The City of Thousand Hills – Kigali
Kylie’s post – deleted on accident again
(Below: Andrew’s Post)
We woke up to heavy rain this morning and to find Kylie’s waterproof layer was missing… and the rain was coming down in sheets. We chatted as we waited for daylight to come about the many amazing experiences we’ve had to date. I texted Vincent who found Kylie’s jacket and we set out for the day. Vincent was kind enough to give us a ride to the bus station since we hoped to relocate to a more central part of Kigali. Unfortunately I had made a miscalculation and we found ourselves at the bus station with little money, an empty phone sim, and no Vincent to help us. We went to a nearby wifi shop and hopped onto the Internet to look for more central places to stay within our budget. While Kylie did that, I ran across the road to withdraw money and recharge our sim. I the bean back to Kylie who looked exhausted, frustrated, and tired. We caught a cab run by a guy named Titus to the Emminence just a few kilometers from the bus station. It had clean sheets, was centrally located and best of all, wifi that worked (super slowly).
We rode back with Titus who tried to ask for more money since he had taken us to a different destination than we originally planned on, but we refused. One thing I’ve learned in this country is that you have to enforce the verbal contract you make with people. Otherwise you encourage dishonesty in the system and it harms tourism for the area. With the exception of Vincent and Kiconco, everyone has asked for more than what was promised to them. I’m not sure if it’s the ‘white people have money’ mentality or if it’s s cultural element I don’t quite understand.
After arriving at the bus station we caught the city express to a small town canned Nyamata, site of 2 genocide memorials. The ride was eventful since we packed nearly 20 of us into a little rickety Van that struggled on the uphill climbs. We made it safely and walked to the first memorial site. It was stunning and a little haunting. The church pews were covered in the clothing of hundreds of people who had fled to the church for refuge. We set off with solemn countenances for the second site.
Typical African foods include rice, plantains, corn maize, potatoes, beans, goat meat, and spinach relish.
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2 Comments
Grandma Brown
Love all the pictures. It sounds like you are having a great time. It is nice to be able to do and see things with your husband. I always enjoy doing that also.. Sorry you were I’ll, that is never fun.
Keep each other safe. We love, pray for you and are happy for you.
Love, grandpa and grandma Brown
Kylie Chenn
Love all your comments! I just uploaded several new travel stories from 2017 on the blog & will be sharing all my adventures in 2018 on here as well! Stay tuned!