Rwanda changed my life, but not as much as Uganda »
Go online and read about Rwanda for more than 5 minutes and I guarantee you’ll learn three things very, very quickly – Rwanda has been “completely transformed”, “plastic bags are banned” and “the streets are clean”. These observations are factually accurate and many Rwandans are rightly proud of them. However, there’s one other, perhaps less [...]
That’s one whole lot of cute »
Between 6 – 12 visitors, paying $500 per head, are allowed to visit Rwanda’s famous Gorillas in the Virunga National Park per day. I’ve yet to visit, but I plan to even with the high price tag and one hour time limit. Fortunately, a good many of the visitors who have made the trek took [...]
Krock the house »
Hard rock in Kigali? If Kiss are your bag, you might want to check out the K’Rockodiles next week. I’ve never heard of them, but I just got this in my email,
Come check out Kigali’s only Hard Rock Band!
The K’Rockodiles will be playing on Friday Jan 29th at Planet in KBC. If you missed them [...]
Blue monkeys hunted in Kabaya Valley? »
Marcell Claassen at the excellent Birding in Rwanda blog highlights the disturbing case of a suspected blue monkey killing in the Kabaya valley, south of Kibungo in south eastern Rwanda. Marcell picked up the message on the Rwanda Burundi Birds Yahoo Group. The report, by Jason Anderson, has not as far as I know been [...]
The worst article on Rwanda and DR Congo you will read all year »
It wasn’t just me who read David Smith’s “Letter from Africa” in The Guardian open mouthed this morning. Fortunately for us, my friend Christopher Vourlias takes the 1,000 word corpse into the operating theatre and dissects it into oblivion. The article is an attempt at a “colour” piece about a trip from Kigali to Goma [...]
How to shop at Kimironko market »
If you want to go shopping at the excellent Kimironko covered market, east of central Kigali and you don’t look Rwandan there are two rules you might want to follow. First, hire a guy to watch your car. You won’t find this too tricky as you’ll be mobbed by potential employees as soon as you [...]
Rwanda retrospective »
This picture of Watsui dancers in Rwanda is part of a fascinating series of photos from 1920’s through to the 1950’s in DR Congo and Rwanda. Flickr user Lucien has very kindly uploaded photographs taken by his grandparents along with a number of images by other photographers from the same period. His grandparents travelled repeatedly [...]
What makes Rwanda happy? »
During his recent trip to Rwanda, photojournalist Simon Sticker asked his photo-workshop trainees the question: What makes you happy? Fortunately for us, he filmed their answers.
The idea was inspired by the series ‘50 people, one question’ which made that before in London and a couple of cities in the US. And it was interesting to [...]
The Mutsinzi Report »
The Mutsinzi report into the assassination of President Juvénal Habyarimana on April 6, 1994 has been published. Philip Gourevitch, author of We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families: Stories from Rwanda, gives his initial reaction to the documents on The New Yorker blog. The report is officially titled, [...]
Rwanda and France restore relations »
It’s been a busy week here in Rwanda. With the visit of French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, diplomatic relations between Rwanda and France – which were severed in 2006 – have all but been restored, bar the formalities of appointing an Ambassador and opening an Embassy. However, the continued to-and-fro between the two countries is [...]
