America is Perfect?? Reflections on International Travel

Hello and welcome to 2025! My first blog of the new year.

In 2019, I wrote a blog about my trip to Kenya and received such great feedback from my dear readers that I thought I would chronicle another trip to Africa that I took over the recent holiday – this time, to Rwanda and Tanzania. My trusted travel companion remained the same on this African journey, my daughter Julia. In 2019, it was all about the elephants and safari and ... wow, did Kenya deliver! This time, our focus was also on animals, particularly gorillas and whale sharks! First, I'll share some highlights and then leave you with some perspective.  

The first part of our 12-day adventure was spent in Rwanda. We arrived in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, and ventured to the Akagera National Park on the eastern side of the country. We spent the days just before Christmas on game drives and a boat ride looking for hippos and some amazing birds.

We had a great couple of days exploring this amazing park and then ventured to the northwest side of the country – to Kinigi – where you'll find Volcanoes National Park. These “mountains” are actually dormant volcanoes that are shared between borders of Rwanda, Uganda and the Congo. It is the only place in the world where you can see the mountain gorillas in their natural habitat. Have you seen Gorillas in the Mist with Sigourney Weaver as Dian Fossey? That is where we were – right in the mountains where Dian Fossey lived and studied these amazing creatures.  

The day we ventured into the forest with our guides was the 39th anniversary of Fossey’s death. Her work has been instrumental in our understanding of gorillas and her foundation continues to impact the protection and survival of these mountain gorillas. They're an endangered species but, thanks to education and conservation, and the work of Fossey, their numbers are growing. During her studies, there were only about 250 mountain gorillas living. Now, their number is north of 1,200.

On Dec. 26, with porters, guides and trackers, we went off to hike into the mountains to find a gorilla family living in the wild. These gorillas are not marked or tagged in any way, and as they only nest for one night in the same spot, they need to be found each day! After several hours of hiking and waiting, we heard that the gorillas were spotted. So, our group of eight visitors and accompanying guides trekked into the park. Julia, our group and I came upon a family – the Umubano Family – led by Silverback Charles, lounging around! We saw ten members and were able to observe them for an hour. To look these amazing creatures in the eye – to see them and to be seen by them – was really magical. Don’t worry, the ferocious looking picture is just a yawn!

The second day, we ventured to see the Golden Monkeys, which can only be found in Rwanda. These guys were very active and fun to watch. The trek was not nearly as arduous as it was for the gorillas. 

After our adventures in Rwanda, we flew to Tanzania and from Dar es Salaam (a city on the coast), we took an eight-passenger propeller plane to Mafia Island. From there, we took a boat to Chole (pronounced CHO-lay) Island, where we stayed for four nights in a tree house! Chole Island – in the Indian Ocean – is home to about 1,200 people, all of whom live in a very remote village. The lodge is eco-friendly and is totally exposed – no air conditioning except the ocean breeze. The owners, a husband-and-wife team, are part of a coral restoration project to bring back coral to the area. They employ men and women from the village at their property. The location was, in a nutshell, remote and gorgeous.

The reason we selected Mafia Island is that it is one of the best places in the world to see whale sharks. If you're like me, you are totally unfamiliar with these creatures. It wasn't until early last year that I had heard of whale sharks, when Julia told me it was on her bucket list to swim with them. "Okay, sounds dangerous!" I thought. If you Google them, you'll see they are a slow-moving, filter-feeding carpet shark and hold many records for size in the animal kingdom. They run between 18- and 33-feet long! And their diets consist only of plankton and very small fish because they have no teeth. The only thing dangerous about them is if you happen to get clocked by their tail! We were really impressed with how respectful the diving company on Mafia Island was. We were able to get so close to the sharks without baiting them or invading their space. That's not always the case on excursions like this.

To sum it up, we did find the whale sharks, I did jump in the water with three-foot swells to get close to them ... and it was amazing. I was so terrified that I nearly chickened out. I'm not entirely comfortable swimming in the open ocean – not to mention with high waves – but I did it. You launch yourself off the boat and just hope for the best! I heard recently that being scared isn't always a bad thing. Being scared could mean that you're doing something brave. I embraced that sentiment on this trip and was proud that I followed through.

Here's a video shot by Julia on one of our underwater visits: 

All in all, this adventure required 12 different flights, layovers in Atlanta, Amsterdam, Dar es Salaam and Nairobi, multiple boat rides and several hours in the car through mountains and plains. We hiked up and down hills over 1,200 feet in elevation. Our car broke down on safari and our boat engine died in the sea! We rang in 2025 on a sandbar that was almost covered by the tide by the time our boat came to collect us, and we saw many creepy crawly creatures and bugs along the way! This was not a vacation ... this was an adventure!

While our trip was filled with amazing sights and people along the way, traveling to third-world countries is not always easy. I'm not referring to my accommodations or my food options, but witnessing the way of life for the people you see while you drive across the country or trek into the mountains. We often saw people walking along the streets with large jugs of water that they'd sourced from the local well – their only source of fresh water. We saw mothers and their small children spending their days in the fields of their family farm, performing hard labor so they could provide their family with food. Several times, small children would ask us for money when we stopped at local sights.

Against this backdrop, as I was hiking into the mountains with my porter (a Rwandan man named Peter), I should not have been surprised by his reaction to finding out I was from America: “The United States is perfect.” It caught me off guard. It had been a long time since I had heard that about our country ... if I ever have. I responded with a bit of a laugh and said, “Well, it is a great country, but it is not perfect.” To which he replied, “It’s perfect to me.”

I looked around the area where he lived and thought about his tough life, where he will most likely never travel beyond his town or have the conveniences of life we are so accustomed to. He grew up in poverty and will probably never leave it. Through his eyes, I can see how America would be perfect. 

While no country is perfect, this trip was a reminder that while the United States has several large issues and hundreds of small ones, and will never be “perfect,” for those of us born in the U.S., we are very lucky. Sometimes, it takes leaving to realize how good you have it.

On that note, I am excited that MCUL is going to embark on a Global Bridges Program with the World Credit Union Foundation this year! We will go beyond our borders to connect with a credit union or association to add support, learn and share. There is so much perspective to be gained by venturing out beyond our borders. I hope all of you are able to have an experience where you see our country through someone else’s eyes and all that it means.  

Thanks for reading about my adventure and perspectives. Now, let’s thrive in 2025!!!! 

 

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