No. 1 in Central Africa

Roto Tanks are number 1 in Central Africa, apparently. At least they are according to this quincaillerie in downtown Kigali. It’s not just in Central Africa they’re popular, but over in Ethiopia too – on roundabouts in the centre of Addis Ababa. I’d never heard of Roto Tanks before I moved to Kigali, but pretty much every decent-sized house, office, school and restaurant has one, sometimes two, sitting atop a small frame out the back, trying to be as unobtrusive as a 100 – 23,000 litre plastic box can be. It’s a Kigali essential – which brings me neatly to a list of home essentials for anyone thinking of moving to Kigali or already living here:

• water filter – most of those on sale in Kigali are Chinese and not very good. The water tastes rank, but they get the job done.
• water pump – when the tap dries up, you’ll need a pump (that works) so you can wash, cook, boil…
• torch, candles and/or flashlight app (for iPhone owners) – you never know when the lights will go out. Or for how long.
• cashpower – when the cash light’s low and grumpy face appears, it’s time to shell out on some cashpower. Buy it before grumpy arrives.
• plugs – when the rains come, unplug everything. Lightning has already knocked out one modem and one wireless router in our place.
• generator – It seems to depend on where you live. If you live in the wrong end of town, you’ll need a generator (that works).
• gas – buy a spare tank (that works). It’s no fun running out of gas mid-way through cooking dinner. Believe me…

Everything else you can muddle along with. Having said that, I should also add that the list of things I wish I had brought with us, but never did, is quite long; pasta maker, various vegetable/herb/spice seeds, a medium sized Chinese supermarket, the entire contents of the top floor of Hamley’s, a decent buttery and a baker who knows how to make bread. Am I the only one sick of La Gallete? The list goes on… Please add as you see fit below.

Photograph taken from the Kigali Wire Moblog account

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 25th, 2009 at 10:31 am. It is filed under blog, features and tagged with advice, Cash Power, home essentials, kigali, Roto tanks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.