Kibuye..
Thurs 28th Nov.
I had a great night’s sleep. The cold shower certainly woke me up ! True to his word, the receptionist brought me my breakfast at 07:00. A particularly tasty one with half a mango, a little omelette and a bread roll which was nicer than slightly dry slices of bread. I put the boiled egg in the roll and ate it all rather quickly.
I was out the door and into the bus stand in 5 minutes. I paid my 4,100Rwf..about £2.50…but there was someone in my allocated seat no. 1. The manager of Capital went and had a word, and the passenger kindly moved to the seat behind.
We left the bus stand on time at 07:45 but didn’t really get going until nearly 08:00.
A really good journey taking only 4 hours; I was expecting 5 hours. Kigali to Muhanga, the road was good. For about 20kms after Muhanga the road was awful, but after that all the way to Kibuye the road was really good and looked new. Rwanda is certainly the ‘land of a thousand hills’. Beautiful countryside, and with every bit of it cultivated.
Eventually L Kivu came into view; a great sight with the high hills going down to the water. We stopped at the Capital office then continued on to Kibuye. As you approach the town you see the Chateau le Marara across the water. A massive white building ( castle ) owned by a very rich Rwandan doctor living in France. It is impressive, but also looks slightly out of place in the middle of Africa. It looks to belong in Germany or France or Switzerland..!!!
We passed through town to the Karongi bus park and I had to walk back to the town centre. It was a great feeling knowing exactly where I was and not having to ask directions.
I stopped at the Romantic htl and was shown a room for 20,000..£12 without a view..but I was greedy and asked them to give me a 25,000 room. (£15)..for 20,000. They didn’t like that idea. But I had fun teasing and joking. The Coffee shop was nearby and I enjoyed a pot of masala chai.
I went down the road to the roundabout and booked into the New Umunyinya where I stayed a few days last year after Kivu Breeze. Same basic room 105 at a cost of 20,000.
I still had half the day ahead of me and I went to the Gatwaro Genocide Memorial (which was closed on the day I went last year), less than 10 minutes away. I was met by Concessia who gave me the whole tour. Starting with numbers of killings at which location e.g. 15,000 people at the stadium and 1,700 at the Catholic church.
It was a terrible episode in Rwanda’s history….over a million Tutsis murdered by the Hutus…although some estimates are more like 3 qtrs of a million. It all happened over a period of about 3 months. Pics of the leaders of the perpetrators were there and what happened to them. Then the last part of the tour got a bit more graphic, with pics of people who had died; items of clothing; artefacts; bones and skulls; and about 30 coffins. Sad and shocking, but worth doing.
I’d never asked about tribes before, but I did ask Concessia and was told she was a Tutsi. Then I got her history. She was 4 years old at the time; her father, aunt plus all members of her family were killed with the only surviving members being herself, her mother and her siblings. They were initially given shelter by Hutu friends, but then were on the move in forests and other shelters in order to escape the killers. Well, they made it and are all still alive today.
I bought a water and a vodka for my room then popped in to the Umunyinya bar. Chatted with Samueli the barman.
Drank 2 Mutzigs. Had a very confusing conversation regarding my dinner order. I settled on rice, beans and vegetables. But into the equation came sambaza dry, and I thought it was another name for beans. Anyway, the meal came and there was a portion of small fish, like sardines… which was the sambaza dry. So I got more than I bargained for, but the sambaza dry (a L Kivu delicacy) were very tasty , and I accidentally got to eat something new/different.
It was dark…not too late…but I was tired and went to my room. A very good first day in Kibuye.
Fri 29th Nov
I had a good sleep though. A cold shower. The breakfast was very poor; 2 slices of dry bread, an omelette, and coffee. I packed up, checked out, and went over to Romantic. There was some banter about price, but I was resigned to paying 25,000. Then Kanyana took me to see room 23 and I immediately said ‘Yes’.
Modern room, WiFi, hot water, balcony, view of a part of the lake….Fabulous. I paid 50,000 for 2 days. I took photos..just enjoying my room. I walked towards Oroha beach, passing the Genocide Memorial; I stopped to say thank you to Concessia for the tour and gave her a tip.
I walked to the beach. Heavy rain had caused havoc on the beach and repair work was under way. I had a masala chai, which came with two small pancakes.
I was told that boats to Gisenyi went from just around the corner, but that turned out to be false. I took some nice fishing boat pics though. I walked back to Romantic and sunbathed a little on my balcony.
So, off to Umunyinya for a beer then back to my hotel.
I wasn’t hungry and only had some cashew nuts in my room with a little vodka. I deliberately went without dinner because I knew there would be a big breakfast.
Sat 30th Nov.
And it certainly was a big buffet breakfast. I started with mushroom soup. Then a dish called Agatogo…plantain, potato, beans, greens, spices …And gut/entrails/intestines? But absolutely delicious. Fruit to finish off…and lots of coffee.
I lay in the sun on my balcony for half an hour. I washed a shirt. Then it rained. After the rain I took a bicycle ‘taxi’ to the next bay…only 10 minutes. It’s very hilly around here; those guys must be incredibly fit. I reached the Golf Lake Htl.. I went walkabout; I was near the beach (very narrow strip of sand) area and it was much better than a year ago. This bay seems to be the main departure point for the lake islands boat tours. There were some pristine gardens nearby and I asked the Police if I could walk there…the answer was ‘No’. Not sure why ??
I walked all way back…not difficult when going downhill !! I took pics/videos of the area around Kivu Breeze (where I stayed a couple of nights last year) and Le Chateau le Marara. Certainly a number of cars parked there so it must be open as a hotel. I popped into the Umunyinya bar to ask Samueli to prepare for the 15:30 football games, and returned to Romantic.
In my room I did more catching up on my bodabodasafari.net blog. I published my few days in Taveta, and the Moshi/Arusha/Kahama leg of my trip to Rwanda.
I had also checked the times of the football matches, and at 15:30 I went downstairs and apologised to the staff for getting the times wrong, with the games starting at 5pm. I went on to Umunyinya and told them I’d messed up with the times. I couldn’t have watched football there anyway as there was a big meeting going on.
After 5pm when the meeting had finished, Samueli hooked up the TV but there was no connection; I suspected something like that might happen..!! I finished my beer and went up to Romantic. The game was only 10 minutes old but I’d already missed 3 goals. I chatted a bit with a guy at my table; watched the rest of that game; watched the later game, then went to my room.
There are quite a few blatant…’give me money ‘ demands…which is annoying, but I’m really enjoying Kibuye . Small, compact and the lake is not far away.
Sun 1st Dec ’24.
Overcast day. No buffet breakfast as there weren’t enough guests to warrant it. I placed my order with Silvia. When it came…blimey, it was masses; I was glad I didn’t have a dinner the night before. A big plate of Agatogo (a national dish), a selection of 6 different fruits, a chapati, an omelette, coffee. I made an omelette/chapati sandwich with chilli sauce…delicious.
A relaxing day; apart from walking down the hill out of town, I stayed very central. I charged my phones. Updated my blog with the few days in Kigali…really caught up now. I went to Kivu Coffee Cup for a masala chai.
I went on to Umunyinya hoping to watch some English football but Samueli hadn’t put the TV on so I went back to Romantic. We couldn’t find the Spurs match so I watched Chelsea instead.
As it’s only a few minutes walk away, I decided to give Samueli another try for the Liverpool vs Man City game at 6pm. Eventually he came clean and confessed there wasn’t the money to pay for the sports channel.
I thought that might be the case. I finished one beer and returned to Romantic to watch the end of the first half and then the second half. That was fine with me.
By this time it was after 8pm and I went up to my room. My dinner consisted of a small packet of peanuts..!!! The end of an overcast day, but a great 4 days in Kibuye. Looking forward to a big breakfast before leaving for Gisenyi.