Our latest guest post by Bernard Pollack and Danielle Nierenberg – two travel bloggers on a mission to visit almost every country in Africa. Keep track of their progress over at Border Jumpers.
Kigali, Rwanda is not the easiest place to get to. But it is a place everyone should consider visiting.
We travelled with the Starways Bus Company, setting off from Kampala, Uganda at 1.30am and travelling through the night to Kigali. Of course you could fly (Air Uganda or Rwanda Airways), but you’d be missing the lush green landscape and the unforgettable terrain that winds along beautiful hills and valleys. You can buy a VISA directly at the border crossing.
The number-one reason to visit is to spend an entire day at the genocide memorial museum. Just fifteen years ago more than one million men, women, and children were senselessly murdered, not by strangers, but by their own government, their own neighbours, and in some cases their own family members. It was one of the bloodiest civil wars in recent history. If you were a Tutsi (an ethnic tribe, now about 15 per cent of the population), you were marked for death, with very few places to hide.
We couldn’t help but wonder as we walked the streets of Kigali that anyone over 30 years old was likely either a culprit or victim. And today Hutus still occupy Tutsi homes. Many possessions were never returned, and mass-graves continue to grow as bodies are discovered. The visit is chilling – and after spending hours in Hebrew school as a child, I (Bernard) couldn’t help but wonder how the world stood by while this happened again (and several more times since).
While we were in the countryside outside Kigali, we did site visits to meet with farmers as part of a trip to Heifer International. We were inspired when we met with farmers who were lifting themselves out of poverty (as well as lifting their communities) using help provided to them by Heifer – in this case a gift of small-scale livestock. The farmers not only have the ability to provide milk for their families, but they have enough left over to sell to market. We were amazed at how some of them also became teachers in their own communities, helping their neighbours learn new skills and techniques, and working with them to implement them.
Before your very eyes you can see that Rwanda is starting to boom with construction and infrastructure projects everywhere. But be advised if you are relying on Lonely Planet, prices are a little misleading. Expect to pay at least 50 per cent across the board more than the prices they list. Also, for those without knowledge of French, a phrasebook will help you as few people are able to casually converse with you in English. The other downside is that Kigali has few budget hotels. Hotel Okapi is one overpriced option (£45 per night), but it has a terrific restaurant in the lobby which caters to both Asian and Indian cuisine.
For those that have a bit of extra cash, you might want to go Gorilla trekking at the Parc National des Volcan. Finally, if you’re looking to add another country on to the adventure, then you can easily catch a bus south to Bujumbura, Burundi (another place few tourists dare to visit, but which is also relatively safe).
This guest post was contributed by Bernard Pollack and Danielle Nierenberg of Border Jumpers. The views expressed are the authors’ own and do not necessarily reflect those of Cheapflights Ltd.
