The weather here is good for the soul!

Our grounds person who comes from a rural area seemed to sense as I (also from a farm) did toward the end of May that the rains were subsiding.  He planted “cucombre” (cucumber) seeds in a little garden plot that he dug up and propped up with bricks on the incline at the side of our house.  So far, in addition to the cucumbers, I think we have tomatoes and a local variety of spinach growing there.  He built a shelter of branches to protect the seeds from any lingering pounding rains.

Yesterday, I sat facing west on our verandah in the early afternoon and realized that the bright sun was over my right shoulder.  It was heading west but in the northern hemisphere.  Because of all the rain and cloud during the “long rains” from February to June, and also because we’ve been very busy since arriving here, I never noticed this before.  At about six a.m., the sun starts its steep climb at about a 45 degree angle and then descends just as quickly to set by six-thirty p.m. 

In East Africa we are greatly affected by [great changes in air pressure over Asia that the winds reverse their direction] as air flows from eastern Africa into Asia during the northern hemisphere's summer.  In the northern hemisphere, winter air flows from high pressure areas to low pressure areas.  In Asia and eastern Africa this movement is called the Monsoon. (Minns, 26)

In Kigali (pronounced Kigari because there’s no “l” sound in the Kinyarwanda language making my name "Rinda"...just kidding), we live in a savannah or tropical continental climate fewer than two degrees south of the equator.   The pressure of the atmosphere on the earth’s surface is very light.  The greatest and most consistent heat from the sun is received here.  The hot surface rises and splits up in the upper atmosphere and moves either north or south.  It gets deflected slightly to the east by the earth’s rotation.  As this air moves out to the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, it becomes denser as it cools.  Therefore, there is a continual arrival of air from the equatorial regions and an ever increasing centrifugal forced which, because the air is rotating round the earth’s axis faster than the earth itself, tends to restrict a further movement to the poles.  Consequently, much of the air above the tropical and sub-tropical areas of the earth descends to the earth’s surface.  (24-25)

In our winter (May – Sept), as the earth tilts away from the sun and the sun appears to move north to settle over the Tropic of Cancer, the land in the northern tropical areas becomes very hot and heats the air.  This heated air rises and a vast low pressure area results.  The pressure is so low that air from south of the Equator is attracted to this low pressure area.  This air has travelled over the Indian Ocean and has high moisture content.  When it reaches the hot land, it is forced to rise and rain falls for two reasons.

1.       Convectional rain because of heated air rising and then cooling.
2.              Relief rain when mountain barriers force it to rise.

With the approach of summer when the sun moves south to settle over the Tropic of Capricorn, the area of lowest pressure moves south as well...and wet winds from the Indian Ocean...are pulled into the interior to bring summer rainfall (Nov – March).  (34-35)  (This represents the longest, heaviest rains for Rwanda.)

Honestly, since arriving here in mid-March, I thought sometimes that I was living under Niagara Falls due to the ‘roar’ of the rain ‘down in Africa’ and also the seemingly solid walls of rain which on occasion lasted for more than an hour at a time! It would wake us up at night.  On March 18, we also had wind from the north which forced the rain in through our less than well-maintained McMansion windows.  (The black, tar-like caulking was missing in some places especially where the water spilled over from the upstairs balcony into the living room.  No matter, we just swept the water out of the house over the porcelain tiled floor with a broom with a rubber edge since there was no door sill...that’s got to be where the salamanders come in.)  Thankfully, we had sound roofing but you can imagine the roar of the rain beating on the ceramic or, as with our current home, newer aluminum roofing tiles!

On my tourist map of Rwanda, the climate is described as “temperate” with temperatures of 25-30 degrees C during the day; 15 degrees at night throughout the year.  There are two rainy seasons – the “long rains between February to June and the “short rains” between mid-September to mid-December.  Dry months are January, July, and August to mid-September.  The lowest point of elevation is 3,000 feet above sea level at the Rusizi River in the north and west which drains into the Congo basin.  (The other 80 percent of water drains north into the Nile basin) and the highest point is almost 15,000 feet in the volcanic north-west area of Virunga where the 'misty-mountain' black gorillas live.  The relatively high elevation of Rwanda provides a cooling effect on this tropical zone.  “Mountains dominate central and western Rwanda.  These mountains are part of the Albertine Rift Mountains that flank the Albertine branch of the East African Rift; this branch runs from north to south along Rwanda's western border.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rwanda)

In conclusion, having been here during the worst of the rainy season, I think that the best time to be in Rwanda for a six-month stay would be August through January.  Certainly, the arthritis in my knees has been less noticeable.  My husband said, “…and look at your complexion!” and my son claims that I’ve lost weight because of the high fibre diet of fresh food.  What more can I ask?

Reference:

Minns, W.J.,   A Geography of Africa.  Macmillan.  1984. Malaysia.