It's creeping towards midnight when a Turkish plane filled to the brim with Solberg & Hansen employees lands in Kigali, Rwanda, on May 20, 2015. Here we are met by Samuel Muhirwa, who will take us on a four-day adventure that we will remember for the next 40 years.
The following morning, we board a Toyota Hiace minibus that will take us to Remera, a washing station 15 miles south of Kigali in one of Southern Province's picturesque valleys. From here we've been buying Buf Remera coffee from Samuel and his mother, Ephiane Mukashyaka, since 2008. The bus filled with pale tourists arouses curiosity among all the people traveling along the highway. The lush vegetation spills into the terrain of green and rounded mountain peaks. On the way to Southern Province, we stop at the King's Palace, which takes us back to Rwanda's prehistoric kingdom. Perhaps most notable is the herd of Inyambo cattle, which boasts the most spectacular set of horns in the kingdom.
Spectacular surroundings
From the king's palace, the journey continues towards Sothern Province. After a few hours on the highway, we turn off onto a narrow dirt road with deep ruts and views of long and gentle mountainsides rolling down towards the valley floor to the right of the car. The winding mountain passage is not meant for minibuses with stiff springs, or any other vehicle for that matter, and several of the tour participants are skeptical about the terrain that tumbles down several hundred meters. But the driver knows his Toyota and handles the terrain with the utmost confidence. We are joined by a group of children who enthusiastically chase the car for several kilometers, barefoot and at an impressive pace. After a few bumpy miles, we see a large washing station at the bottom of a large valley surrounded by rounded mountain peaks.
"But the driver knows his Toyota and handles the terrain with the utmost confidence. We are joined by a group of children who enthusiastically chase the car for several kilometers, barefoot and at an impressive pace."
1000 miles from the distillery
To save the Toyota for the trip home, we climb the meters of altitude down to the washing station on foot. Here we meet several dozen people sorting coffee berries on African beds, the long and raised mesh tables that are common in African coffee countries. They are smiling and friendly, but naturally also amazed by the sight of 30 shorts-clad Norwegians, each with a camera around their necks. Sam shows us around the site and takes us through the painstaking sorting and processing process. The work and quality assurance here in Southern Province is crucial for the burning that will take place more than 1,000 miles away at Ryen in Oslo.
"The work and quality assurance here in Southern Province is absolutely crucial for the burning that will take place more than 1,000 miles away at Ryen in Oslo"
Transformed nation
When traveling through Rwanda, it is impossible to look past the 1994 genocide, which took more than 800,000 lives in 100 days. Here, Ephiane Mukashyaka lost her husband, and Samuell his father, over 21 years ago. Those terrible days were a culmination of a long-running conflict between the Hutu and Tutsi, two constructed peoples who had lived together as family, friends and neighbors for generations. From an almost hopeless situation, characterized by extreme poverty and distrust among the population, Rwanda has used the last 20 years to create unity and economic growth
"With President Paul Kagame at the helm, they have rallied around a common Rwandan identity and ensured that the extreme ethnic groups that caused the genocide have not flourished again"
Today, Rwanda is behind what is one of Africa's fastest growing economies, with coffee as one of its most important exports. At the same time, Ephiane Mukashyaka and her family have turned a hopeless situation into a success story that inspires coffee producers across the country. Today, through Buf Café, the family processes coffee for almost 300 farmers in the areas around their two washing stations, Remera and Nyarusiza.
Adventurous work
Back in the bus, the muzzle of the Toyota points in the direction of Nyungwe Forest Lodge, which is spectacularly located at the edge of the rainforest in Nyungwe Forest National Park. Here we will stay for the next three nights, among tea plants, wild monkeys and surrounded by Rwanda's unique green mountain peaks. Our trips to the coffee world's many producing countries are the most important job we do to offer a selection of the world's best coffee. These trips are usually reserved for our in-house buyers, who have the knowledge and expertise to find coffees that live up to our expectations and requirements. For the rest of us, the trip to Rwanda was a unique opportunity to meet the people, stories and environments behind the product we work with every day.
