Looking for Miss Rwanda »
Rwanda is looking to find one woman to become the country’s first Miss Rwanda for seventeen years. The lucky winner will represent the nation in the Miss East Africa contest. The competition is down to the last 12 and the next stage of the competition is at the Serena Hotel in Kigali on 31st October. [...]
It’s curtains for Kigali »
There’s one thing we didn’t squeeze into the box when we moved to Kigali – curtains. Fortunately, there are a couple of curtain making shops in central Kigali. Interestingly, all of these shops are owned and staffed by Pakistani immigrants. Leaving my curtain woes aside for two seconds, I’m hoping to start a regular feature [...]
Stephen Smith on the Rwanda genocide »
Stephen Smith, the director of the Shoah Foundation Institute and co-founder of the Aegis Trust, gave a powerful talk about the Rwandan genocide, the Holocaust and Darfur at Monash University earlier this month. Smith worked as the Project Director of the Kigali Memorial Centre. It’s worth a listen for the tales he tells of two [...]
On the Rwanda buses »
Up until fairly recently I’m told buses in Rwanda were far less colourful than their neighbours over the border in Kenya, where they not only plaster their matatus in spectacular murals, but even daub bus stops with “daily cartoons”. I’ve seen a number in Kigali decorated in the oddest themes, but I’ll need to speed [...]
Introducing the Kigali post box »
As far as I can tell this is it. This is the only post box in central Kigali serving a population of circa 1 million souls. The old Post Office, on Avenue de la Paix in the downtown financial district, was knocked down a couple of weeks ago along with the A-Z Book Centre. The [...]
Live and direct from the streets of Kigali »
It took me a while, but I’ve finally manhandled my Kigali Wire blog into a fit enough state to open to the public. It’s basically a glorified photo blog come news aggregator come social media experiment. Can’t quite believe I started building the Wire almost 4 months ago… The bulk of the work was in [...]
The newspaper seller »
You’ll see these guys selling newspapers at all of the major junctions in downtown Kigali. They wear an official blue waistcoat signifying they are licensed to sell newspapers. Having said that, you do have to watch out when you buy – some of the newspapers on sale are not that day’s edition. One seller has [...]
A trip around Nyamirambo »
I took a stroll through the Nyamirambo district of Kigali last week. Fascinating place, far more interesting than the glossy 5km block of downtown area around the UTC. Plenty going on here; Senegalese and Ghanaian restaurants, mini-supermarkets, butchers, some medical check ups going on on the pavement, a “cinema” or two and rooms to watch [...]
Whatever you want, we’ve got it »
There are stacks of streets like this one in central Kigali. They seem to sell or provide just about everything you could need all in one place. From my quick scan of the signs you can and can’t see in the photo of this wee thoroughfare I can see that you can rent a room [...]
Cash power from Kigali »
Cash power is what keeps the candles burning in Rwanda. As the sign says, you buy electricity as you need it using cash. When the cash runs out, the electricity flow stops. Outside Kigali, electricity is still a luxury and most people rely upon wood and charcoal. While Cash Power is not that cheap, it [...]
