This holiday has been 18 months in the planning.
Yes, we’ve had a few holidays in the meantime, and yes, we’ve got distracted with a few other things… but lots and lots of planning and preparation over that time has led to a very high level of anticipation!
SYDNEY TO KIGALI = 31 May – 2nd June
Our flights were included, and thankfully we were booked on Qantas. While there is a direct flight from Sydney, we were booked to travel from Sydney to Johannesburg via Perth, meaning, while the flight was a little longer, we got to have a break in Perth for a few hours.
I’d applied for an upgrade for both the flight to Perth and the one to Johannesburg (with carefully collected points!) and happily the first leg came through. We didn’t get the upgrade on the second flight but did manage to get the bulkhead two seats by the window, and the two seats behind, meaning we both had a good amount of space. I sat my backpack in front of me and used it as a stool, which was surprisingly comfortable and I think I spent about six of the 11-hour flight asleep!
The flight we had originally booked from Johannesburg to Kigali (Capital of Rwanda) was cancelled and so they put us on an earlier flight. Initially, we had planned to go to an airport hotel overnight, but with it being reduced to a seven-hour layover decided that wasn’t necessary. JHB airport isn’t the fastest place to get through, so it was good not to be rushed. We got through immigration and collected our bags but still had a couple of hours till the Rwanda Airlines Check-in counter opened so we found a couple of comfy seats and settled in. It’s also not the safest airport, so I lay down across a couple of seats and sat the suitcases in front of me. Dave sat next to my head and kept guard! Amazingly I slept for another hour!
After checking in we paid for an airport lounge and had showers and some food and eventually boarded the plane for the four-hour flight to Kigali.
WHY RWANDA?
Good question!
Originally, we had hoped to go to Zimbabwe as our first stop, but unfortunately, the friends we were going to visit had already planned to be away themselves. We then had an offer for a house swap in Zanzibar, which fell though, so eventually decided on Rwanda as it fit the bill of having never being visited before, and not too long a flight!
The hotel shuttle picked us up at Kigali Airport after we landed at 7am, and it was excellent that we were able to check-in to the hotel early – even managing to get to the free breakfast before it finished at 10am!
The jet lag was not too bad, but we did still have a pretty quiet day with a couple of naps. We also wandered around the streets near our CBD hotel, of course including stopping at the obligatory local grocery store – one of my very favourite things to do on overseas holidays! A supermarket can tell you so much about a culture!
We bought a couple of Coke Zeros (about $1.50 AUD each) which was actually harder than you might imagine. The lad at the checkout was not sure how to manage the cash we gave him and had to get his supervisor to approve it. Most people use cards or a local online payment.
My restaurant research had revealed that the one in the hotel was quite decent so that became the obvious choice for dinner. Dave had a bowl of chips and shared my garlic broccoli, and I had chicken and cashews. All was remarkably good, although we only ate about half of it. Exhaustion had taken over!
TUESDAY
Tuesday was our day to explore the city. We had booked a guide though ‘Get Your Guide’ and met her at the Genocide Museum, which was a short taxi ride from our hotel.
TEN RWANDA FAST FACTS
I am definitely not calling them ‘fun facts’ because there’s some pretty terrible stuff that’s gone down in this country that has impacted its culture and history.
- Rwanda is known as the “Land of a Thousand Hills.” It is a small (26,000 sq kms), landlocked country in East-Central Africa.
- Rwanda has a rich history, diverse wildlife, and remarkable social progress.
- As many of you will remember, Rwanda was devastated by a Genocide in 1994, with an estimated one million deaths in the space of just 100 days.
- Rwanda’s current population is around 14 million
- Rwanda was occupied by Germany from 1890 and then by Belgian forces from 1916.
- Rwanda is one of only two Commonwealth members without historic ties to the United Kingdom.
- Since 2003, Rwanda has continuously held the record for the highest percentage of female parliamentarians globally. As of 2022, 61.25% of its lower house is female. (Go Girls!)
- Rwanda’s capital, Kigali, has been hailed as one of Africa’s greenest and cleanest cities after a number of measures were introduced over the last decade. In 2008, Rwanda became one of the first countries to ban single-use plastic bags and bottles. The country is aiming to be the world’s first plastic-free nation.
- Rwandan citizens are required to perform a day of community work called “umuganda” on the last Saturday of every month. These workdays focus on activities such as clearing land for community gardens, collecting rubbish etc.
- Rwanda uses drones to deliver blood and medical equipment. Doctors in rural areas can order supplies by text message and have them delivered by a drone!
There’s plenty more to tell than that list, bit it’s a start!
We spent about an hour at the Genocide Memorial. It was incredibly well put together and an overwhelmingly emotional experience. How could one million people die in 100 days!
It was so hard to get my mind around that level of devastation, but the memorial was very good at explaining the history and situation. In Australia there has been much controversy about the overuse of the word ‘resilience’ during recent natural disasters. This country brings a whole other level to the term resilience – and the impact on the culture of the country is very evident. The country has shown a remarkable response to the horrors – and its healing and reconciliation is obviously ongoing after such recent trauma. The scars may never fully heal, but it appears the country’s commitment to building a more inclusive and harmonious society is working. Our guide, whose father had died in the Genocide said, “Rwanda has shown the world that forgiveness, compassion, and unity are possible, even in the face of unimaginable pain and trauma”.
We then caught ‘moto’ taxis to a local art gallery. The gallery wasn’t too exciting, but the motorbike ride there was fun! I had my first Rwandan coffee at the galleries’ coffee shop, and it was VERY good. Rwanda is known for its coffee and take a lot of pride in it. Even as an Aussie Coffee snob, I can tell you it is pretty good!
Another Moto ride to a market which was full of fresh fruit and vegetables and other food. It was a little hectic, and when we finished walking around there was about 50 moto riders fighting over who was going to take us to our next destination! It was quite a long ride across town to an area with lots of Muslim restaurants, and we tasted a very delicious (and spicy) ginger, lemon and cane sugar juice. (each ride costs about $1)
A short walk from there to the Belgian Peacekeepers memorial – where 10 Belgian soldiers were disarmed and killed by the Rwandan Army on the second day of the genocide. Again, a very moving location and a sobering reality of the enormity of the genocide.
Ailene (our guide) then walked with us back to the city centre – pointing out a suitable late lunch location where I ordered beef in mushroom sauce and Dave had an omelette.
We decided after such a big day, to eat at the hotel restaurant for dinner again. It was after 8pm when we ate, since we’d had such a late lunch. We ordered less tonight, ate quickly despite the lovely rooftop city view and headed back to our room to get packed up and organised for the next part of our adventure – seeing the rest of Rwanda on Safari!