I Guess It Was Bound to Happen Sooner or Later
Last night, following five years of travel through sixteen countries, it finally happened– I was robbed. Goodbye, digital camera. I’ll miss you.It was the perfect scenario (for that bastard robber, I mean). It was dark, I was alone at a crowded bus station in Kigali, and my hands were full while my camera bag, strapped across my chest, dangled at my waist. I think someone grabbed it out of the bag while I was swept into the mob jostling outside the bus.When I sat down in my seat, I noticed that my camera bag was suspiciously flat. Damn it. Afterward, I announced my ill luck to the bus passengers in English, and then in broken French (which was a little hard, but now my vocabulary has expanded to include voleur, or “thief”). People were furious that someone had stolen the camera (and that there was possibly a thief in their midst), but had little specific sympathy for me. White people can buy more cameras, of course.There is a silver lining to this mess, though. Yesterday morning, I was showing photos from my travels to a woman who runs the guesthouse where I’m staying. In the process, I switched photo cards. The photo card that has my most recent photos on it, beautiful pictures from my Lake Turkana safari that haven’t been transferred to DVD yet, was the card I had taken out of my camera and left in my room. So, while I lost the camera, my photos were saved. My sincerest thanks to the gods for that one.
Tags: Kigali, Robbery, RTW 07/08, Rwanda
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Taea,
I’ve been catching up on your blog and it is so wonderful (and is making me SO envious of your journeys). I am sorry to hear that your camera was stolen, I know how much thought you put into finding the right one, and I would be heartbroken if that happened to me. Let me know if there’s anything I can do to facilitate getting you something to use for the rest of your journey.
It was lovely to read about your experience at the Kigali office. It brought back so many nice memories of the brief time that I was there.
I’m looking forward to reading about your ongoing adventures!
THAT SUCKS !!! the whole scenario – I am glad it was only your camera – and I am glad you empty your card – love and love and love me