Hello from Kigali, Rwanda 👋🏾
I arrived here yesterday on an early afternoon flight from Nairobi. The flight was only 1hr 20min, but it was just one of those really great, therapeutic journeys. I read my book, got to feast my eyes on the Kenyan countryside turning to Lake Victoria and on to the green, rolling hills of Rwanda. They served basic but delicious sandwiches and I got 2 because they had extras. Also, wine. The wine was not good tho tbh. You know what it was though was FREE.
When I landed, immigration line only took about 3 mins to get through. Talked to the agent and was then directed to the visa counter where I paid $50 USD for a visa. It was quick and easy. Thankfully, RwandAir lets you check 2 bags for free so I didn’t have to lug my heavy bag around. Idk if its age or what, but a lot of things I used to be so cool with are now becoming very undesirable to me. Like carrying a heavy bag on my back. Maybe I’m just outgrowing my backpacker era. Also, I’d like to make my current hostel experience my last one with a nasty shared bathroom. I don’t like nasty bathrooms and so I shouldn’t stay in a place that has them, even if the social scene, price and views are really great. I feel like at this point, I could be an advisor to hostel managers on how to improve customer experience, but this place already has really great reviews so I don’t like the idea of approaching the manager with unsolicited advice. If you happen to be a hostel manager reading this though, know that wall hooks and shelves go a long way in a bathroom with little counter space. Also an easy and sanitary way to dry the floor so it isn’t a gross, slippery mess. If I dropped my passport on that floor, I’d have no choice but to throw it in the bin.
So yeah, spoiler alert I ended up making it to my hostel eventually, but not without some trouble. I can’t emphasize enough how completely unprepared I was to come here. I didn’t do much research, just talked to people like its 1975. I didn’t even check the weather 😅. So being at the airport, I knew I needed to get a local sim card. I just walked up to the first counter I saw even though it was for Airtel and I’ve literally spent the last week roasting one of my friends in Kenya for going with Airtel instead of Safaricom bc their service is 🗑. Honestly I was just being lazy and didn’t feel like optimizing, I just wanted to get phone service and I knew Safaricom isn’t active in Rwanda, so Airtel it was. Turns out I should have gone with MTN. They’re integrated with Rwanda’s digital payment system (called Momo), which is the equivalent of Safaricom’s integration with Kenya’s MPesa digital payment system. Also I can only assume they’re less of a pain in the ass to deal with — Airtel puts a 2GB daily cap on your data, so I ran out real quick…Next time, MTN. So I got my phone service set up. For 10GB, it cost 5,000 Rwandan Francs, $3.44. The lady said I had to pay cash so I asked where to find the ATM. I went to 2 ATMs and neither of them worked, so thankfully I had some leftover Kenyan shillings to exchange for RWF. The lady at the counter next to Airtel had asked me before if I wanted a taxi and I said no thanks, I’ll use Uber. She told me there was no Uber in Rwanda and I think I might have offended her with my reaction because I was like HUH??? [Sidebar: I feel like being here has made me more rude bc I’m constantly having to tell people in some way or another that just because I’m American doesn’t mean I’m stupid 😂. Also I’ve met extremely kind people here, but for the most part, people aren’t very smiley and welcoming, so I feel much less of a need to be smiling all the time for no reason and am more direct in my expression]. So yeah when I go back to the counter to pay the Airtel lady, the taxi lady is like you’re getting a taxi then? I said sure and she was like look see I told you you needed a taxi. So immediately, in my mind I’m like I’m not getting a taxi from this lady and her bad attitude LOL. I asked what’s the price, she told me 30k RWF. I was like ok let me make a call. So I sat down and proceeded to search what the equivalent of Uber is in Rwanda. There are 2 apps and I downloaded Yego and requested a ride for only 10k RWF. The driver was calling me telling me I needed to meet him outside the gate at the airport and as I was walking over, another driver flagged me down. I told him where I was going and showed him on my phone the hostel location on the map. We agreed to 15k for him to take me there. As we’re driving, he’s like let’s call the hostel and make sure it’s the right area bc this is so far and I’m like ok. So he pulls over and we call the hostel. He’s on the phone speaking Kinyarwandan with the hostel guy and he turns around telling me the location is different than he thought, so it will cost 20k RWF. I talked to the hostel guy and he explained the map was correct, my driver didn’t look at the map though he was looking at the written address and thought he was going somewhere else. I was like ok just take me to the hostel bro. In the car he’s telling me about things I should see and places I should check out while in Kigali and he offered to be my driver for the next day, taking me to all the locations and waiting for me. I wasn’t interested but got his number in case I changed my mind. I knew when I got to the hostel I could talk to people about the best way to get around and it would almost certainly be cheaper.
The ride through the city felt so different from Nairobi. There were still lots of cars, motorbikes and people, but it didn’t feel nearly as chaotic. The drivers actually pay attention to the lanes and traffic lights here, which is pretty cool 😂. Rwanda is called the land of 1,000 hills, so it shouldn’t have come as a surprise to me how we were constantly on a slope and catching beautiful views. Like Nairobi, people are walking everywhere, but here there are sidewalks everywhere for people to walk on. No piles of burning trash, no artistically graffiti’d matatus, no street food carts (I read before that due to food safety regulations, street food isn’t so common here if it exists at all). Its very different from Nairobi, but still feels very African. Where in Nairobi, I saw men pulling carts down the street, here I see women carrying baskets of fruit on their heads. I’ve walked around for hours at this point and have literally not found one stretch of road where there aren’t plenty of people out, even small children walking alone.
So we make it to the hostel and I pay the driver his 20k, which I learned was a fair price after asking around. Arriving at a hostel is always a little weird because it’s like you’re just walking in on a bunch of strangers relaxing at home. Some people were chillin at the dining room table, so after putting my stuff in my room, I sat and joined them. There was a woman from Nigeria and two men- one from Nairobi and the other from here. We talked about how relaxing Kigali is- I asked them how they’ve been spending their time here and found that they were all just living life- relaxing, exploring and recovering from the chaos of their lives in Lagos and Nairobi. We sat and chatted for a while. Eventually, another guy came up and asked are you Janet? 🤣 I was like Janee, yes. I knew to look for this guy because a friend told me he knew the owner of this hostel and told him I was coming. So I chatted with this man for a while and he gave me some good advice on places to see. He advised that I save my visit to the genocide memorial for my last day here so I wouldn’t be depressed. He told me how safe and walkable the city is and gave me some good routes to walk, so I decided I’d just walk around a bunch the next day (today). I went walking then too and good grief I was walking downhill for like 40 minutes, so you can imagine how fun the walk back uphill was 😅. I went to 2 different ATMs and still failed to get cash, so I decided to save the little cash I had and just walk. I stopped in a market and got some IndoMie (Ramen noodles) and yogurt to have for dinner + water and wine for sustenance. I was able to pay with my card, so it was good. Walking back uphill, I was getting so tired of the nasty smog coming from all the vehicles going by. Its so lush and green and beautiful here, but you’d never know from the way the air smells. There were so many people out walking and even going for runs up the hill, which was impressive. People at the hostel and even my taxi driver had told me this city is so safe, you don’t have to worry about walking anywhere and I could really feel that being out yesterday and today. Of course, I’m still not walking around with my phone hanging out of my pocket or anything, but its easier to relax. One thing I did notice though was that people were staring at me like crazy. Staring at my face then looking me up and down from my shoes to my hair- even little kids. I know I was looking confused and probably eventually started mean mugging bc tf yall lookin at?? Back at the hostel, I was hanging out with a woman from Sudan who was so fun and easy to talk to and I asked her what’s the deal with all the staring and she was like yeahhh Rwandans be staring, it’s just part of being here. She said she’ll either put on a scarf and sunglasses or just dance in the street to embrace the attention depending on her mood 😂😂.
So today when I ventured out, I defaulted to what I always do- trying to blend in and imitating the locals. So yes, I’ve been staring at strangers all day and looking at their shoes. I walked for a couple of hours, finally got some cash, caught a motorbike (the second driver I’ve encountered here who doesn’t know how to read a map..? 🫠) and am now sitting in a café where I had some delicious chicken and waffles, a latte and tea. After this, I’d like to go to the eco-park in the city and bike around, enjoy some beautiful green space. I booked myself a massage for this evening bc its cheap here and came highly recommended by the woman I was hanging out with last night at the hostel. I might also check out Kimoronko market, we’ll see. I love how cheap it is here- my bill for chicken & waffles, a bottle of water, a latte and a pot of tea comes out to $13 USD. I know I could eat for much cheaper at a local spot, but this place has good vibes, good service and most importantly- wifi, so I’m ok with it.
Anyway, I did all this writing about my time in Rwanda so far, but I’ll need to come back in another post and share a REALLY exciting experience I had this week- a 2-day safari at Maasai Mara National Reserve where I saw so many beautiful, majestic animals and got to observe them in their natural habitats. I got to see a cheetah on the hunt, elephants playing, and big cats resting next to their kills and with their young. It was an amazing experience and deserves its own post. Until then, please allow these b-roll photos to serve as a teaser.
Write later!