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Published: December 19th 2008
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Janis and I met in KLA. We spent the night there before trying to find the Jaguar bus service to Kigali the next morning. Hoping to catch the 8 am departure we set out early, but were dismayed to see the bus pulling out of the parking lot early as we arrived. This turned out to be good thing when I started feeling incredibly nauseous from taking my Malaria pills on an empty stomach. Janis walked around looking for food as I sat on the side of the road trying not to dry heave. After getting some biscuits in my stomach I started feeling much better and we headed back to the bus park. Aboard the bus we were thrilled to find that the seats actually had seatbelts. SEATBELTS! The ride to Kigali was uneventful and somewhat comfortable compared to my other experiences on East African buses. Pulling into the capital I was immediately surprised by how hilly Kigali was. It’s no San Francisco as far as hillside architecture goes, but still very impressive. We were also surprised by how clean and organized the city was. Driving from Uganda into Rwanda feels almost like driving from an African country into something
you might find in Europe. There has been an obvious infusion of big money into the country. I can’t help but think that most of it is guilt-money in the form of aid given by the international community to appease their conscience for failing to intervene in the ’94 genocide. We made it to our friends house who was letting us crash on extra beds for the two days we thought we would be in the Kigali. That night we went out to a restaurant called the New Cactus. The food was delicious but much more expensive then what I had gotten used to in Kampala. Regardless, I enjoyed my pasta and pesto immensely. The following day Janis and I went to the Kigali Genocide Memorial. While obviously not as expansive as the Holocaust museum in D.C., the museum inside the memorial is both well done and still impressive. On the first floor you find the exhibit on the Rwandan genocide and then on the second floor is another exhibit on different cases of genocide around the world. Outside, we spent some time walking around the memorial garden while I snapped some pictures for my father who is a landscape
architect who has specialized in forgiveness gardens. We spent the rest of the day exploring the city and buying souvenirs for our family and friends back home. That night our host convinced us to extend our stay by a day so we could drive south to explore some of the countryside. The next morning we set out for Butare in Luca’s borrowed car. The drive there was breathtaking as much of the country is filled with lush green rolling hills that have all been cultivated. Everywhere you look, in Rwanda, you find people. It’s pretty clear the small country’s large population is running out of space with houses and people tucked into every corner that we saw. In Butare we grabbed a room in a cheaper hotel and found some Chinese food (which was quite a treat). The next morning we drove to Murambi to see the genocide memorial at a local technical college. The experience was profoundly moving. (Please see following blog for a more detailed account of Murambi) Then we stopped by the National Museum of Rwanda quickly on our way back to Butare. Back in Kigali we continued our whirlwind tour of the country by catching a
Mount Nyiragongo
The volcano that erupted in 2002 covering Goma in lava in what is own as the modern day Pompai bus up to Gisenyi. Unfortunately, a rainstorm had set in and we missed most of the famous views along the route. That night we stayed at a hostel in town and awoke to amazing views of Lake Kivu. We set out to explore the town, walking down to, and then along the waterfront. Here we found a lovely street with magnificent trees. The lakefront seemed to be divided between up-market resorts and upscale homes from the colonial era. Altogether, I found Gisenyi incredibly picturesque. We stopped by one particular hotel (whos name escapes me now) for tea. We were both trying to make our Rwandan francs stretch as far as possible so it was just tea for Janis. *NOTE TRAVELERS* Rwanda ATMs are not on the international system so you have to bring enough money with you (plus a little extra) to last the trip. After, I went to the border to see if I could sneak into Goma which was currently under rebel occupation, and Janis continued to explore town. Rebuffed at my attempts at bribery by the Congolese border agent I headed back to town to find a ride to Kisoro on the other side of the Ugandan
Rwandan Border Station
I was able to get much further at the border crossing border. I made it out of the country with 50 Rwandan Francs left over, or in other words, about nine cents US.
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