My Rwandan Experience

In Mid June of 2019, I took a trip to Rwanda alongside my brother and my friend :). I had good expectations coming in as I had done prior research ( I read so much about how well organized and clean the country was, how its people are really friendly, how awesome a man the president was etc ). I wanted to experience these things myself though and this was a motivating factor traveling there.

I’ll categorize my observations below and hopefully, this helps the next person who would like to visit.

PS: Everything I write is based solely on my experience in Rwanda.

The Flight

On the travel date we arrived only an hour before departure. Everyone I ask now seems to know to arrive at least 3–4 hours early for an international flight but I didn’t figure this was necessary at the time. We ended up paying huge fees (1/3 of the flight cost) to reschedule the flight to the next day as a result (fortunately, they were flying the next day).
TIP: Arrive 3–4 hours early for international flights.

We arrived much earlier the next day and started the process through immigration. During the search, at every stop, we were asked for cash by Nigerian immigration officers and ended up having no change left on us.

TIP: When going through immigration, a smiley face, friendly gestures and good attitude should be enough to get you through without any issues (regardless of whether you have a virgin passport or not). If you do not have money to give, simply let them know you don’t.

We boarded Rwandair exactly when we ought to and the flight experience was smooth, comfortable and it gave us really good vibes about the country we were about to visit. The food on the flight was also great.

Arriving in Rwanda

We arrived in the evening and joined the queue to get cleared to enter. During the clearance, I was asked reasons for the visit and other questions regarding finance and lodging. Here we were delayed for a bit because as an officer told me, it turns out our Airbnb booking was not officially recognized, they eventually let us go through after due verification was made with our host.

TIP: I’d recommend booking a stay using booking.com or with a hotel to avoid any delays. You can make reservations and later switch to an Airbnb if you’d prefer to do so later on.

First Impressions

As we observed, the city was indeed clean, beautiful and really organized. The people we met moving forward seemed really nice and straightforward.

We took a cab from the airport which took us to our 3 bedroom flat Airbnb Reservation around Mount Kigali. It was a relatively long distance from the airport and we ended paying so much for the cab. When we arrived, our host mentioned that we had paid double what we should have if he arranged his guy to pick us up instead.

TIP: Communicate with your host about the best / affordable transportation alternatives before you arrive.

All the same, we were just glad to have arrived.

Housing and Weather

The weather at the time we arrived was around 16–20°C. It was during the dry season as we had researched, one of the best times to be in Rwanda. The houses were built using mostly bricks and we noticed there weren’t electric fans or air conditioners in all the places we stayed. My wild guess would be that the way the houses were built made sure they weren’t going to be hot.

Also, we found not everyone spoke English around the neighborhood, It was a mix of Kinyarwanda, French, Swahili or English.

Food

We were lucky to have a great host at Mount Kigali who served us breakfast during our stay. Breakfast consisted of Bread, Oats, Bananas or Passion Fruit(Oh Yeah, my first time trying this out), Coffee/Fresh Cow Milk which had to be boiled, and Fried Egg.

I noticed Irish potato was a big thing in Rwanda, it was served everywhere, as the carbohydrate you needed alongside any protein food :). It was even fried alongside the eggs served to us. It was not necessarily my thing coming here, but I learned to love it.

We also went out a couple of times to great restaurants to try out a number of dishes, none of what I had been used to in Nigeria though (and it’s very normal to find that you miss what you’re used to eating as was my case), but they were great.

Tourism

There’s a plethora of amazing places to visit in Rwanda. It really comes down to your budget. Some notable places include Akagera National Park, Kigali Memorial Center, Volcanoes National Park (Where you get to trek with Gorillas), the Amazing Lake Kivu and the list goes on.

The most expensive in my opinion are the Volcanoes National Park ($1500 per person) and Akagera National Park (Prices had peaked at the time)

We visited:

Kigali Memorial Center

This place is just an amazing choice and definitely one to try while in Rwanda. Here you get to learn all about the genocide which resulted in the deaths of over 1 million people. You learn a lot about the importance of uniting and resolving issues peaceably. You also learn that regardless of what a nation goes through, with the right leadership and people, it can rise again and thrive in a very short amount of time.

Fazenda Sengha

There were a number of cool things to do here. We tried ziplining for the first time, played some badminton and had a swell time at the restaurant where we were served… you guessed it…Fries :)

Inema Art Gallery

My brother loves great art and wanted to see some good stuff from the locals. We ended up visiting this awesome place with great but really expensive artwork. We were told there was an art market to purchase cheap art though. Moreso, some paintings and artwork are also sold at the Memorial Center.

Lake Kivu / Gisenyi

I’d say we had the most fun here. Kigali to Gisenyi is about a 3-hour drive and is a lot cheaper using public buses.

Here we got to lodge by the lake and take a swim, Go boat-riding, see the border between Rwanda and Congo, Eat great-tasting sea-food, Stand on a rock in the middle of the lake and get a local warm massage on the other side of the mountains.

Transportation

There’s a lot of alternatives including bicycles, motorbikes/motocycles/boda boda/motor, taxis and all kinds of buses.

I found the motor or bike to be the most efficient and cost-effective in my opinion but where you go will generally determine the kind of transport alternative that suits best.

TIP: Find a Rwandan friend to advise you on everything you need to know to make your stay enjoyable and stay within your budget (and this includes best transport alternatives).

On a Final Note:

Rwanda proved to be an awesome experience for me and I’d definitely go again when I can. :). I’d suggest you add it to your bucket list of places you’d like to visit soon too.