or her din-dins!

Here are some "tourist photos" to give you some of the many intriguing sights awaiting "Flat" Cauli II in Rwanda.

Mount Muhabura on the Rwanda/Uganda Border

Rwandan Highlands

Rwandan Rugby Team as Fathers Christmas

Rwandan Mother & Baby

As I say, these are just some "tourist pictures" from the Internet, but we are hoping to receive many more from "Flat" Cauli II and her new travel friends once they arrive.  We are most interested in life in different cultures and places.

Check our Evergreen Indiana catalog for these interesting books about Rwanda:

• A Thousand Hills:  Rwanda's Rebirth and the Man Who Dreamed It, by Stephen Kinzer (John Wiley & Sons, 2008);

• My Father, Maker of the Trees:  How I Survived the Rwandan Genocide, by Eric Irivuzumugabe, with Tracey D. Lawrence (Baker Books, 2009);

• God Sleeps in Rwanda:  a Journey of Transformation, by Joseph Sebarenzi, with Laura Mullane (Atria Books, 2009);

• Broken Memory : a Novel of Rwanda, by Élisabeth Combres; translated by Shelley Tanaka (Groundwood Books/House of Anansi Press, 2009);

• Christophe's Story, by Nicki Cornwell; illustrated by Karin Littlewood (Frances Lincoln Children's Books, 2007).

Wish I Could Travel Like "Flat" Caulis, but Somebody Has to Blog at the Library,

Cauli Le Chat

MPL Roving Reporter

"Flat" Travel News Beat

P.S.  Let's enjoy these Rwandan girls performing a traditional dance and song near Ruhengeri (Musanze) in Northern Rwanda.