Kigali City

Saturday- Drive to Kigali

We do not need to leave Musanze until 10am. It’s a sleep in day but I am now so wired to get up at 5am that sleeping is useless so I take the time to update the blog.

Today we are driving through the mountains to Kigali, the capital of Rwanda. The day is sunny.

When we get to the van, we find that Bosco and Vincent had our hiking boots cleaned. They are spotless.

Once again we are mesmerized by watching people and daily life as we drive along the road.

We stop at a local transit hub busy with people and buses coming and going. It is filled with food vendors and a few other shops. It is definitely not a tourist spot. We use the washrooms which are packed with people and the stalls are very small. The toilets are basic but super clean. The washroom attendants run in and quickly clean each stall after every use.

I try a BBQ meat skewer and BBQ corn on the cob. The skewer is good, the corn not so much. The corn is almost white with huge kernels that are hard and dry. I find a garbage can and subtly toss it out. We buy bags of freshly popped popcorn before returning to the van.

Driving along the winding mountain road is slow. At one point we have a slow moving tandem transport truck in front of us. We were behind it for a good 45 minutes…people on bikes are passing us. One guy on a bike is holding onto the back of the transport truck to hitch a lift.

The countryside we pass is beautiful.Finally we see the taller buildings of Kigali in the distance.

The traffic is very heavy when we enter the city. Although buildings are simple and modest, the streets are beyond clean. No matter how hard we try we cannot find a piece of garbage anywhere.  According to 2024 statistics, 1,745,555 people live in Kigali City. 

We pass a KFC, which is the first and only fast food chain store that we’ve seen on this trip.

We check into Ally Ngali  Hotel. There are many features in our room which we haven’t seen since coming to Africa including a hair dryer, bright lighting and a great shower.

We head up to the restaurant for a late lunch. We have a perfect view of the airport runway. John is delighted. We order light snacks since dinner is not far away.

I enjoy some chic lit while waiting. An hour and a half we are still waiting for or food. Bosco keeps running back and forth to hurry them along. I am just about to head down for a rest when it finally arrives.

In the evening the electricity goes off a number of times in our room but always comes back on within five minutes.

Sunday- Last Day in Rwanda

Kimironko Market

Although we are not leaving the hotel until 10am, I am up at 5am. We have breakfast and watch the planes take off.

All packed up for our flights, we head into the busy traffic of Rwanda’s biggest city. There are so many motorcycles, cars in and some busses.

Our first stop is Kimironko Market. This is a huge local market.

John and I are spotted even before the van is parked and we are surrounded by men wanting to guide us or sell us something.  Bosco stays with the van and Vincent comes with us. Vincent picks a man in a yellow vest to guide us through the market. We are followed by a huge entourage all saying “Come to my shop. Come to my shop”.

At one point I say “Guys, this is getting overwhelming”.

Security is there in a flash, calming down the most enthusiastic.

Inside the market it is very dim because there is no electrical lighting because with so many people it has the potential to cause fire.

We see different areas including coffee, produce, meat, fish, household supplies and souvenirs. There are a lot of sewing machines in front of stalls. Custom clothing can be made in an hour.

I buy a soccer shirt and shorts for Cameron with eight people crowded around  helping with the purchase or trying to get me to buy from them.

People follow us to the van still trying to sell their wares shouting “Support me, support me”. This is the only place on the trip where, as obvious tourists, we have felt like blood in the water for the sharks. 

Genocide Memorial

is a relief to get back to the van and head back into the traffic. Besides the urban sprawl, there is a lot of green space in the city.

Our next stop is the Kigali Genocide Memorial.

This memorial is the final resting place for over 250,000 victims of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi. Over a period of 100 days one million people were killed and another million suffered injury, torture and rape.

It is hard to believe that something like this could happen. Systematic killings of Tutsi people by Hutu people. There was a build-up for years before things exploded in April 1994. Media and propaganda. perpetuating hate. Neighbours killed neighbours, families killed family members and and friends killed friends.

So many stories. A Tutsi woman running to her friend and neighbours house for help only to have him hack her to death with a machete then have his son go to where their children were playing and separate her children from his, bring them to him to be hacked to death with a machete.  So many stories. The cruelty of hatred.

The world saw the signs but ignored them. There was the Holocaust, Cambodia (Killing Fields), Namibia, the Balkans. Will people learn and see the signs?

The monument and museum are very moving. Every Rwandan family has ties to this tragedy. While here, we see dozens and dozens of people dressed in their best clothes bringing floral memorials to this place. So much sorrow, loss and shame but there is also reconciliation and healing.

It’s a sobering way to end our trip to Africa but I am not sorry we went to this monument.

Heading Home

We head back to our hotel for lunch before heading to the airport to start our long journey home.