First Impressions | 2

Today I wanted to take a photo but it just didn't feel right. I am in the taxi minibus from Cyanika to Ruhengeri here in Rwanda. A very pretty woman enters the minibus. Our eyes meet briefly and we share a 'hello' wink. She swings around in full axle to get a good seating. On her back, the most adoreable baby girl is strapped in abba position. Her eyes are a watery gloss and distant, hosted by two slightly chubby cheeks. And in climbs the dad who I could have taken for a thug judged on first impressions. His dirty check shirt tucked into slightly oversized jeans. His teeth are rotten to sharp edges. Despite his appearances, he has a certain warm look on his face.

The taxi sets off with a few humps and bumps. We follow the curve and everyone is looking to the 'Land of a Thousand Hills'; a landscape that doesn't fail to impress time and time again. A few more curves and we swing back and forth. The dad, now moving for the first time, looks to his left and gazes into his baby girls' eyes. There is affection in their soundless conversation. Then he moves swiftly, placing his hand squarely over her face; the way you would want to make a puppy sleep when stroking its nose bridge only irritates the puppy. I frown. Okay, time to let go now; you will suffocate her. And then he cups his hands in a periscope fashion forming tunnel vision; their eyes locked in a secret admiration for only them to see one another. A smile trickles over his chapped lips...

written by

afrikawasbeer on December 13, 2009 from Gisenyi, Rwanda

from the travel blog: Traveling Africa Overland

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hi Wallie ,

ja Rwanda and all the bad blood that runs there,due to people not getting along with each other. a country filled with pain and poverty...... where is your next adventure leading to?
lv dad

written by Patrick Fieuw on December 16, 2009

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