Rwanda - Kigali & Lake Kivu

In Kenya, due to Nairobi's terrible reputation as a dangerous city (a.k.a. 'Nairobbery'), we didn't venture out on foot that much in Nairobi; then we went on the safari which is an organized tour. Rwanda is a very safe place to travel for tourists, and we were glad to be back on the public transportation trail.

Lake Kivu:

Rwandan cities are connected by a network of mini-buses. Everyone does get a seat in the bus, but no one buys a ticket for children and there is no space for luggage, so it gets pretty packed in there. We kept on getting stuck in the most uncomfortable flip-open seat in the aisle. One time Bill managed to get a real seat and was very proud of himself, then a lady with two children sat next to him. But the little girl held Bill's hand during the ride - so cute!

In land-locked Rwanda, Lake Kivu is its vacation spot. We wanted to stay at this lovely hotel, but it was full and we got stuck staying at the not-so-nice hotel next door:

This is me trying to minimize surface-contact while sleeping in the dirty room:

We took a moto-taxi to the small village of Rubona, to look at the traditional boats at the dock there:

I don't think they get many tourists in Rubona, so people were very curious and friendly. 70% of people we passed said hello, and I think the rest 30% wanted to, but were too shy! I entertained the village ladies by attempting to carry my bag on my head, and we may have a new pen-pal named Fidel. We had quite an entourage following us:

The boy holding a bag next to Bill followed us for 2 kms uphill hoping we would give him money. Upon seeing me give money to a beggar with an open wound the size of my palm, the little boy even showed me his little scalp on his knee! An idiot tourist before us must have given him money - you are not supposed to give money to children, as it teaches regular village children to beg.

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Kigali:

Kigali is the capital city of Rwanda. Called the 'land of a thousand hills', Rwanda, including Kigali, is very pretty, with lush green hills:

Wedding at a park:

This is the Kigali genocide memorial. During the 1994 genocide, over 1 million people were killed. The population of Rwanda is 8 million, which means just about everyone we passed on the street had lost a family member or suffered through other unspeakable tragedies. In the room where they had hung clothes found in the mass graves, we saw a Cornell University T-shirt:

However, despite the terrible history, it feels like Rwanda is coming back around. There are new construction everywhere in Kigali and the newspapers talk of incoming foreign investments. But the most impressive are its hardworking people - we would say good night to a waiter at a hotel and go to bed, only to find the same waiter serving us breakfast early next morning. We left the hotel at 6am for the gorilla trekking, and the whole town was already up and about! Everyone we met were friendly and kind, in a polite, shy kind of way.