The King's Palace and the Rwandan Cows!

After seeing Claude at the hospital on Saturday,  Louise joined us and we went to the children's home.  She was going to visit her little boy, Lucky that she sponsors but all the kids know her!  They were all thrilled to see her.  I'll post more on that on another day... but Bruce and I played with the kids for awhile.. until they all went down for nap time and we headed another hour south.... To NYANZA.

This is the place of the last palace of Mwami (the king)...

This palace has been reconstructed on this site not far from where 

the actual palace had been. This is the KING'S HUT!  It is huge inside. The

white rim around the outside was to keep the rain outside of the entrance. 

All of the interior walls are woven mats with patterns. 

They were designed so that you can't see "into" them as you look in from the outside. 

But from the inside out...you can see right through them.
And it lets the light in. Very clever! 

 I think this is where the term "king-sized bed" comes from... This bed was

probably 14' wide by 18' long!  And the baskets around the edges were to hold 

clothes and personal items. The Queen slept here, too.. but entered through a 

different door than the king.... Wonder what that was about? 

 This is 1/2 of the center room inside.

The living room!  

 These are the milk bottles--all wooden except the gourd.

There were 3 huts on this property.
This is the interior of the smaller "Milk Hut".  

A virgin girl would receive the milk from the guy milking the cow at the 

front entrance but only women could enter this tent.  It was just a smaller

version of the King's hut...and sat right behind it.  

This is the place that i thought was funny.. This is the "Beer Hut" and guess who was the only person to enter this place?  A virgin boy.... who tasted all the beer to make sure it hadn't been poisoned before the King would drink it. Banana Beer was a specialty then and i guess it still is today.  Our guide said he was drunk all the time...no wonder...

And then behind the huts were the baby cows....the calves!  

Our guide told us the big cows were out for a walk..  We both laughed...

 HAHAHAHA!

Until we came onto this site and indeed... the cows were out for walk
with their cowhand!  Here's what I learned about these cattle. 

The Ankole-Watusi is a breed of cattle originally native to Africa. Its large, distinctive horns, can reach up to 8 feet (2.4 m) from tip to tip and are used for defense.

Ya gotta love this picture!!! I would love to know what this cow was thinking?

This is my favorite picture that our guide took... of "us and the COW"!  

 Ok.. so photography isn't his thing.  HAHAHA!  He missed the Ankole...
but at least he got one of his horns in the picture.
(Compare it to my arm and you can tell just how big these horns are.)

And can you tell how tall our guide was?  He was shooting down at us.  

 The cows were clam and tame, but if they had a fly on their back
and they swung their head around to get it off you'd better be ready!

                                     
                              He was!



Since i haven't seen bullriding since i left the States this was terrific. I miss the PBR!  No one rode these guys but it was sure great being up close and personal with them!   These were 2 younger ones... look how small their horns are. 

Do you think they have strong necks and shoulders or what?  The horns were even hot to the touch.  They are so beautiful and stately!  I'm bending down to take this picture about
4 feet in front of him. 

  

 Here are the cows right as we approached them.

 The cowhand began singing to the cows to keep them calm and it was great,  

but if you really look closely... i think they were singing, too! 

No i didn't doctor this picture.. this is just want they looked like! 

 

Bruce loved how tame these cows were, and i did too! 

The Ankole cows are the ones that the National Dance Honors!

Aren't they incredible? Still singing here, too!   I could have sat with them all day 

but we had to get back before dark.

   

                So.. away we go.. to see the King's New Palace built in 1932...
           This is in the yard of the Palace.

 Only one king lived in this palace.  It is basically a large
rectangular building with connecting rooms inside.  

This tree was in the backyard and the big house way off in
the distance was the Palace the king had built for himself.
But he didn't live long enough to live there.  I think this is an Edgar
Allen Poe tree.. with the ravens in it!

As we were seeing the garage of the palace this wedding
party showed up.. So, they were gracious and let me take their picture.

We walked back to the front of the palace and the cows
were still enjoying their lazy afternoon free time.

And here comes the whole wedding party.... on their way to be with the cows!

Looks like most were not too sure about getting close.  But what cool wedding
pictures they will have with the Ankole Watusi!

Great Backdrop for wedding pictures or any day pics!

Driving Home...
The little fields of something that looked like wheat...not sure.  

      

 Just Serenity! 

There is just something wonderful about being with animals and nature! 

This was a place and day of rest!!!

love,
margie

Happy Birthday, Elizabeth!!!