Blogs from Kigali, Ville de Kigali, Rwanda, Africa

Geo: -1.95325, 30.0587We had an interesting flight out of the Nairobi Airport on Rwandair. Since the fire at the Nairobi Airport, the departure terminals have all been moved around. So, it took us a while to find out from what terminal we needed to check our bags. But, everything worked out fine. We arrived at the Kigali Airport in Rwanda, and were greeted by our Natural Habitat representative. We did a quick drive through the city, including a pass by Hotel Rwanda. Then, we visited the Genocide Memorial/Museum. It was very moving and thought provoking. It is very hard to believe that something like that can happen in 1994. We found it interesting that today Rwandans do not even discuss Tutsi and Hutus "classifications" anymore, nor the classification of their ancestors.From there, we made the 3-hour ... read more

Hello! So this is going to be quick, I apologize that it's not going to be my best writing. It's been an exhausting few days traveling. I was supposed to get to Kigali at 1:30 am but didn't get in until 4, and then my baggage never arrived so I had to make a claim. I was met by Emma, an employee of Big Beyond, and was brought back to a hotel in Rwanda. I had to pay $50 for a room to sleep in for 3 hours, and now I'm waiting for them to come get me again. I got maybe an hour of sleep in that 3 hour span. There were so many birdschirping and dogs barking and other unknown animals making their noises. There was also a guy playing a folk guitar or ... read more

The first association most "westerners" make upon hearing the word "Rwanda" is the 1994 genocide, and the collective guilt of the whole world for not stopping it. Many nations sent troops to evacuate their own citizens. These troop numbers would have been sufficient to stop the slaughter - had they been given that mandate. Or, if the UN higher ups had not stopped the UN Peace Keeping commander on the ground, who having learnt about a large weapons cache intended for use in the upcoming planned massacre, requested authorization for him to go and confiscate those weapons... or if the Belgium government had refused to be pawns in the game when they pulled their paratroopers out of the UN forces after 10 of them were killed at the start of the slaughter ... or ... the ... read more

Today is my final day in Rwanda, so what have I learnt about the place? Travel-wise, the North - Musanze and the Parc National des Volcans are well geraed towards the independent traveller, it is easy to get to by bus and easy to get around, although it is expensive by African standards, Kigali is alos an easy place to get around although it can be confusing as it lacks street signs and the roads wind back and forth around the hills. There is a big push on to improve the roading and singposting in Kigali. The south of the country is much harder to travel independently although with time and patience it can be done, expect to pay the same price (5200 Rwf) for a bus from Gisakura to Butare as you would from Gisakura ... read more

This time it was only a 4.5 hour bum-numbing journey back to Kigali with the driver making good time on the newly paved road through the forest. The road is being ealed courtesy of the Chinese Government and there are a number of Chinese Engineers overseeing the work. Can't believe how hot it is in Kigali now. I booked my ticket to Musanze as soon as I got in. I had a coice of a 5.30am bus of midday, which was a little puzzling given how often buses usually run until the lady at the bus station explained that tomorrow is Umuganda. In Rwanda, there is a mandatory community service day from 8:00am to 11:00am, on the last Saturday of each month called Umuganda meaning community service. The day is called umunsi w’umuganda, meaning “contribution made ... read more