Rwanda’s thousand hills, mountain gorillas and bloody history: Diary of a reporter

I could hear sniveling and muttering from people in the room; some shook their heads in disbelief while others just had sad looks on their faces as we all watched clips from a screen in front of us.

It was at the Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre at Rwanda and we were watching people recount their experiences from the 1994 genocide that happened in the country.

I remember when I was about 12 or 13 years old, I stumbled upon a CD at home which had the movie “Hotel Rwanda” as part of the movies in it. Although it was about the genocide, I had watched it but I didn’t really understand what it was about, but earlier this year, I had gotten a hold of the movie and watched it again. This time I understood it better, but then, going to the memorial centre was a different ball game for me.

The Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre was inaugurated in April 2004 at the 10th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide against the Tutsi minority ethnic group. Located on a hill, the memorial centre houses a museum, a genocide archive, memorial gardens and mass graves. These graves hold the remains of more than 250,000 genocide victims who were killed in and around the city of Kigali.

In the middle of the centre, I noticed a giant Kwibuka28 signage placed there. The tour guide had said it meant “To remember” (the genocide), 28 years after.

As I toured inside, I saw skulls, bones, torn and bloody clothes, victims’ pictures and gory images, and I couldn’t help but feel pity for the people who experienced the genocide. One striking feature at the centre was the presence of a wall of names, dedicated to those who died and it is even being updated till today. This is because many of the victims’ names are yet to be documented and many of the victims who rest in the graves are unknown.

Twenty-eight years after the genocide, it is, however, amazing to see how this country has turned around, took what life threw at it and is now doing amazing.

The capital has now been termed one of the cleanest cities in Africa (according to the United Nations Habitat), and truthfully, while taking a walk around Kigali, I hardly saw any dirt around. Somehow, the people are also already accustomed to the rule of not littering and they observe this religiously. Perhaps, the fact that the use of plastic bags has been banned since 2008 contributes to this reality. Coming from Nigeria, this came as a surprise to me.

Another fascinating thing about Kigali is the presence of policemen at different intersections. Little wonder in a post by Bloomberg in June, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Boris Johnson had referred to Rwanda as one of the safest countries in the world. On my way to the hotel from the airport when I landed, I couldn’t help but notice how clean and fit the policemen looked.

Later during the week, I had exhausted the cash I took along with me. When I needed to make some money withdrawals, I realised the policemen were also friendly and approachable.

Some other individuals and I had lost our way but the policemen directed us to an alternative road as the main road had been blocked because of some event that would be held there later that night. As they set up for the event, Burna Boy’s songs blasted through the loudspeaker. At that moment, I was a proud Nigerian. Eventually, the cash withdrawal was not possible and even some bureau de change offices around couldn’t help my situation. You had to either have your dollars or Rwandan Francs with you to make any exchange.  The use of point of sale (POS) is also not common there unlike in Nigeria.

There is also a bit of the language barrier issue for visitors.

The people of Rwanda speak French, their local dialect, and some, a little bit of English. On the first night at the hotel, which was a Sunday, I had been given a bill of $30 after my meal and at that moment I knew I had to find an alternative instead of eating both lunch and dinner at the five-star hotel where I lodged. So, I opted for eating dinner and of course, the complimentary breakfast at the hotel instead.

The following day, I went to a restaurant to buy a meal for lunch that would later cost me $16. As I got there, I greeted the waiter “good afternoon” and she replied with “huh?” I immediately realised she didn’t understand English. I beckoned to Emmanuel, the driver that took me and someone else there, to immediately come to our rescue. It was not as if his English too was fluent, but after many descriptions and hand gestures, we were finally served a combination of rice, mashed unripe plantain, potato, something that looked like pepper soup and one raw habanero pepper. I had no idea what to do with the pepper. Emmanuel said the food is one of their best delicacies. I definitely did not share that idea.

Still on the food matter, as a Yoruba girl, I couldn’t help but wonder why Rwandans do not like spice in their meals. You could barely taste any pepper in any of their meals, but as if they were aware of Nigerian’s love for spicy food, they always had a bottle of chilli sauce ready for us at the hotel’s restaurant.

Even during my visit to the popular KFC restaurant, the attendant had asked if I wanted my chicken to be spicy and I had answered in the affirmative. She didn’t need a soothsayer to tell her I was from Nigeria but she asked anyway. When I said yes, she told me that in Rwanda, they usually say if a pregnant woman eats pepper, the child would end up not having eyebrows or front hair.

Although small, with a population of 12.95 million people according to the World Bank,and  living on 26,338 square kilometres, Rwanda is truly a beautiful and serene place. During the tour, the guide had also mentioned that from its airport, one can get to anywhere in Rwanda within a day.

He also mentioned that there is free wifi in bus parks. So as people wait for buses to arrive, they get to use the free wifi. Who doesn’t love free wifi?

While there are bus parks/stations in Kigali, there are also bicycle docking stations in a bid to encourage the use of bicycles for transportation. What the residents have to do is download an application that allows them to pick their bike of choice, pay online and a key will be generated after payment to be used to unlock the bike. All bicycles have GPS installed on them so after the ride, residents only need to return the bicycle to the nearest docking centre. To also make riding safer, there are lanes specifically made for the riders on the road called bicycle lanes.

I would also later get to know that Rwanda is called “The Land of Thousand Hills”. This is because of its hilly and mountainous nature which I don’t think words are enough to capture. In addition to its lush greenery, the hills and mountains really enhance the physical beauties of the country.

Just like the eagle represents the pride of Nigeria, the mountain gorillas also hold great significance to Rwanda, and they do not hide this fact. There are images and banners of gorillas everywhere. Apparently, mountain gorillas are an endangered species found only in the border areas between Rwanda, Uganda and Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Rwanda, however, takes the lead in holding the largest population of these mountain gorillas, all habituated in the Volcanoes National Park.

A report from African Wildlife Foundation has it that Rwanda hosted more than a million visitors between 2006 and 2013, generating from the national parks alone $75 million in tourism revenue in that time, adding that 85 percent of this income is from trekkers who come to see some of the country’s 500 gorillas. I was, however, not opportune to visit these gorillas.

There are other fascinating things in Rwanda; the constant electricity, the obvious non-populated air. Although just one hour ahead of Nigeria (GMT +2), the weather is very different. It is slightly chilly, especially at night.

Like the popular saying, all work and no play makes a person dull. Going to another country was a getaway I didn’t know I needed. It was a worthwhile experience for me and yes, I would definitely love to visit the land of a thousand hills again.

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