Elizabeth's 10th Birthday at the Villa Gorilla!

It's hard to imagine that our oldest grandchild is turning 10 this year, but she is!   The cool part of it is that she is here in Rwanda

and we will be going some place special to celebrate her big day! 

Innocent and Elizabeth packing the car for our next trip.

On the way to the surprise! 

So we drove about 1 1/2 hours north… to where the Gorilla hikes start from and turned into this place… The Villa Gorilla!

This is the living room!   We have the entire place to our selves so it will be our home away from home!

 The dining room!

The Backyard…..being mowed for the party coming up!!!
See the base of the mountain behind this little yard?  That is really a volcano but not visible at the moment. 

So, Elizabeth and I check out all the rooms.  

Each bed had beautiful flowers strewn at the foot of the bed. 

This is the man who greeted us and the owner of Villa Gorilla. Gilbert and one of his previous guests,  John Hanna!!!!!!!!

A sample of some of the HUGE flowers!

Grampa and the girls!

Out front!

Those nostrils were just a little tooooo inviting! 

We were gathering onlookers~  who let us take their pictures, too! 

The whole family plus 1!!!  well, 2… i just noticed the baby!

Gilbert wanted one with the family!

Then we took off for a short walk down to a small gift shop.
Mamas and babies!

Across the street was this other place to stay…. but the trees
are what caught my eye.  Tall eucalyptus!!!

From the road we caught our first glimpse of one of the volcanoes.

Curious children are everywhere in the world. 

 Working men are also everywhere in the world.. working anywhere!  See the "heater" next to Bruce… an indoor chimenea!
It is coal heated and produced no smoke… just a lot of warmth.

Then it was time for lunch. 

OK  one of us preferred hair to munch on before nap time!!

Serious shots while waiting for lunch!

Lunch was very good and we knew quickly that Gilbert
had found a great chef!

Closer to evening we were invited out to the back yard and this dance crew of drummers, singers and dancers met us!

Some of the other village kids wanted to join in but the owner tried to make them leave.  Not sure why.. they weren't bothering us at all!   Oh.. the 2nd volcano makes its presence known.

The traditional dancing and drummingstated and we were in for a great time. 

At first the kids didn't know how to respond…

The boys brought it on first.  

Very Good!  

The bells on their ankles made the rhythms come to life even stronger.

Elizabeth is beginning to get into celebrating her big day!

Then the girls joined in.  All of these kids come from the village around the Villa Gorilla.  They are trained in the traditional dances and love to perform and show folks their native Rwandan dance moves.

Still enthralled!!  I don't think Elizabeth unclasped her hands
until we started dancing. 

No, the baskets are not attached… .they balance these as they dance. The group in the background sings and drums to provide the music for the dancers.

I think she likes it..  Something new and completely
different for your birthday party!

We are getting a great show!

Ok… they've asked us to get up and join them….

Katherine still not quite taking to this dancing idea. 

But soon, Baby Cakes, enters the action and makes up her own dance moves!

Colin gettin' on down!  Elizabeth's hair… gettin' on up!!

 Birthday girl with her dance partner.  

Round and Round and Round we go.

If you feel the fun in this picture and hear the drums and the singers singing, then
you can imagine how much joy was happening. 

Come on and dance with me!!

 Baby Cakes, Katherine dancing, clapping, spinning, doing somersaults --the whole works..  She loved it!
Once she got going she was hard to stop.

Everyone in the action… I was, too but just stopped to take some fun pictures!  Bruce is drumming!!

Brian kicking up his heels.  He has the hang of it now.

Elizabeth loving all the dancing and twirling!

They guys getting the last dance!

Right at the end of the dancing.. the rain is moving in but the Volcanoes continue to show up… Can't quite get the 3rd one though! 

And then some presents:
A Beach Towel???  "I needed one of these!"
 And she did because right as she opened it
the rain began….so we moved inside. 
Didn't look like we could have the outside fire tonight. 
IT  POURED!

Some new clothes from Africa….

and Dollar General!  ha!

Heather reading her funny birthday card..  

And getting it…. hahahah… Brian and her share the same
birthday in another week.. so we gave her her card.

Then we headed to dinner..  Right!  that is not me having
a beer but the kids wanting a picture of the kinds of beer
in Rwanda. 

Dinner was a delicious BBQ but since it was raining
they just brought the entire grill into the dining room.
We had rented the whole place so they just brought dinner in.

Great Food! 

Beautiful Flowers! 

And THEN… the birthday singers and line dancers arrived. They
brought the cake, the #10 birthday sign, and the cake had
a huge candle in its center.  E. was surprised!!

But it got even better1

 They lit the candle and it was a giant sparkler!! 

 This 10th birthday in Africa was turning out to be a bang up event!

Who knew?

Yes… it KEPT burning!   

Time to cut the cake!
And THAT was Elizabeth's birthday in Africa!! 

The next morning..
Baby Cakes checkin' things outside.

She found the table set for breakfast and the fire going!

And just the bases of the volcanoes are peeking out !

 What fun to eat out in the morning!

Two of the chow hounds taking breakfast
very seriously! 

And thus--- the conclusion of our stay at Villa Gorilla.
Breakfast was good too and the fire kept us toasty.
It is always a lot cooler here in the North of Rwanda.

So we definately enjoyed the warmth of the fire. 

After long goodbyes with Gilbert and his staff
we bid farewell..  
A great 10th birthday for Elizabeth in Rwanda!

I hope someday she writes about this memory. 

love, 
margie/ gramma