I knew Kigali was different. I had no idea it was THAT different, at least on its surface. Arriving to Kigali, I think I had my first dose of a reverse cultural shock.
Kampala is congested, polluted, full of potholes and rubbish, with crazy traffic, three traffic lights which never work, crammed with people and busy.
The immediate impression of Kigali is that it’s just the opposite. The streets of Kigali are completely paved, with wide pavements for pedestrians, and no potholes (at least I’ve not seen a single one). No cows or goats in the centre. There are traffic lights – which not only work, but are actually respected – and I’ve even seen a few of those which show how much time is left until the light turns green/red. The city is clean. Super-clean. There are *rubbish bins* on the streets (and if only that – at home they even SEPARATE WASTE)!
Traffic is infinitely more organized, with fewer cars. I was told that cars have to regularly pass a technical control to be allowed to circulate – which partly explains why there are fewer and better cars in Kigali than in Kampala. The police is apparently very strict (and seems to be doing their job, instead of concentrating on extracting bribes), and punishments are high, which is another reason that keeps discipline on the roads. Even the taxi park/bus station in the centre of the city, one of the most chaotic places in Kampala – and probably also in Kigali – gave me a neat and organised impression.
Boda-bodas (or moto-taxis, as they are called here) also roam the streets of Kigali, but that’s about where the similarity with their colleagues in Kampala ends: in Kigali all boda-bodas drive a 125cc motorbike (as compared to the standard 100cc in Kampala), wear a vest with their identification number, a helmet with a telephone number (on which you can complain if there is some problem), and a helmet for the passenger!!! (unlike in Kampala where hardly any driver has a helmet, and if they do, they normally put it on the handlebars of the motorbike – perhaps in a mode of a talisman protecting from an accident? – and helmets for passengers are unheard of – some bodas even laugh when they see us wearing our own helmets).
Road humps are nowhere near as abundant as in Kampala – those few that I saw were preceded by a warning painted on the road and a road sign!
Kigali even has parking spaces painted on the streets, and cars are actually parked INSIDE them. OK, here I have to confess – when I arrived to the city and saw the neatly painted parking lots, I actually felt like crying from all the emotion!
In fact – looking now at the description of my main impressions of Kigali, I definitely think I’ve spent a bit too much time in a row in Uganda... In Kigali I felt like in Europe, and that was, after all this time, very, very refreshing.
From the touristy point of view, there isn’t all that much to do or see in Kigali (though I admit that at the beginning I was more than happy just to walk about and admire the rubbish bins and parking lines). It seems that the main tourist attractions revolve around the genocide – you can visit the genocide memorial/museum, which I did (quite chilling, and fairly well done, though you can see the official discourse coming through); or the Hotel des Mille Collines, which you might know from the movie Hotel Rwanda (a very normal and perfectly boring hotel it seems nowadays).
And so, after a day and half of enjoying peace and order in Kigali, I continued west, towards the Lake Kivu, to see and explore a bit more of Rwanda.
In general, my first overwhelming impression of Rwanda is that it’s very NEAT. And while I very very much enjoyed all that cleanliness and organisation, I’m not entirely sure to what extent it’s all real and how much of a Potemkin village is in there.
Kampala is congested, polluted, full of potholes and rubbish, with crazy traffic, three traffic lights which never work, crammed with people and busy.
The immediate impression of Kigali is that it’s just the opposite. The streets of Kigali are completely paved, with wide pavements for pedestrians, and no potholes (at least I’ve not seen a single one). No cows or goats in the centre. There are traffic lights – which not only work, but are actually respected – and I’ve even seen a few of those which show how much time is left until the light turns green/red. The city is clean. Super-clean. There are *rubbish bins* on the streets (and if only that – at home they even SEPARATE WASTE)!
 |
| Two types of rubbish bins to choose from! |
Traffic is infinitely more organized, with fewer cars. I was told that cars have to regularly pass a technical control to be allowed to circulate – which partly explains why there are fewer and better cars in Kigali than in Kampala. The police is apparently very strict (and seems to be doing their job, instead of concentrating on extracting bribes), and punishments are high, which is another reason that keeps discipline on the roads. Even the taxi park/bus station in the centre of the city, one of the most chaotic places in Kampala – and probably also in Kigali – gave me a neat and organised impression.
Boda-bodas (or moto-taxis, as they are called here) also roam the streets of Kigali, but that’s about where the similarity with their colleagues in Kampala ends: in Kigali all boda-bodas drive a 125cc motorbike (as compared to the standard 100cc in Kampala), wear a vest with their identification number, a helmet with a telephone number (on which you can complain if there is some problem), and a helmet for the passenger!!! (unlike in Kampala where hardly any driver has a helmet, and if they do, they normally put it on the handlebars of the motorbike – perhaps in a mode of a talisman protecting from an accident? – and helmets for passengers are unheard of – some bodas even laugh when they see us wearing our own helmets).
Road humps are nowhere near as abundant as in Kampala – those few that I saw were preceded by a warning painted on the road and a road sign!
Kigali even has parking spaces painted on the streets, and cars are actually parked INSIDE them. OK, here I have to confess – when I arrived to the city and saw the neatly painted parking lots, I actually felt like crying from all the emotion!
In fact – looking now at the description of my main impressions of Kigali, I definitely think I’ve spent a bit too much time in a row in Uganda... In Kigali I felt like in Europe, and that was, after all this time, very, very refreshing.
From the touristy point of view, there isn’t all that much to do or see in Kigali (though I admit that at the beginning I was more than happy just to walk about and admire the rubbish bins and parking lines). It seems that the main tourist attractions revolve around the genocide – you can visit the genocide memorial/museum, which I did (quite chilling, and fairly well done, though you can see the official discourse coming through); or the Hotel des Mille Collines, which you might know from the movie Hotel Rwanda (a very normal and perfectly boring hotel it seems nowadays).
 |
| View of Kigali from the genocide memorial |
And so, after a day and half of enjoying peace and order in Kigali, I continued west, towards the Lake Kivu, to see and explore a bit more of Rwanda.
In general, my first overwhelming impression of Rwanda is that it’s very NEAT. And while I very very much enjoyed all that cleanliness and organisation, I’m not entirely sure to what extent it’s all real and how much of a Potemkin village is in there.
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