{"id":43945,"date":"2021-07-19T12:19:32","date_gmt":"2021-07-19T12:19:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/close-to-my-heart-and-through-my-lens-a-letter-to-my-homeland\/"},"modified":"2026-02-18T13:34:41","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T11:34:41","slug":"close-to-my-heart-and-through-my-lens-a-letter-to-my-homeland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/close-to-my-heart-and-through-my-lens-a-letter-to-my-homeland\/","title":{"rendered":"Close to my heart and through my lens &#8211; A letter to my homeland"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Rwanda\u2019s scenery has always been a heady mix for me; one of rugged beauty, rich culture, attractive landscapes, impressive wildlife, and beautiful savannahs. <\/p>\n<p>The land doesn\u2019t demand your attention the way billboards do, or traffic lights, or people with their bright clothes and private thoughts. <\/p>\n<p>Whether it\u2019s staring into a clear night sky and imagining a curtain of black pierced by pinpricks of light from distant stars, or watching the animals stretch languorously, or trees towering majestically in their realm; I take these pictures, in the hopes of engraving every single movement, athletic prowess, or adventurous expedition that makes Rwanda so dear to my heart. <\/p>\n<p>{{1. Wait for me, Tarzan!}}<\/p>\n<p>A picture capturing an ape pooping mid-air. This image still sends me off in hysterics. A memorable moment that makes me miss the parks. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-38928 aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/32-img_5137.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\n<p>{{2. Share, Now!\u2026 Please?}}<\/p>\n<p>A picture I captured of two birds trying to share a meal. The orange glow around the two birds gives it a wonderful feel of late autumn. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-38929 aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/35-img_5135.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\n<p>{{3. Color me Red}}<\/p>\n<p>I took this picture on a super spontaneous trip to Kibuye. The soft rays cast from the late afternoon sun permeating the waters, bringing out all shades of red, green, and orange from within. As the sun sets, it gives off a mesmerizing, yet mysterious feel, to this shot.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-38931 aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/05-ry6b7068.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\n<p>{{4. Daydreaming in colors}}<\/p>\n<p>The luxurious pelt and distinctive wondrous expression of this golden snub-nosed monkey evoked past days of daydreaming.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-38937 aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/30-img_5128.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\n<p>{{5. Eat your greens}}<\/p>\n<p>The largest of all the great apes, six feet tall and weighing more than 400 pounds, achieves this impressive stature on a mostly vegetarian diet of roots, bamboo trees, and tree bark foraged in the thick forests of their habitat. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-38940 aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/1-igih4410-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\n<p>{{6. Straight out of a movie scene}}<\/p>\n<p>Tucked away at the summit of Mount Bisoke, this beautiful crater lake is always a spectacular sight for sore eyes. <\/p>\n<p>When I was perusing through my work, this dramatic capture brought out pure nostalgia. I would definitely hike again for hours, just to see this moment again.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-38930 aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/04-img_5016.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\n<p>{{7. Wild Majesty }}<\/p>\n<p>A majestic African Fish Eagle perched on a branch in Akagera National Park, with its plumage perfectly in place.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-38933 aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/11-img_5151_1_.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\n<p>{{Photo credits:}} {{Moses Niyonzima &#038; Darcy Igirubuntu }} <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Whether your next trip is a journey to a far-flung destination or an exploration of your own backyard, let these photographs inspire your future itineraries and remind you of the breathtaking scenes and moments that Rwanda has to offer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":2000038930,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[72,75],"byline":[3017],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-43945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tourism","tag-featured-news-home","tag-homenews","byline-moses-niyonzima-darcy-igirubuntu"],"bylines":[{"id":3017,"name":"Moses Niyonzima &amp; Darcy Igirubuntu","slug":"moses-niyonzima-darcy-igirubuntu","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":null}],"contributors":[{"id":3017,"name":"Moses Niyonzima &amp; Darcy Igirubuntu","slug":"moses-niyonzima-darcy-igirubuntu","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":null}],"featured_image":{"id":2000038930,"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/jpg\/04-img_5016.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":0,"height":0,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/jpg\/04-img_5016.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/jpg\/04-img_5016.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/jpg\/04-img_5016.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/jpg\/04-img_5016.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/jpg\/04-img_5016.jpg","width":0,"height":0}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43945","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/62"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43945"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43945\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2000102369,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43945\/revisions\/2000102369"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000038930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43945"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43945"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43945"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=43945"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=43945"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}