Western Province

We knew that we would be quite busy today again, but didn't want to only stay at our place and never leave for the entire day. For our lunch break we carved out some time and drove to one of the fanciest lodges around, where we entered with the note that we'd love to eat some lunch there.

It was a glorious lodge built on the hillside, with a direct access to the beautiful waters of Lake Kivu. We ordered some food - some came with surprises, eg the vegetarian salad had canned tuna on it - and drinks, had them delivered to our spot by the water, and went for refreshing dips in the lake throughout our lunch break.

We liked it so much that we extended our stay there, with me working a bit from my phone and Anne taking a call from the lakeside. With all the use, my phone, which we used for hotspotting an internet connection, combined with the intense rays of the sun, had a tendency to overheat. I was grateful numerous times that my phone was waterproof, because the easiest way to cool it down was by submerging it in the lake 😅😁

The afternoon was spent back at our place with more work, but for dinner we had plans to leave to eat at a local restaurant. The receptionist at our resort gave us some tips, and we headed there. It was a completely local joint, with no printed menus, and very local food at very local prices. I wanted to try their grilled catch of the day - Tilapia fresh from the lake.

They advised me that it would take 45-50min preparation time, which sounded good to me. While we were waiting for the food, Anne received a tip from one of her local friends - an opportunity for a private sauna with access to a private beach! The sauna was located in another local lodge, and I gave them a call to make a reservation for 10pm, approximately an hour after I expected to receive the food.

Unfortunately it took the restaurant almost TWO HOURS to prepare my grilled fish. They prepared it with lots of love and completely from scratch (including the wood fired grill), but they were just sooo slow. This delay meant that there was no time for me to eat anything of the beautiful fish before we went to the sauna. I even had to forfeit my side dishes because they were just not ready at the same time, but I did not want to leave without the fish. They split the fish into two to-go containers (it was a big fish), and off we went to the lodge.

We showed up late, but were welcomed by a friendly receptionist. He showed us to the sauna, where two staff members were busy heating up the sauna. It wasn't like any sauna I had ever used. This sauna was essentially a wood-fired oven inside a small room. The upside was that everything smelled very nicely of wood. The downside was definitely the smoke in our eyes and the essential inability of controlling the heat.

When we entered the sauna the first time it had probably a temperature of close to 100 degrees (there was no temperature indication anywhere, I'm guessing). The first thing we did was to air it out a bit to make it more bearable. Between rounds we took the provided bathrobes and went down to the lake via our private beach access. It was a near full moon and it was an absolutely glorious night!

Of course, some things also didn't work as expected. It was odd that two staff members were chilling right outside the sauna, smoking cigarettes, always watching us when we went to the lake after the sauna. We didn't have any languages in common so communication with them was not possible. They never delivered the towels we were promised, and the shower wasn't stocked with toiletries either contrary to what they sold us. When we tried to get a tiny discount for the shortcomings (as a sort of incentive for them to fix the shortcomings in the future), the manager was apologetic but completely non-understanding why we would want a refund, and anyways without the relevant authority and autonomy to handle a refund.

Anyways, to have a private sauna and beach for 90 minutes for 15€ was a steal and we would do it again in a heartbeat. Happy and exhausted we went back home.

The plan was to head to sleep promptly, but I got too intrigued by the still lukewarm tilapia I was carrying around with me. My curiosity got the better of me and it was amazing! This deliciousness was the reason for me wolfing down half a Tilapia at midnight. Something I wouldn't usually do 😅Läs mer