Hello Neighbor Rwanda!

Columbus Day weekend actually marked a four day weekend for us as we also had a Ugandan holiday.  Greg and I decided to take advantage of the extra day off and drove to Rwanda.  Looking at a map, neither Uganda nor Rwanda is that large, however, the roads and traffic aren’t always the best.  On the way down we decided to stop for lunch, which at this point we should know better because it took us almost an hour and a half even though it was the two of us and we only ordered sandwiches.  The next major delay was actually crossing the border.  First, you wait in line on the Uganda side.  Once you fill out the customs paperwork you get back in your car and drive across the border.  They made us get out to check out temperatures (Ebola was still a concern I guess) and then we thought we were finally on our way.  Since no one really spoke English (they’re a French-speaking country), we thought we were all set.  We somehow missed the customs section on the Rwanda side because a large bus was blocking the tiny little room.  We knew something was up as a man ran alongside our car saying we didn’t go through customs or get insurance.  Long story short, there was a lot of confusion mixed in with no one speaking good English and 11 hours after we left our house, we finally made it to the place we were staying for the weekend.  Also to note, the Rwandans drive on the right side of the road and Ugandans drive on the left.  Driving around with your steering wheel on the wrong side of the car was quite an experience.

Our main reasons for visiting Rwanda were, it’s right next door, it’s supposed to be beautiful, and we figured we would get a good history lesson.  Almost immediately after arriving, it was obvious we weren’t in Uganda anymore, however, it felt like we weren’t even in Africa.  The countryside was breathtaking, the roads were paved, there was space for pedestrians to walk, there wasn’t trash everywhere, and the cattle aren’t allowed to walk in the roads.

The countryside of Rwanda.

It was the end of the day and you could see all the people running through the tea plantations.

Since it is a full day of driving between Kampala and Kigali, we had to make the most of our time.  The first day we headed to the Kigali Genocide Memorial, which is a free museum that depicts the history of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi.  I thought the memorial was very well done and very informative.  There was a section giving the background history that led up to the genocide that killed more than 800,000 people over the course of 100 days.  The memorial is also the final resting ground for over 250,000 people, which while in a beautiful garden, is also really upsetting.  They also had a section dedicated to other genocides around the world, including some that are not recognized as genocides by different countries, including genocides in Namibia, Armenia, Cambodia, the Balkans, and a large section on the Holocaust.  The final section was an area dedicated to the memory of all the innocent children who were killed during the genocide.  Up until this point, I did pretty well, but I just couldn’t make it through the kid section.  It was a really sobering experience and it’s amazing how far Rwanda has come since then.  (We didn't take any pictures at the museum out of respect for all of those who lost their lives.)

A view of the city from the gardens.

This little guy was quite talkative.

Another view of the city.

Continuing with the memorials, we visited the Belgian Peacekeepers Memorial which is where 10 Belgian UN peacekeepers were murdered by the Hutu extremists.  The memorial has a column for each of the murdered peacekeepers, and there are lines in each one that represent the ages of each person (if I remember correctly, most were only in their 20's with no one over 35).  Right next to the columns are the two buildings that the peacekeepers tried to take cover in while under attack.  The buildings still have the bullet holes and marks from the attack.  Another sad memorial, but it is important to learn the history of what happened only 21 years ago.

The Belgian Peacekeepers Memorial.

The building the Belgian Peacekeepers took shelter in.

The next day we went for something a bit more upbeat and did a tour of a local town through the Nyamirambo Women's Center.  Our guide took us around a section of Kigali and showed us what daily life was like for most people in the city.  It was a nice tour and we got to try our hand at mashing up some leaves into a sauce that the Rwandans like.  Mashing the leaves was actually a lot tougher than it looked and the old lady that was doing it must have been pretty strong because I got tired after only a few hits.  While doing the walk we passed a lot of places that said milk bar or milk zone.  Since most bars don’t usually sell milk, we were really curious as to why a bar that serves milk would even be a thing.  It turns out that Rwandans really like their milk and since they can’t have their cows in the city, they instead have these milk bars so that they can get a glass of really fresh milk.  Greg said the milk was really good, though I don’t think I’ll try to order a glass of milk from a bar anytime soon.

Katie mashing leaves.

Greg at his first Milk Bar.

We ended our day by walking around the city some more and picking up some coffee to take home, which turned out to be some of the best coffee we’ve had!  We also had dinner at the Hotel Des Mille Collines which is the actual hotel in the event from the genocide in the movie Hotel Rwanda.  To see all our pictures from our weekend getaway, check out our SmugMug.

While this was one of our more educational and sadder (at times) trips, it was really great to get out of Uganda and see another country in Africa.  It’s crazy to see how two countries right next to each other that most would consider being the same, can be so different.