From the 7th of August until the 12th of September we traveled in Rwanda. Well, we not only traveled, but also used our time to be with friends. At the moment that our friend Alphonse left the Netherlands after he finished his PhD, we promised him that we would visit him in Rwanda. And now we finally got the opportunity to do so! :-) We stayed at his place in Kigali and we had a great time together.
We entered Rwanda from Tanzania via the Rusumo border post, where we took the bus to Kigali. Here we already found out how organized public transport in Rwanda was (especially in comparison to Tanzania and Malawi!). No bargaining, no
Mzungu price, and even a printed receipt with your name, the place of departure/arrival and time! We were so surprised!
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| Public transport in Rwanda: so organized! |
After some days in Kigali, we traveled
south to Nyanza and Butare with Alphonse. After a couple of days in Butare, we
took the bus and visited Nyungwe National Park after which we traveled back to
Kigali. After a couple of days in Kigali, we traveled by bus to Gisenyi
(Rubavu) and cycled the Congo Nile Trail all the way down Lake Kivu to
Cyangugu. From there, we took the ferry back to Gisenyi and the bus back to
Kigali. Monday last week, we took the bus to the border with Uganda and Kabale
was our first stop in Uganda. But more about Uganda in our next blog post! :-)
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| The route we travelled in Rwanda |
The first two nights in Kigali we stayed at a nice Airbnb in the city center. It was run by a very kind Rwandese lady who lived in Italy for a while. We met an Italian couple who both worked in Goma, as well as a nice Israeli family. Alphonse picked us up from this place and it was so nice to see him again!
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| Seeing Alphonse for the first time again! |
We used the next days in Kigali to further explore the city by moto taxi (the most common and cheapest way of transportation in Kigali). I was in Rwanda before in 2012 with the other board members of the
Mukomeze Foundation, and it was incredible to see how the city developed in four years time! There were so many more roads paved, many luxurious restaurants, coffee bars and shops. We for example had sushi in a very nice restaurant, while we didn't expect to have sushi at all in Rwanda!
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| Enjoying one of the many great restaurants in Kigali |
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| Sushi!! |
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| Kigali city center |
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| Two mzungu's (white persons) in Kigali |
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| Taking the moto taxi to Pili-Pili |
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| Just in time for the sunset |
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| Finally found some good cheese! |
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| Nice view over the city of Kigali from Pili-Pili |
We stayed most of our time in Kigali at Alphonse's house. He lives in a very nice neighborhood and we became friends with all his neighbors, including the owner of the small supermarket and the moto taxi drivers.
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| Alphonse's house |
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| Our sleeping room |
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| Having a nice African/ European lunch |
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| Street and entrance of the house of Alphonse |
While Alphonse was - of course - working during the day, we spent our days exploring Kigali. After a couple of days we had found our favorite coffee bar and our favorite bakery. We also visited the International Trade Fair, where we even found a stand of Philips!
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| Again great food!! What to take? ;-) |
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| Rz Manna: Nice food, good coffee and nice design |
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| Food selfie/ Selfie food :) |
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| The Rwanda Fair (huishoud beurs) |
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| Networking with a former colleague (still have a blue heart) |
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| One more coffee? Why not ;) |
We also visited Solace Ministries, the partner organization of the Mukomeze Foundation. We really looked forward to see Mama Lambert again, as well as Agnes and Jean. We had a heartwarming welcome, with African tea and sweets. So nice to be together again!
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| Meeting Mama Lambert of Solace |
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| Enjoying African tea together |
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| Agnes! |
Alphonse also took us to a play (which was mostly in French), but a lot of fun to watch. We really enjoyed ourselves. The actors were extremely good in both singing, acting and dancing! After the play we went out in a club and danced till early morning. Next day we took it easy, went to the market and did some shopping.
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| Visiting a play, great acting and singing! |
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| The two most funny! |
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| Some nice Indian food after the play |
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| Going out in one of Kigali's night clubs |
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| Kimironko Market |
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| So much and nice fruit! |
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| Let's also take some ground nuts |
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| You can literally get everything on this market |
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| After some shopping we had some great food with Alphonse |
Erik and I sponsored two Rwandese ladies of the Mukomeze Foundation for a couple of years. Both survived sexual violence during the Genocide in 1994. We visited one of these ladies, Julienne, who lives in Nyanza. It was very special to meet her in her house, and to see her children. Our meeting was emotional, because you really realize how difficult life can be for genocide survivors. Even in her though circumstances, she takes care of seven children in total. Four of herself, and three of her sister (who unfortunately passed away). Julienne is so strong, it is unbelievable how she manages her life. She proudly showed us the school results of one of her daughters (who was number two in class!). Even with her little income, she manages to pay for the school fees of all her children. We are very proud of her.
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| Visiting Julienne in Nyanza |
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| Such a special and strong woman! |
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| And of course having lunch together! |
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| So thankful and welcoming! |
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| One last picture before we really go ;). |
After visiting Julienne, we visited the Rukari Ancient History Museum in Nyanza. A great place to learn more about the history of Rwanda.
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| Visiting the royal residence of King Mutara III |
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| The royal palace in the old days |
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| Traditional roof inside the hut |
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| Hut of the beer making (important part of the culture) |
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| Sacred Rwandan cows (inyambo) with super-sized horns |
After Nyanza we drove to Butare, where we also visited the Ethnograpic Museum. A nice museum providing great insight in the ethnographic history of Rwanda. Afterwards we had a drink in the city center of Butare with Alphonse and Joelle (a friend of Alphonse who joined us that day). Alphonse and Joelle drove back to Kigali, but we stayed a couple of days in Butare. We explored this city, made a hike, went to a genocide memorial, and when Alphonse was back in Butare for work, we visited the university and his (temporary) office.
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| See photo ;) |
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| The Ethnographic Museum |
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| Hotel Restaurant Ibis (not part of the European one) |
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| Drinks with Alphonse and Joelle |
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| Butare |
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| And also in Butare great coffee from the local coffee farmers |
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| Before buying you should taste |
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| Buying some great coffee for our perculator |
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| Nice walk around the University of Butare |
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| So beautiful |
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| One of the churches in Butare |
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| And the inside of the church |
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| Visiting Alphonse at Rwanda University |
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| Nice office for a tea (chai) |
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| Campus felt a bit like Tilburg University with all the forest |
While we were in Butare, we also visited Murambi Genocide Memorial. Although Rwanda is nowadays one of the safest countries in Africa, it has a very violent history. Murambi is one of the most graphic genocide memorials in Rwanda, especially because hundreds of bodies have been preserved and showed in classrooms. Many people came to Murambi, which is a half-built college, because they were told that they would be safe there. About 50.000 people were murdered in a couple of days time. Erik spoke that day with a friend who was going to visit Lowlands, and then we realized that there are also around 50.000 people visiting Lowlands... Crazy comparison... The special thing about this memorial is that it is located in such a peaceful place, on top of a hill in the middle of many other beautiful green hills. It is hard to believe that such violent acts happened here.
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| On our way to Murambi Genocide Memorial |
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| Entering the main building of the school |
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| Museum |
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| Horrible facts and unbelievable that this can happen in such a beautiful country |
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| Visiting the classrooms |
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| Confronting to see the "numbers" getting reality |
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| What to say... |
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| One of the mass graves used to get rid of all the bodies |
After visiting Murambi we went back to Butare, where we stayed a couple more days before we took the bus to Nyungwe Forest National Park.
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| Small country and you are always close to Kigali |
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| Did we already mention the coffee? Nice for a game of Bao ;) |
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| And did we mention the ice creams too? |
We stayed three nights in Nyungwe Forest National Park. The Lonely Planet described this NP as "little known outside of East Africa" and unfortunately it remains overlooked by many tourists. This is actually a shame, because it has one of the oldest rainforests in Africa and huge biodiversity. We camped at Uwinka, where we had a beautiful view over the forest. We made three different day hikes that we really enjoyed!
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| Nyungwe Forest (time for some hiking after all the great food and coffee) |
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| View from our tent |
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| Really well maintained hiking trails |
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| Pascal explaining the traditional use of some of the trees (mostly solving stomach problems) |
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| Enjoying the beautiful views |
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| So many beautiful indigenous trees in the Nyungwe rain forrest |
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| One of the trails we completed |
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| Enjoying a well deserved Primus (but Skol is our favorite) ;-) |
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| It was cold during the evening, but not for us ;) |
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| Good morning, nice start of another day of hiking |
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| New (mandatory) guide, explaining which fruit the monkeys eat |
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| So peaceful and beautiful |
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| One of the four waterfalls of this hike |
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| Hello mountain monkeys |
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| Going up and down... |
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| Waterfall number two |
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| Not the most beautiful, but the rest was moving to fast! |
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| And number three: the biggest waterfall |
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| Some more monkey fruit |
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| And the last one! |
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| Not alway the best visibility, but no rain! |
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| Very big bird observing us during lunch |
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| Lunch time |
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| Taking another trail back to our camp |
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| Again amazing views |
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| .... views ;) |
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| Relaxing in our tent after a long day hiking |
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| At the starting point of our trail (day three) |
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| The higher we get, the more beautiful the views become |
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| Vegetation changed higher up the mountain |
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| View from the top of Mt. Bugugu |
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| We made it! |
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| Rewarding view after the hike up |
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| We love Nutella on our chapatti |
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| Last picture before going down again |
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| What goes up, must go down ;) |
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| We did it! |
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| Ready to eat! |
After four days in the forest, we took the bus back to Kigali. In Kigali, we visited the Kigali Genocide Memorial, had dinner with Mama Lambert, and left to Gisenyi to prepare ourselves for the Congo-Nile Trail!
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| Arrived in Gisenyi |
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| We love glamping ;) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glamping) |
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| We slept like roses! |
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| Getting everything organized for our cycling adventure |
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| View on lake Kivu (this is our tent) |
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| Breakfast time |
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| Great view for just a shower |
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| Making use of some luxury of the Hotel nearby |
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| And enjoying a nice lunch! |
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| Alphonse joined us for two days! |
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| Local bar/ restaurant: the Tam-Tam-Bikinibar |
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| Ordering our breakfast |
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| We like all the fresh fruit |
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| Some drinks at lake Kivu |
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| Hot spings |
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| Looks more impressive than it in reality was ;) |
We collected our bikes on Sunday afternoon, and had a test ride of 7 km on our bikes to our lodge before the 'real' adventure started the next day. The Congo Nile Trail is a track of about 250 km from Gisenyi in the north to Cyangugu in the south, all next to Lake Kivu. It took us 5 days to complete the trail and we slept in guesthouses, lodges and camps along the way. At times it was quite challenging (cycling in the country of thousand hills - why?!), but we really enjoyed it. The Lonely Planet also warns: "you need to be extremely fit to tackle the trail in its entirety." We were lucky with the weather and it was great to experience the real Rwandese local village life. The road from Gisenyi to Kibuye was offroad/gravel, with some parts even single tracks. Especially the second day was tough. From Kibuye onwards it was paved road (which was a welcome change - especially for going up)! When we reached Cyangugu, we took the ferry back to Gisenyi.
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| First few km after collecting our bikes |
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| On our way to the view point |
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| Nice to cycle ad the end of the day |
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| Sunset above the Congo |
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| On our way to our safari tent |
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| First real day of cycling |
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| Official start of the Congo Nile Trail |
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| One of the many hills |
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| Small rest stop after reaching another hill top |
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| Passing one of the many villages |
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| Nice rewarding view after climbing another hill |
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| Nice place for lunch |
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| Lake Kivu |
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| Happy not to be with the car ;) |
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| Lake Kivu |
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| Village life |
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| Enjoying a cold Coca Cola |
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| Cooling down |
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| Arrived at our first lodge |
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| (real) tent with a view |
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| Relaxing after a short swim |
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| Cheers! |
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| And on our way again, day two |
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| Nice trails |
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| Always attention for the crazy mzungu's on their bikes |
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| Getting there, almost at one of the highest points |
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| Typical village house |
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| Small rest before a very steep climb |
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| Nice, but exhausting single track |
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| View on the rice plantations |
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| Well deserved lunch break |
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| Typical child toy |
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| Always attention from the children |
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| Finally we reached the tar road! |
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| We arrived at our guesthouse for the night |
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| Could also be France, right? |
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| Luckily they had a very nice shower.. |
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| Clean and time to relax |
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| Of course with a view |
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| Beautiful scenery |
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| Visiting one more genocide memorial on our rest day |
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| Beautiful designed monument, with the same terrible history |
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| Big rocks representing the Interahamwe (killers) |
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| Mass grave with all the victims |
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| On our way down |
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| Relaxing after the visit of the Bisesero memorial |
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| Ready for a new day cycling, day three |
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| Only tar road until the end... |
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| ... but of course still going up and down |
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| Some of the necessary drink stops |
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| The road we cycled down... |
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| and up |
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| Another quick break in a village |
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| Many hard working ladies on our way |
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| banana plantations |
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| Arrived at our guest house after a short day |
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| Enjoying the pineapple (ananasie) from the farm |
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| Our lodge for the night |
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| Cow project |
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| Nursery |
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| Former orphanage where we stayed |
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| Romantic candlelight dinner for two |
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| And on our way again, day four |
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| Yes it really is the land of the thousand hills |
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| Our road down after a nice climb |
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| Fisherman |
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| Making friends |
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| Enjoying lunch |
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| After lunch dip ;) |
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| Rewarding views |
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| Local lunch break (chapati with our own Nutella) |
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| Crossing the village |
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| So many nice views |
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| and hard working people |
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| More rice fields |
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| With a lot of women working on the land |
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| Our rest stop, also for our bikes ;) |
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| Also quite some thee (chai) in this area, day five |
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| More local calories needed |
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| One moment with quite some traffic |
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| We made it, all the way and again 1000+ meters climbing |
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| We deserved some luxury |
In Cyangugu we stayed at a hotel with a view over the local driving school (both cars and motors), so next morning Erik took a lesson. So much fun! In the afternoon we watched Formula 1 (of course we shouldn't miss Verstappen) in one of the hotels. The next morning we took the ferry back to Gisenyi, and we could take our bikes with us!
