Cyangugu

Now into my second day here in Cyangugu (pronounced Chan-goo-goo!).  Am staying in house belonging to Bishop Ken Barham, situated on Mont Cyangugu overlooking Lake Kivu and the hills of the DRC in the distance. Photos show the house and the views from the terrace/garden.

Have two security guards - Modeste (Day) and Antoine (Night) - who look after the house, garden and also do other odd jobs. Neither speak English so interesting trying to communicate in my very limited Kinyarwandan, sign language and smiles! Having to get used to Antoine walking past the bedroom window at night as he does his night patrol!

Having a few days to settle in before I start work on Monday so finding my way around. Walked down to Peace Guest House yesterday, where I will be mainly based, so got an idea of what my daily commute will be like - takes around 30 minutes if I take a shortcut or 45 minutes if I walk along the road and up along the lake.  Think I'm going to get fit being here as you can't go anywhere without encountering a hill and you get very breathless due to the high altitude.

I do feel like the "only Muzungu in town" - Muzungu (meaning White person) is called out by all the children often followed, not by all children, by "give me money!".  Made one small child cry, as I walking along, as don't think he had seen a Muzungu before.  You get stared at but learning to stare back, smile or greet them with "Muraho!" (Hello!) or "Waramutse" (Good Morning) or "Wiriwe" (Good Afternoon) which normally brings a smile to their faces.  A lot of the children call out "Good Morning, how are you?" even if it's morning of afternoon.

It does all feel a bit strange and different which it is - the sounds, smells and sights are not like you find at home but then I am in the middle of Africa. 

The City

I'm often asked what Kigali is like.  Well it's a modern, developing city with lots of new high rise buildings going up - banks and hotels mainly.  Decided to walk into the city from where I'm staying and thought I'd take a short cut but discovered there wasn't one.  Kigali, like most of Rwanda, is made up of hills and the city sprawls over quite a number of them making walking challenging as one minute you're going up a hill and next minute you're coming down!

In the city centre, there is a shopping mall with a large supermarket selling nearly everything you need but targeting the large community of westerners in the city. There is also a growing coffee shop culture with wi-fi access as there is now in most places across the country.

There's a lot of traffic with vehicles definitely taking precedence over the pedestrian so you have to run to get across the road when there is a suitable gap.  The city is full of motorbike taxis (MoTos) and every time one went past me they asked if I wanted a lift.  Decided to wait until I get to Cyangugu to try one out as think it may be a bit safer there.

They take pride in their roundabouts planted with ornamental gardens and you often see wedding parties having their photographs taken on them although it must be a challenge crossing the road to get there.

There's a huge clean-up of the city taking place.  Rwanda is an incredibly clean country as they have banned plastic bags and there is no rubbish anywhere.  They are moving some of the poorer communities out of the city into the outer areas and are, I understand, paying good money to buy the land and families can buy much cheaper land elsewhere and continue to be part of a community.  Industry is also being moved out of the city to new industrial parks and the plan is to fill the city centre with lakes and greenery.

There is a new airport being planned and a railway will come through the eastern part of the country linking up Rwanda with Uganda and Tanzania.

The day starts early in the city, as it does in the countryside, and from where I am staying you are woken by a wonderful dawn chorus at around 5.30am followed by cockerels, dogs barking, the sound of traffic and people starting work.  Being just south of the equator means the sun comes up at around 6am and then goes down at 6pm so you have to make use of the daylight hours so early to get up and early to go to bed so I am having to adjust to a different pattern to my day.

Kigali

I am now in Kigali after a two week, three country road-trip of Rwanda, Burundi & Uganda.  Waved off my four travelling companions after they headed off back to the UK and it felt very strange not going with them and staying behind in Rwanda.  Have seen some beautiful scenery, some crazy driving and some amazing sights as local people go about their everyday lives. Staying in Kigali until next Tuesday with some time to chill out, walk the city and prepare myself for my work in Cyangugu.