On the way to Nyungwe

As I mentioned in the last post, we headed out this week-end to visit Nyungwe National Forest Park.  But on the way, we made a couple of stops, the first at the Rukali Palace Museum in Nyanza.  What a fantastic visit!  The Museum houses the original 1932 palace of the Mwami (or king) as well as a re-creation of his earlier traditional palace (see below).

While the 1932 place was mildly interesting, our tour of the traditional palace (aka hut) was utterly fascinating; mainly due to our guide - shown below with Marty. 

This, and the other huts in the museum, are all constructed from bamboo, various grasses, and other natural materials.  Everything is symbolic - from the entrance, the poles on the top (only the Mwami is allowed to have three), and the interior decorations.  For the Mwami's hut (as you can see above), there are two half circles in front of the entrance - one white and one red.  The Mwami sat on a stool behind the white circle while his mother (with whom he co-governed) sat on a matt (as only the Mwami could sit on a stool) behind the red circle. Below are a couple of interior shots I took - I wish it could illustrate the quality of the work - the weaving is wonderful.



The interiors were so cool and comfortable which surprised both of us.  We mentioned that to the guide and he said on hot days, people often don't want to leave and go back outside!  The floors are completely covered with several layers of matts, and the upright woven sections between the poles are all removable to allow more light or air as necessary.  The decorated sections lead to the Mwami's bed which was, I'd guess a double king.  Here it is below, covered with bark cloth which, as you probably guessed, is made from bark, but incredibly soft.

The other two huts in the Museum compound included one for keeping the Mwami's milk and the second for his beer.  The keeper of the milk was a girl, selected around the age of about 15 and she usually stayed in that position, unable to marry, until the Mwami died.  The beer keeper was a boy who would only hold the position for a few years.  As he was required to taste all the beer, after a few years he developed such a habit, that he was no longer trustworthy.  Below are the types of containers used for the three types of beer: banana, sorgum, and honey.  The long sticks are straws so people could drink out of and share beer from the gourds.   

And finally our tour concluded with a viewing of the ceremonial cows.  Back in the day, the herders would select 70 cows from across Rwanda, whittle that number down to 40 and begin breeding (four times) to achieve the perfect animal.  None of these animals were used for either milk or meat (according to the guide, when these cows died, they were buried!) but only for parades and other ceremonies. Anyway, Texas Longhorns watch out!

Next Up - The Forest!