Rwanda & Lake Bunyonyi

While living in Uganda, about halfway through our five month stay, we took a week-long vacation to Rwanda and western Uganda. One of my friends and teammates from college, Elena, was living in Kigali, Rwanda, and volunteering at a home for former street kids. She had visited the home on a service trip in high school and had such a profound experience that, a few years later, she took a leave of absence from college for a semester to return. So we planned to spend three days there with her, then three days at a quiet island retreat that she and another friend had both been raving about.

Travel from Entebbe, Uganda to Kigali, Rwanda

To get from our house to our Elena’s apartment, we walked to Entebbe Town, rode a matatu the hour to Kampala, then took a nine hour bus ride to Kigali. Here are some key points about the travel, in case you’re considering a similar trip:

• The trip is pretty smooth, especially compared to other bus trips we’ve taken in Africa. You can do the ride during the day or overnight (we prefer daytime travel).
• We used Jaguar Coach, though we’ve heard there is a newer, more modern company called Trinity Express. The bus ticket cost about $15 each way and the company operated mostly on time. None of the buses have bathrooms, but they make stops.
• When you cross the border (from Katuna, Uganda, to Gatuna, Rwanda), you will get off the bus, have your bags inspected, buy a $30 visa, show your receipt to a teller, get a stamp in your passport, and re-board the same bus. Any single-use plastic bags that you have in your luggage will be confiscated, as they are illegal in Rwanda.
• The bus, regardless of which company you use, will arrive at a very busy bus terminal in Kigali called Nyabugogo. This “bus terminal” is a large dirt parking lot where is it very easy to grab a boda boda ride, taxi, or public bus to your destination in Kigali.

Rwanda

Once we arrived, we followed Elena’s very detailed instructions to find our way to her apartment. Our stay in Kigali was too brief, but incredibly eye-opening. Here are some takeaways:

• Rwanda is a small, complex country with absolutely beautiful landscapes and a tragic piece of history that has left physical, emotional, and psychological scars on every citizen.
• We visited the Kigali Genocide Memorial and were very impressed with the museum and education center. The genocide in 1994 is so difficult to learn about, not only because of the horrific atrocities that were commited, but also because it all could have been curtailed with some international support. Or, better yet, prevented entirely if Belgian colonists hadn’t planted the seeds of prejudice in Rwandans. For those who aren’t familiar with the genocide, up to 1,000,000 Rwandans were killed by their fellow countrymen, and another 2,000,000 displaced during a 100-day period.
• If someone didn’t know about the genocide and general unrest of the 90’s, a visit to Kigali would make you feel like it’s a utopia (especially if you’ve been to other African cities). It is pristine. You’re not allowed to walk on the grass, city workers spend the day picking up litter along the streets, and plastic bags have been illegal since 2008. In addition to being clean, the city is quiet, there’s very little traffic, people follow driving laws (again, a real surprise for those who are more familiar with Kampala), motorcycle taxis can only have one passenger on board AND both the driver and the passenger are required to wear a helmet. It’s a different world from Uganda.
• Elena repeatedly reminded us that Rwanda prides itself on its appearance, but the pleasant exterior hides many issues, tensions, and corruption underneath the surface. There have been very deliberate attempts by the Rwandan government to force citizens to move on from the genocide, often without considering the steps of healing that needs to take place, or the fact that some wounds will never heal for those who lived through it.
• Rwandans speak French (remember: Belgian colony) and Kinyarwanda, which can make it more difficult as a tourist or temporary resident. We didn’t have this challenge in Uganda because English is spoken by most Ugandans (especially those in the service industry), along with at least one other local language depending on which region of the country they come from. Every time I travel abroad, whether to Europe or Central America or Africa, I feel guilty for not speaking a language other than English. Visiting Rwanda was no exception.

Lake Bunyonyi

We had a fantastic time in Kigali, and cherished the opportunity to see a familiar face and catch up with a friend from home. When it was time for part two of our week-long vacation, we took a taxi bus to the border and then a private taxi to Lake Bunyonyi. Fran (our roommate at Malayaka House) and Elena had both encouraged us to visit this lake in western Uganda that has 35 islands popping up from the middle.

Once we reached the lake, we were picked up by canoe and enjoyed a beautiful ride across the calm water. We stayed with Byoona Amagara and their accommodations left us speechless upon arrival.  Our room was called a geodome, and it was a sturdy, weatherproofed hut with an open front, built into the side of a hill. This meant that while laying in bed we could see the water and a couple other islands. It rained on and off for our entire stay, which was especially disappointing because I was looking forward to swimming (Lake Bunyonyi is one of the few lakes in Uganda that does not have bilharzia, a parasite that can cause severe illness). But the upside was that we got to watch an incredible thunderstorm over the water one night, while sitting on our covered porch.

The food was extremely cheap at the resort’s restaurant and it was all delicious. They had everything from crepes to breakfast sandwiches to burritos to fish to pizza to pasta. It might not sound that impressive to anyone sitting in the United States while reading this, but it was a radical change from the Ugandan diet we had adopted. Lake Bunyonyi is a “can’t miss” spot if you find yourself visiting Uganda or Rwanda!