Last stop in Rwanda

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Though Butare is only about 2 hours from Kigali, all the morning minibus departures seem to be at 6AM. Since the WLP was written, the town has been officially renamed to Huye (part of a nationwide renaming program for reasons I was unable to determine) - I buy my ticket from the counter labelled Butare but board a minibus signed Huye. I doze and listen to music as the tarmac road takes us through more green hills.

Butare is a small, clean town that is home to the national university. Within Rwanda, it had long had a reputation for tolerance, and during the genocide many people fled here in the hope that they would find shelter. Sadly, the killing density in this area turned out to be one of the highest in the country.

However I see little sign of this history in the town itself (though I gather there are shocking memorials nearby). It's as sunny as Kigali, but without the hills and traffic. My hotel is the most pleasant one I've stayed in, though it's a tad disappointing to find the hot showers described in the WLP are long gone - in fact, most of the time there's no water at all. The young daughter of one of the staff proudly shows off her English exercise book from school. She reads English much better than she can speak it (a bit like my French ...), but her teacher hasn't corrected some mistakes on the page devoted to parts of the body - apparently she has two "chicks" on either side of her nose. Like in Gisenyi, I need French to get by here.

I have breakfast in the hotel, the fruit component being the unlikely combination of papaya (I don't understand the appeal - to me, it tastes like damp bread) and passionfruit (visually amazing, and tasty to boot).

The Ibis Hotel offers a shaded terrace and decent food, with a side order of every white person in town. I sink a couple of Primuses there each evening, noting the general bemusement of the local clientele at the boisterous behaviour of a large table of American kids. However the best value food in town is definitely the bread with cold pizza topping available in the supermarkets.

The hotel reception woman describes the National Museum as being "very close" but it's a good twenty minute walk to get there. The entry fee has trebled since the WLP was written, and for your $6 you can't take photos inside. And if you want to take photos inside a reproduction tribal hut in the attached botanical gardens, you have to pay an extra $4. The exhibits include an interesting display of traditional haircuts, which sadly seem to have fallen out of favour these days, and one about the Kinyarwanda language, which I'm surprised to learn is tonal (though with only two tones).

Butare is to be my last stop in Rwanda and I'm somewhat confused as to the country's true nature. Taking the genocide out of the equation, I would not hesitate to say that Rwanda is one of the least friendly countries I've visited - getting a smile, a hello, or even just eye contact in any individual interaction has been like pulling teeth, whereas constant staring and shouts of "mzungu" in the street has been wearisome. When asking for directions, I've been sent the wrong way so often that it would be easy to conclude that people were having a laugh.

But the genocide is sufficiently recent, and affected directly pretty much everyone from today's teenagers up, that perhaps - understandably - being nice to foreigners isn't top priority in most people's minds. I can deal with that, however I won't be sorry to move on.

Dull but possibly useful info
i. I think Volcano is the only bus company running from Kigali and terminating in Butare/Huye and their daily service leaves at 6AM, costing RWF1,800 and taking about 2 hours 15 minutes.
ii. I stayed at the Hotel des Beaux-Arts, paying RWF6,000 for a single room with en suite. However there was often no water available at all, and there was certainly never any hot water - best to keep the bucket(s) topped up. The staff don't speak much English.
iii. The Ibis Hotel serves good food but it's a magnet for every foreigner in town, especially large groups of American teenagers.
iv. It costs RWF3,000 to get into the National Museum, and you can't take pictures inside.

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Photos

My accommodation
Hotel Beaux Arts

Road to nowhere
All the roads coming off the main road seemed to just head into the countryside

Balcony
Hotel Beaux Arts

Flower
Hotel Beaux Arts