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It was very hard to tell what our trip to Rwanda would be like while sitting in Kampala Uganda. It went even better than I expected. The airline we flew was great - RwandaAir - it was a beautiful 737-800 and it wasn't very full at all, and they served juice and macadamia nuts on the way to Kigali and then a full meal on the way to Joburg. Our couchsurfing host met us at the airport which was so nice. Driving in Kigali is very different to Kampala. In Kigali all the motorcycles have drivers w helmets and they carry a spare helmet for the passenger. The roads are very clean and orderly and there are no vendors along the roads. There is this sort of underlying vibe - if we all follow the laws then the genocide won't happen again. We went to a shopping mall after leaving stuff at the house. Bourbon Coffee is the foreigner hangout. The coffee is good. After changing money (getting francs) we went over to the genocide museum. We spent hours there, it was heartbreaking. It happened in April 1994, but really, there was a huge buildup to it. It was good to learn the history. There were short films made of survivors talking and it was very powerful. Throughout the whole country there are genocide memorials. Purple is the color to mark the genocide.
We went out for dinner later to a local place w grilled meat and then the next day we went to the bus station and caught a bus from Kigali to Gisenyi - to a place on the lake. The bus ride there was great - up and over windy mountain roads. I have never seen so much farming on steep hillsides. We also saw lots of bicycle taxis carrying people up and down the mountain. People carried huge amounts of stuff on their head, even kids were carrying a lot. Huge sacks of potatoes, firewood, giant baskets, water. also lots of babies on women's backs, along w large amounts of stuff being carried - and still walking uphill. Bus ride was cheap - 3000 fr for a 3.5hr ride.(1US$=600F). We had to take a motorcycle for the last 10 km - again lots of hills and twisty windy roads. Once we were at Palm Beach though, we were set, all our meals could be had there - we stayed 2 nights and just read books and had a bit of internet from Charles' phone.
We went out for dinner later to a local place w grilled meat and then the next day we went to the bus station and caught a bus from Kigali to Gisenyi - to a place on the lake. The bus ride there was great - up and over windy mountain roads. I have never seen so much farming on steep hillsides. We also saw lots of bicycle taxis carrying people up and down the mountain. People carried huge amounts of stuff on their head, even kids were carrying a lot. Huge sacks of potatoes, firewood, giant baskets, water. also lots of babies on women's backs, along w large amounts of stuff being carried - and still walking uphill. Bus ride was cheap - 3000 fr for a 3.5hr ride.(1US$=600F). We had to take a motorcycle for the last 10 km - again lots of hills and twisty windy roads. Once we were at Palm Beach though, we were set, all our meals could be had there - we stayed 2 nights and just read books and had a bit of internet from Charles' phone.
