Nature's Toilet Paper

We are now back in Kigali after an excellent adventure to Butare and Nyungwe. I enjoyed our 3 days teaching in Butare. The junior residents were so keen and the pace was much less chaotic that CHUK. The anesthesia machines were pretty sketchy though. The first day in the OR we had a total ventilator failure that resulted in having to bring 2 more anesthesia machines into the room; one for its functioning ventilator, and one for its vaporizer. It was pretty crowded!

Something worth describing is the “cafeteria” at the hospital in Butare. They used to have a little place called “Yuppy is Yummy” but that is gone. It has been replaced by a building with 5 pots sitting next to a stack of plates and forks. I just peeked quickly into the pots and that was frightening enough. Patty and I decided just to grab a couple bottles of water and eat our usual crackers and peanut butter (which we carry everywhere, just like our passports). Unfortunately, beverages at the hospital cafeteria were limited to Coke and 1L bottles of Primus, the local beer. Patty got 2L of Primus and I settled on a Coke (which actually turned out to be some homemade concoction that tasted like salty rust disguised in a coke bottle).

Nyungwe was beautiful! It was just like a tv rainforest with vines and mist. Emmy convinced a guide to take us on the canopy trail even though it was closed for the day. It was around 4pm and the sun was shining. The walk was amazing. It involves a short hike down to a suspended trail over the treetops. I’ll admit that it was a bit scary with the bridge swaying as we walked, but the view was well worth it.

Yesterday we hiked to see a waterfall. Emmy joined us and we had a blast. Again we lucked into sunshine. Our guide pointed out many different trees with leaves used for traditional medicines. Nyungwe forest has 3 types of “toilet paper”: urticarial TP, procoagulant TP, and soft TP. It is important to learn the difference.