Kigali Memorial Centre

Lying some 3kms from the city centre and built upon mass graves from the 1994 genocide in the small suburb of Kisozi is the Kigali Memorial Centre. Some 250,000 bodies lie within the grounds.

It can’t be too easy to attempt to recreate the horrors of the genocide but the centre succeeds in doing just that. Set up with the assistance of the Aegis Trust, i spend a harrowing afternoon engrossed in all the exhibits on display.

The ground floor looks solely at the events in Rwanda through pre-colonialism, colonisation by the Germans and Belgiums, the events leading up to the genocide and the aftermath and subsequent trials of its perpe trators. The cold and calculating manipulation and dehumanisation of people never fails to shock. The assorted weaponry from guns and machetes through to simple clubs with nails and spikes, and not least the brutal rape and torture prior to death is starkly shown to the point of suffocation to the visitor.

the main perpetrators of the genocide were the Interahamwe militia, many of them just teenagers - trained and funded by the French government

If this was not enough the exhibition continues upstairs, where they endeavour to to compare and contextualize genocide with exhibitions ranging from the German extermination of the Herero in Namibia in 1904 and the subsequent European holocaust, but also Pol Pot’s regime of terror in Cambodia and the Turks in Armenia. Further sections exhibit bones, skulls and clothes from Tutsi victims, as well as thousand of photographs of the deceased. A montage of videos of survivors are shown who are clearly trying (and failing) to comprehend and make sense of the ordeal they have borne witness to.

skulls of just a few of the 800,000 to 1,000,000 victims in three months of madness

Finally for good measure the exhibition looks at a handful of photographs of the many thousands of young children who were systematically slaughtered in the 1994 atrocities. After two hours of such an onslaught i come out of the centre for a much needed cigarette, deeply emotional and upset from the degradation i have just witnessed. I am totally ashamed to be part of a species that can inflict such horror to each other.

in memorium

As Cambridge Liz wisely once said to me “the more i know humans, the more i appreciate animals”.

This Memorial Centre is a must visit not just to travellists in Rwanda, but to the Rwandans themselves. Lest we forget!

Admission costs RFr 5,000 for overseas students and a taxi motor costs RFr700 to/from the city centre.

Kigali

view across Kigali

With a population of over 600,000, Kigali sprawls over ridges, hills and valleys. It is quite an attractive city with some superb views over the intensely cultivated and terraced countryside beyond.

Although badly trashed in the 1994 civil war considerable effort have been made to reinvent the city and it’s quite modern, urbane and forward-thinking.

Banking has considerably improved in the city. The Banque de Kigali on Ave. du Commerce will give cash advancements on Visa cards for a reduced charge of 3.7% (it used to be somewhat higher), and opposite here is the Ecobank which has finally installed the first international visa ATM in the country. There are five other branches scattered around the country.

the modern Bank of Kigali

If, like myself, you wish to check out permits for the mountain gorillas independently of a tour-group, the Office Rwandais du Tourisme et des Parcs Nationaux, this can booked at their main office on Blvd de la Revolution. Open from 7am -5pm on weekdays and 8am – 2pm at the weekends, the staff are friendly if somewhat inefficient. They can also provide information on all the National Parks including Nyungwe, one of Africa’s largest montane rainforests dating back to the ice-age. These days they also accept local currency, but they still seem to prefer US dollars. But be warned – notes must be in pristine condition or will not be accepted.

I have been based at the Auberge La Caverne where i have a small but comfortable room with en suite, TV, hot water and breakfast for RFr12,000. They also have an Internet cafe. Unfortunately budget options are minimal in the city.

the original Hotel Rwanda - the Hotel des Mille Collines

Kigali’s restaurant scene is excellent, clearly benefitting from the French/Belgium influences.

La Galette is a German bakery just down the road from the main mosque. The brochette is awesome and they have a range of accompanying sauces. Good value and excellent quality.

Buffets are part of the course in Kigali restaurants and i am happy to recommend Chez Robert on Ave. de la Republique is a bit pricey at RFr7,000 but the range and quality is excellent.

Somewhat cheaper is the Tourist Inn. There buffet is RFr2,000 and predominantly vegetarian.

It's not just a French flavour here though. I also splurge on a quality Indian curry at Royal Garden restaurant where a chicken tikka masala, a kashmiri naan and two cokes set me back Rfr 10,000. They also offer Chinese delicacies. This place can be found on Rue de Ntaruka, next to the excellent Shokola coffee-house. (See below)

the urbane city centre

Rwanda has export quality coffee and some really good coffee-shops. Whilst the rather swanky Bourbon Coffee at the Union Trade Centre on Ave de la Republique, is a vey comfy cafe, it is a bit of an expat haunt. The coffee is only okay, but the chocolate/hazelnut ice-cream is the best i have had in Africa. They also have wi-fi. More local and with better quality coffee is Simba - it can be found next to the Simba supermarket on the roundabout heading up to the banks. However the best coffeehouse in my humble opinion has to be Shokola on Rue de Ntaruka. They also have an Internet hotspot for Net junkies. They also have a quality restaurant too.

The electricity supply seems a bit hit and miss, and it disappears for almost 24 hours during my stay. A few child beggars come and slip their hand into mine as i walk the streets, but seem happy enough just to have a chat in English.

Although the city is hilly and steep in parts, motor taxis (motorbike taxis) are readily available at very reasonable prices. Count on roughly RFr200/km, but cheaper on longer journeys.

I ask at the hotel if it is safe to openly carry my camera. They look at me incredulously. Apparently it is safe as proverbial houses.

I haven’t enjoyed being in many of Africa’s cities, but although Kigali doesn’t have too many sights and attractions for the passing travellist, it is a delightful city to hang out in.

Border Crossing - Tanzania to Rwanda

It is an early start for me as i make my way from Bukoba to the Rwandan Border.

I got the first daladala from the central bus stand to Karagwe (Tsh.3,500) which departed when full at 6.40am. It managed to squeeze in some 28 passengers on 18 seats reminding me of my Mozambique travels. The journey took 2 hours 20 minutes with only the first hour on sealed road.

Geting off at the Omurushaka terminal i take a big bus onto Benaco (Tsh.7,000) across unsealed roads and dramatic hills spying huge long-horned cattle and a variety of antelope.

Nonetheless the journey is desperately uncomfortable and my stomach does not feel good. After completing this leg in just under five and a half hours, it is already 4pm and i have no desire to cross the border and arrive well into the night in Kigali, so i pit-stop for the night in Benaco in the Silent Night Guesthouse. At Tsh.5,000 its as cheap as chips but you get what you pay for and it is a fairly squalid affair with outside bathrooms reminisent of some of the dodgy toilets found in Tibet. The village is a two street dusty place frequented by drunks.

I'm up early the next morning at 6.20 with no sign of a daladala so i enjoy a quality pillion ride to cover the final 20kms to Rusumo (Tsh.3,000) with a beautiful sunrise over the hills.

The border post opens at 7am and i am third in line, so i am cleared through really quickly with no departure required. Walking across the Rusumo Falls bridge i am stamped into Rwanda within 10 minutes. Totally painless!

There are money changers in "No Man's Land" but don't use them. There is a much better rate of exchange on the Rwandan side.

Express buses depart regularly for Kigali taking just over four hours. The bus driver is just a youngster and fairly incompetent, and we have three near-misses on the journey. The road is excellent and the scenery over Rwanda's "1000 hills" quite beautiful.