I am now back in Uganda after an awesome weekend in Rwanda! We spent two days in Kigali, which is quite small and peaceful, especially for a country’s capital city, and two more days in a town called Gisenyi, on the coast of Lake Kivu near the border with the Congo. Overall, Rwanda is a beautiful country and arguably, the safest and most stable country in East Africa. This is even more impressive considering the tragedy of the genocide, which took place just fourteen years ago, and it’s pretty incredible how far the country has come since then. The Hotel Mille Collines, made famous by the movie Hotel Rwanda, is located right in the heart of the city and as we walked the streets of Kigali, it was difficult to imagine the atrocities that probably happened in those exact places not that long ago. The visit to the national memorial was somber, but necessary, and while it is clear that the Rwandan people have worked hard to get past the horrific results of ‘94, they are also determined to remember it in order to prevent anything of the like from every transpiring again.
Our time in Gisenyi was also quite memorable, as me and Chris met an awesome group of Rwandans on the beach the first afternoon we were there. Most of them spoke some English in addition to French, the official language in Rwanda. It was perfect because I was able to practice my French and vice versa for them. It was quite the memorable day, and I truly felt as if I was really able to understand, appreciate, and experience the Rwandan culture. It was pretty funny to see the Rwandans, as they came to recognize how similar we all really are, even though we look different and come from such different upbringings. In a sense, it was more of a cultural experience for them, than it was for us! After the beach, we had a candlelight dinner together (there was a power outage), and it was really awesome to see how much it meant to them. Several of them told me that it was the first time they’d ever eaten at the same table with a “Muzungu” (African for white man), and obviously, an Asian, as well. Another highlight of the trip was finding a restaurant offering a heaping plate of rice, beans, sweet potato, spaghetti, and chips (essentially, potato wedges) for 200 Rwandan Francs (equivalent to about 40 cents Canadian!) This was a particularly good find because me and Chris decided to set a budget of 10000 Francs ($20Cdn)for the day we left Kigali. This had to get us to Gisenyi, feed us three meals, and pay for lodging for the night. Breakfast and the bus set us back 4000, but lunch only cost 200 and we found dorms in the Presbyterian church guesthouse for 1200 a bed. So, we ended up having enough money leftover to pay for dinner for 14! We revised our budget to 5000 francs for the next day, which still proved to more than enough to get by comfortably. Overall, Rwanda proved to be quite the captivating country, full of new experiences, awesome people, cheap food, and a ton of great memories!
I am now back in Uganda after an awesome weekend in Rwanda! We spent two days in Kigali, which is quite small and peaceful, especially for a country’s capital city, and two more days in a town called Gisenyi, on the coast of Lake Kivu near the border with the Congo. Overall, Rwanda is a beautiful country and arguably, the safest and most stable country in East Africa. This is even more impressive considering the tragedy of the genocide, which took place just fourteen years ago, and it’s pretty incredible how far the country has come since then. The Hotel Mille Collines, made famous by the movie Hotel Rwanda, is located right in the heart of the city and as we walked the streets of Kigali, it was difficult to imagine the atrocities that probably happened in those exact places not that long ago. The visit to the national memorial was somber, but necessary, and while it is clear that the Rwandan people have worked hard to get past the horrific results of ‘94, they are also determined to remember it in order to prevent anything of the like from every transpiring again.
Our time in Gisenyi was also quite memorable, as me and Chris met an awesome group of Rwandans on the beach the first afternoon we were there. Most of them spoke some English in addition to French, the official language in Rwanda. It was perfect because I was able to practice my French and vice versa for them. It was quite the memorable day, and I truly felt as if I was really able to understand, appreciate, and experience the Rwandan culture. It was pretty funny to see the Rwandans, as they came to recognize how similar we all really are, even though we look different and come from such different upbringings. In a sense, it was more of a cultural experience for them, than it was for us! After the beach, we had a candlelight dinner together (there was a power outage), and it was really awesome to see how much it meant to them. Several of them told me that it was the first time they’d ever eaten at the same table with a “Muzungu” (African for white man), and obviously, an Asian, as well. Another highlight of the trip was finding a restaurant offering a heaping plate of rice, beans, sweet potato, spaghetti, and chips (essentially, potato wedges) for 200 Rwandan Francs (equivalent to about 40 cents Canadian!) This was a particularly good find because me and Chris decided to set a budget of 10000 Francs ($20Cdn)for the day we left Kigali. This had to get us to Gisenyi, feed us three meals, and pay for lodging for the night. Breakfast and the bus set us back 4000, but lunch only cost 200 and we found dorms in the Presbyterian church guesthouse for 1200 a bed. So, we ended up having enough money leftover to pay for dinner for 14! We revised our budget to 5000 francs for the next day, which still proved to more than enough to get by comfortably. Overall, Rwanda proved to be quite the captivating country, full of new experiences, awesome people, cheap food, and a ton of great memories!
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