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Published: December 16th 2007
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No Ivory For You!
We found a few of these throughout the city. So... HOW IS RWANDA??!!
That has been the most common question in our emails, and the answer is...AMAZING!!
When we mentioned to a man in South Africa that this was where we were headed next, he said "Oh, well don't forget to bring your flak jackets!" - but nothing could be further from the truth!
We knew enough to know that there wasn't a war going on, but still weren't too sure what to expect, and really, when we got off the plane, both of us were a little wierded out knowing what had happened here. We have both read Romeo Dallaire's "Shake Hands With The Devil", and had pretty vivid images of what it must have been like during the genocide. The reality however, is that the genocide happened 13 years ago ... and since then, Rwanda has come a long way!
When we landed in Kigali, we were unbelievably tired from a long and stupid flight from Cape Town. Our flight was delayed by several hours, and then we had a few stops along the way. By the time we deplaned in Rwanda and made it through customs and immigration, it was around 1am. We
hadn't booked a room in advance, our plan, as always was to just arrive and take a taxi into town and wander into a hostel or hotel from there. Not really a doable plan at 1am in a foreign country after a million hours of travel. Extremely tired and at a bit of a loss for what to do, we just exited the airport and sat down outside on the curb. And waited. And waited. For what, we don't really know, we just knew that we were stupidly tired and there weren't any taxi's and we didn't feel like dealing with the situation. It must have been quite the sight to see, as we were the only white people there. Someone came up to us and asked if we needed help. We sorta looked at each other, then at the man, and said "Yah, kinda, but not really." Ha ha! Oh, how our ability to adapt and not stress out has evolved! The man offered us a ride into town, and we said "Sure, but we don't have a hotel booked." He said he knew of a place and crammed us into the car with his family. We were grateful
Crazy Street Corners!
This picture doesn't really capture how crazy it was, but we tried! for the kindness and too tired to hear our mother's voices lecturing about getting into cars with strangers.
Rwanda seems to be such a lovely country!
The people here LOVE their president Paul Kagame - he has done many great things for this country! More children now than ever are going to school, there are many social programs to help those in need, and health care has been made affordable. The genocide is a huge part of their past - but it does not define Rwanda. We have noticed a huge "unity" thing here - the people really want to work together in peace and move forward with their lives and with their country. The streets are very clean, and Kigali boasts one of the safest cities in the world! Seriously, this has been THE safest country that we have travelled to since leaving Canada! We could walk down the street day or night, camera on our wrist, no worries! And the people ... they have such a wonderful spirit about them! So friendly!!!
We've
reeeallly tried to get some great people/culture shots, but that is still sort of a no-no here ... tourism is still in
it's infant stage and we have a difficult time blending in! Anytime we go
anywhere, we attract a crowd (who sometimes pull our hair or pinch our skin - maybe to see if we are real?)... so sneaking a photo op here or there (without having someone turn around and stare at us in horror) is a bit impossible. We have also learned a little Kinyarwandan (the local language) ... Umuzungu means "white man" and everywhere we go, we hear "Muzungu!! Muzungu!!" It is something like the effect of hearing "Hey, GRINGO!" everywhere in South America. We think it's funny.
On our first day here, we had to check out "Hotel Rwanda" - which is the Mille Collines hotel made famous by the movie in 2005. Interesting fact: the people here do not like Paul Rusesabegina - the story portrayed in the movie is not true and he is seen as a liar who got rich off the genocide. Slightly disconcerting!
Anyhow, we had lunch at the hotel (very pricey, apparently they too are getting rich from the movie). Also, we were really taken aback by the cost of things here! For a city that is just starting
its tourism industry, things were much more expensive than expected! The average price of a hotel for a night was $30-40 - not a big deal by Canadian standards, but we were surprised it wasn't cheaper. The cost to see a movie at the theatre is about $20 per person. A meal for the two of us was on average $10-15, providing we didn't want to eat french fries all day every day. But, super ironically, we could take a two hour bus ride to the north (where the gorillas hang out) for only $3 each. Talk about priorities!
All in all, we can both see
so much potential in this country and both think that it is the best kept secret in Africa! Without a doubt, their tourism industry is going to explode in years to come!
Happy Travels,
T and K
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Ingina y'Igihanga
non-member comment
Muraho!!
Trevor and Kristena, The above title means "Greetings!" in Kinyarwanda, the local Rwandan language. "Umuzungu" means 'white person' and is not at all derogative, as many visiting people who are not black seem to think. It is usually used by curious kids who must give you a name when they want to greet you. Meals and accommodation are not necessarily expensive, except of course in the expensive hotels. Outside the high-cost circuit, there are many locals ready to guide you to places that can answer to your pocket desires. Rusesabagina is a Hollywood creation, a crafty fellow who exploited his position for financial gain during the genocide, and went ahead to seek out filmmakers to sell a fabricated story for more financial loot. It is now emerging that he is in cahoots with the genocidaires. Otherwise, come again! The security and cleanliness you witnessed are set to endure, and indeed Rwanda is sure to be among the world's top tourist destinations. Ingina