Two weeks ago, my colleagues and I traveled to Kibuye, on Lake Kivu. It was an incredibly beautiful drive, and even better because we rented a car and drove ourselves. Rwanda is called “land of a thousand hills”, however the ‘hills’ outside Kigali are really mountains. These mountains are laced with terraces and agricultural fields, and immediately reminded me of places such as Nepal and Northern Thailand. All along the road were impressive drainage ditches that have been built to irrigate the fields and protect the roads/footpaths.
Rwanda is far different than any other African nation I’ve been to. The climate is comfortable and temperate, most days it reaches about 85, and at night it constantly drops to about 60 (read: I find myself very cold, very often). Order & cleanliness permeate the urban centers as well as the countryside. Plastic bags are illegal within the country and garbage is rarely (if ever) seen in public. Thus far, we’ve been able to drive ourselves around the city and in the provinces without any problem, particularly because there are traffic patterns (lots of traffic circles) and lights, and the majority of drivers seem to obey the existing rules.
Last weekend we were invited to a Rwandan wedding, which Andi and I excitedly attended. The reception was on family property outside of Kigali, and was quite the affair. Apparently, there was at least one high-level government official in attendance. As neither Andi nor I brought wedding-appropriate clothes with us, we ended up renting traditional outfits for the occasion…they resembled saris, but were much more simple to put on.
This week, we traveled to Butare, in the south. To get there, we followed the same road that took us to Kibuye 2 weeks earlier, but turned south when we reached Gitarama (which is about an hour outside of Kigali). The hills between Gitarama and Butare were not as steep and mountainous as those closer to Kibuye, but were just as beautiful and lush. As we went further south, we saw increasingly more flatlands and rice paddies. The photos didn’t come out as well – but we will be returning there again next week, so I’ll try again. Below are others, that did turn out decently, from the past few weeks.
Here is a view from the main road from Kigali to Kibuye. We drove along the road, over and around mountains, with terraces and villages scattered for miles.
Fields and terraces in the countryside between Gitarama and Kibuye. There exists a government sponsored program entitled, "management of the radical terraces".
A group of 3 young boys were climbing this hill to the main road, and were rather spooked that the 3 of us muzungus (white people) were parked on the side of the road just to admire the landscape and take some photos.
Drainage ditch on the side of the road
The same drainage ditch on the opposite side of the road
Wedding reception
On a hill towards Gitarama
Taking a break on the way up the hill
