Gisenyi Day 1 : Mining With Vestine

Last time we were in Gisenyi, we didn’t do the big plunge into the volcanic rock mines, but this time – we were down. The men and women that work in these mines are phenomenal. RA1 had always considered the summer jobs in her homeland (bailing hay on farms) as the hardest jobs on Earth. She was quickly corrected via 90 pound rocks being stacked on heads.

After touring all FOUR of Vestine’s mines (she had bought three more since the last time we had visited!) we went back to her original mine. As we watched the men slinging the hammers and breaking the rocks, we decided that now was the time – seize the day if you will. We headed down to the mine and asked the men if it would be okay if we gave the ol’ hammer a few swings. With a perplexed look, he looked to Clemence (our translator/Girl Friday) to make sure we weren’t losing each other in translation.

Since we were properly armed this time with cameras, enjoy the photographic evidence of our mining prowess.