My Trip
So upon my return from Rwanda, I am finding out that there is so much more to the trip that I forget to share when I am asked, that I am just going to put it in writing. My intent is to include all the little details that anyone that has any interest in travel should know, but at the same time to keep your interest and not be a travel guide. I want to simply share what I saw and enjoyed while in Kigali and around the rest of the country. I will divide this into sections, some of which run together, some that are only loosely related, and maybe some offhand commentary. I want to tell you all about the food, the people, the city and the rest of the country, and how I compare it to life in the US. I fear this may turn into a much longer project than I intended, but stick with me, or just read the headings that look interesting to you. Enjoy!
Where did I go?
For those that weren’t sure where I went, or why: I went to Kigali, Rwanda which is the capital of Rwanda a very small country in the central to western part of Africa (http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/map/google_map_rwanda.htm). I went to Rwanda to visit the most awesome partner I could have, Laura Roost (http://lauraroost.blogspot.com/) you can see her thoughts and some of her work in Rwanda on her blog. We went all over the country to parks and villages and resort towns and enjoyed all of it, but mostly enjoying the time together. She has been there since October and will remain until July, while studying on Fulbright scholarship. I stayed in Kimironko which is a relatively small part of the city with its own outdoor market about three blocks from the house.
What did I see?
I saw so much more than I expected. I was expecting a big city, lots of people and all the things that go along with a metropolitan area. I did see that, but I also saw the small towns-like areas that make up the city of Kigali. Most of the areas have their own markets, stores, restaurants and bars. There are really not many “chain stores” so this makes each area of town even more unique. If there is a restaurant you find downtown, that is going to be the only location like it in the whole country (there will be more about restaurants in the What did I eat Section).
Aside from the basic cityscape, I saw progress. Large buildings are going up all over Kigali. They are building a new convention center, numerous hotels, and other business buildings; most of them being built by Chinese companies. If you think ‘Made in China’ is a problem in the US, you could not mentally conceive what is going on in Rwanda. The country is not just building downtown, either, residential areas near the city and in rural areas are building bigger, more Western style houses, and infrastructure is being improved everywhere. Electrical poles are being put up in very rural areas and roads are being paved and improved as well. Looking at hillside villages I saw hundreds of new roofs and new construction everywhere.
Aside from new construction, I also saw less modern things. In the countryside there are terraced fields all the way up steep hillsides everything from bananas and sorghum to corn and rice, to tea and coffee are grown in Rwanda. There were goats grazing along the roads, chickens roaming about and small cattle ranches. Away from the cities subsistence agriculture is still the main way of life.
What did I eat?
I think this is my favorite subject to talk about, because going into the trip I doubted that there was going to be anything very memorable about the cuisine, thankfully I was very wrong. The traditional food was some of the best food I’ve had anywhere. In describing the meals it is hard to convince anyone that rice, beans, potatoes, and a simple salad would be a great dinner, but the ingredients are so fresh and well prepared they are amazing together. Our typical lunch was a choice of neighborhood buffets where you get one plate and a drink for less than $5, sometimes as low as $2, depending on the place. There was always some sort of beans, usually some rice, vegetables, salads with mayonnaise as dressing, fried potatoes (chips/fries, whatever you want to call them) maybe some beef, chicken, or fish, and fresh fruit. And that was just the traditional food. Many of the places also had awesome spaghetti (still trying to figure that one out) randomly there would be a creamy mushroom soup which was very tasty too. Aside from the restaurants there was food prepared in our home, by the housekeeper Yolande, her food was also fantastic. She made great vegetables and always kept the fridge stocked.
There were quite a few good places for supper too. Some of the best pizza I have had, as well as good lasagna and pasta at Solé Luna and New Cactus. There was also the very good Chinese restaurant called Tangren, we went there for a birthday party for one of the housemates, everything was family style and we shared many things from spring rolls to fried pork balls (the latter was my contribution to the order). Laura and I also had a bit of an adventure when trying to find the Sake Japanese place, our taxi dropped us off and drove away before we knew where we were (not at the restaurant), that led to about a half hour of walking to a main road to get another ride. Once there, the food again was great and amazing quick service.
My overall favorite place and one of a very few non-buffets we ate at twice was the New Fiesta German Butchery and Quick Service Restaurant. They have and excellent German, American, French, and Rwandan selections on the menu. On different visits I had one of the best cheeseburgers I have ever tasted, then excellent beef stroganoff. Laura had a really excellent ham and chicken pasta, and brochette and chips that were just as good as anywhere else in the country.
All of the above places were in Kigali, but on our adventure away from the city to the Paradis Malahide Hotel near the town of Gisenyi we got a bit of a different taste of Rwanda. There was a great ‘drive in’ sort of place with potatoes, brochette (meat on a stick) and meatballs. Some of the best road food I have ever had! Once to the hotel the restaurant there made amazing omelets for breakfast, and a full menu of meat and fish for supper, all were quite good. I will probably have more on the Lake Kivu/Gisenyi area in another section.
Then there were the drinks. I miss the Coke already, and any of the other sodas as well, they taste so much better with the real sugar instead of corn syrup. It’s hard to find the good Coke in the states anywhere but Mexican grocery stores. The beer there was also pretty good, there are a few local beers from Rwanda and Uganda (Primus is Laura’s favorite, Mutzig was mine), also tried a couple of Tanzanian beers (Kilimanjaro, and Safari). For reasons that I cannot figure out the main import beer is Heineken priced about twice as much as the local ones.
A side note about the beverage companies’ influence in the region many of the bars and restaurants have taken up the beer brands on an offer for a free paint job. All over the country there are Primus bars painted in blue, Tusker bars painted yellow and black and Mutzig bars painted red. And of course there are the ubiquitous Coke snack shops in the familiar red and white.
Then finally there are the places that I would not recommend. Most of the larger higher priced hotels simply have overpriced menus as well. We stopped by for light lunches at the Kigali Serena and the Kivu Serena and were not greatly impressed by either one. The food was average and much higher priced than anywhere else, pretty much how most hotel restaurants are in the states tend to be. The Sportsview Hotel near Amahro Stadium also had overpriced food, though it was better than either Serena location. The Sportsview has a lunch buffet that was very busy and had a good selection of food, but was at least twice as expensive as most of the other lunch places just a few blocks away.
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