First impressions of Kigali

Our first view of Kigali, from the Virunga minibus

It would be really easy to write something here that sounded authoratitive, making some sweeping statements about how Kigali feels and what’s going on here, but I don’t think it would be fair – not yet, anyway. This is a big city with a population of nearly a million people, and we’re still very much outsiders looking in. So I’ll post a few thoughts and leave it at that – anyone who knows the place better is welcome to correct, agree with or comment on how we’ve found the place.

Certainly when you compare Kigali to Kampala, it could hardly be more different. There are physical differences: Kigali’s smooth wide roads, traffic lights and zebra crossings versus Kampala’s dusty tracks, pedestrians mingling with the traffic and the heart-in-the-mouth experience of crossing the road. Ugandans and Rwandans could hardly be more different: here the people are quiet to the point of shyness, whereas in Uganda it was impossible to walk more than five metres without having to say hello to someone, and gregariousness just seems to be part of the national character. In Kampala people will stare openly and for prolonged periods; here is more like a normal city – people only stare when they think you aren’t looking. Here I think there’s a feeling that gawping just isn’t “cool”; in Kampala people are too concerned with getting through another day to worry about such things.

Of course, it’s also true that there are a lot more white faces here than in Kampala. Union Trade Centre, the 24-hour shopping complex in the centre of the city, has more Caucausians than you’d expect to find in a similar space in London. If there’s still an NGO “boom” here following the 1994 genocide, you have to wonder how some of these businesses will survive if the influx ever stops. A ghost town of once-prosperous but also overpriced coffee shops and supermarkets in the centre of a city is the perfect way to burst a bubble of optimism.

Our first reaction when we saw Rwanda, and Kigali in particular, was to sigh in relief. Life here is easier – both for residents and visitors – than in Uganda, and there’s something comforting about the reappearance of one or two modern comforts. But after a few days I think we started to miss the friendliness and the character of Kampala – at least, that is, until we discovered Nyamirambo, the quintessential African neighbourhood and somewhere we’ll come back to into a future post.

Dream Inn Motel, Kigali

Literally across the road from the Auberge La Caverne, the Dream Inn has the same great location – 10 minutes on foot to the city centre – and at the same price: 20,000RwF (£22) for a double room. We decided to stay here because it had free Wifi. As has happened with every hotel in our price range that we’ve stayed at in Uganda and Rwanda, the Wifi didn’t work, though the staff neglected to mention that when we asked before booking our room.

Our room had two 3/4 beds, en suite with cold shower and, probably best of all, DSTV, which meant I could watch Inter beat Chelsea from bed. But generally the place was a quite charmless, the breakfast pretty unpleasant (seriously greasy omelette and a half a baguette, but with only margerine to put on it) and the staff unfriendly. Overall, we preferred the Auberge.

(Continuing the football theme, underneath the motel is the Dream Inn Sportsbar, which does a decent stab of replicating those in London and elsewhere – shirts on the walls, lots of chrome, big screen, absolutely no atmosphere unless there is a game on.)

Auberge La Caverne, Kigali

There are lots of advantages to being in Rwanda rather than Uganda (general levels of cleanliness, street lights, fewer suicidal motorists), but one downside is the cost. Most things here cost the same in Rwandan francs (900 to the pound) as Uganda shillings (3000 to the pound) which, for the mathematically challenged, means everything is about three times as expensive. Finding cheap accommodation in Kigali is particularly difficult.

Our first attempt was at Auberge La Caverne, which is between the main bus station at Nyabugogo and the centre of town. It’s a fairly nondescript place, which means I can’t remember all that much about it. So I just asked Jess, who has a much better memory, and she says, “It was the Butlins of Kigali, though without the entertainment”.

Here’s a photo of the courtyard out the back:

Auberge La Caverne

It’s basically rooms in a low-rent chalet style arranged around a courtyard. And yes, that does make it like Butlins, though not in a bad way. You get a little table and a couple of chairs outside your room, which is nice, because the view of Kigali’s hillside sprawl is excellent.

Apart from that, it’s pretty much what you’d expect from a cheapie guesthouse: double bed, a bit of peeling paint, en suite with shower (don’t believe the hot tap – cold only) etc. We also had a TV, though the one Rwandan channel aint all that. Our room cost 20,000RwF (£22), though they did have slightly mankier ones for 15,000RwF.

Breakfast in the adjacent bar/restaurant is the typical Rwandan greasy omelette but with some great bread (historical links with France pay off in the bakery stakes) and some fruit. Even if you don’t stay here, it’s a worth a trip for an evening meal – the 1500RwF beefburger was great value, while I had a matoke/beans/meat melange that wasn’t on the menu but was huge and immensely satisfying.

We left the Auberge after a day because we thought we could do better for the money. With hindsight, I’m not sure we did.