Reset search
Rwanda & Tanzania 2018Rwanda & Tanzania 2018
SatelliteEdit route

Rwanda & Tanzania 2018

January - February 2018
Part 2 of my African Odyssey Read more
  • 20footprints
  • 3countries
  • 16days
  • 52photos
  • 0videos
  • 14.5kkilometers
  • 13.8kkilometers
Follow Calendar Share Bucket list
Date ascending
  • TravelerRwanda & Tanzania 2018
    Day 1

    Depart Port Harcourt

    January 31, 2018 in Nigeria ⋅ ☀️ 35 °C

    After 2 months of planning the D-Day is finally here. Started my leave today, bought diesel, made lots of transfers and bought supplies needed to run the house for the 2 weeks I would be away.

    Taxi to the airport arrived at 2:45 pm. Left the house at 3:00 pm arriving at the airport at about 3:30 pm. Already checked in online, took only a few minutes to drop my bags. Headed off to Genesis for late lunch. Flight left PH ta about 5:30 pm.Read more

  • TravelerRwanda & Tanzania 2018
    Day 2

    Arrived Kigali, Rwanda

    February 1, 2018 in Rwanda ⋅ 23 °C

    Woke up at 6:00 am to get ready for the trip. Went down for a buffet breakfast. Left for the airport at 11:30 am arriving 11:52 am. Check in was smooth. Luggage were scanned at the entrance into MMA. Not much queue at the RwandAir checkin counter. No queue at the immigration counter just before the security scanners.

    Flight took off at 13:45 hrs naija time and after traveling for 4 hrs we landed at Kigali airport at 20:45 hrs local time (19:45 hrs naija time). Joined the visa queue, no visa form to fill. On getting to the immigration official I was asked nature of my visit, duration of stay and where I plan to stay and if I have any local contact, thereafter I was asked to pay $30 for the visa which was then stamped onto my passport.

    Met an old colleague, Norbert on the Visa queue. Says he runs a business here and visits 6 times a year. He was a bit guarded with information so I didn’t press him for more info.

    Taxi driver was at the arrival hall waiting for me with my name on a cardboard paper.

    Changed $200 to RFW 170,000 and then wasted a lot of time buying an MTN sim card. Paid RFW 600 (RFW 200 for sim, RFW 200 for 1 week 1.5GB data and RFW 200 for voice calls). Phone refused to recognize the sim card and kept showing emergency call all night till next morning.

    Asked the driver what he would charge to drive me around the next day and he called out RFW 60,000 after much discussions he agreed for RFW 45,000. I insisted for RFW 30,000 not sure he accepted but he said he would come for me at 10:00 am next morning. Eventually got to the hotel quite late almost 10:30 pm, went to the restaurant order a rice and beef meal with a bottle of sprite. The room is very big and spacious but looks old and worn out.    Read more

  • TravelerRwanda & Tanzania 2018
    Day 3

    Kigali Musuem & Memorial Visits

    February 2, 2018 in Rwanda ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    Woke up at 6am tried to sleep again but no luck. Ivans, Juliet’s friend called to tell me he has organized a taxi to take me around all day for RFW 35,000 but if I do half day I can pay RFW 20,000. So I sent an SMS to the airport taxi guy cancelling our arrangement, but he later called after Ivan’s driver had arrived stating he was also available. I thank him and promised to use him on subsequent outings.

    Left the hotel at 10:00am. Our 1st point of call was Kandt house / museum of Natural history. Paid RFW 600 as a foreigner, was assigned a guide. The museum was nicely arranged, with picures from 1907 depicting the life of the people and the conquest of Rwanda 1st by the Germans and later by the Belgians who took over during world war 1 when Germany was defeated.

    Other places visited were in the following order:
    • Drive around Nyamirambo
    • University of Rwanda
    • Belgian Soldier Memorial
    • Kigali Genocide Memorial center

    After which I met up with Ivans for lunch at Java coffee shop at Kigali Heights.
    After lunch I continued to the Presidential Palace Museum, a large palatial house built for the Belgian administrator and later occupied by the first 2 presidents of Rwanda, also visited the crash site of the presidential plane shot down in 1994 while carrying the presidents of Rwanda and Burundi, this act is believed to have triggered the genocide.

    Got back to the hotel at 16:40 hrs. Waited endlessly for Ivan to pick me up he finally came at 22:30 hrs with his cousin and namesake. We headed off to Riders Lounge at Kampala height for drinks. I ordered Skool larger bear, tasted nice like naija beer, another cousin of his Phina short for Josephine working with GT Bank joined us. We left Riders at 1:30 am for Sundowner Lounge and spent another hour there before they announced that they would drop me off at Cocobean night club. The club was packed full no space to move, I couldn’t locate Norbert so I told my host (Ivan’s Cousin) we should leave. We later stopped over at Papayrus to buy Brochete (Goat suya). I couldn’t taste the goat in the meat. Took a taxi for RFW 5,000 back to the hotel at about 03:30 am    Read more

  • TravelerRwanda & Tanzania 2018
    Day 4

    Campaign Against Genocide Museum

    February 3, 2018 in Rwanda ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    Woke up finally around 10:00 am, effect of last night’s clubbing. Called up Joshua my car man and negotiated a per drop rate of RFW 4,000 with him as I didn’t want to hire him for the entire day. Had breakfast at the sky lounge after bathing.

    Headed out for the Campaign Against Genocide museum located within the Parliamentary building driving through the neat and beautiful city of Kigali. Security at the gate was tight, had to come down from the car for a thorough check, and then pass through a scanner. The museum was opened late last year by the president and gave in a chronological order the battles fought by the RPF to recapture the country from the genocidal forces of the government in power, it also shows the connivance of the French government in providing cover for the genocidal forces under the disguise of providing humanitarian services, this probably prompted the government to switch from a French speaking to English speaking country years later. The visit was well worth it even though I had to pay RFW 6,000 as entry fee (foreigners entry fee into all museums in Rwanda)

    Left the museum stopped over at the hotel to pick up my power bank before heading off to Afrika Bite for a local meal of rice with beans source and beef, with a helping of mashed plantain. It was a nice meal, but the mashed plantain was too hard to eat.

    After lunch I visited Kigali Height, bought an interesting book on Rwanda and had a 3 flavor ice cream at Java Café. Eventually left the Kigali Height for the hotel at 6:00 pm    Read more

  • TravelerRwanda & Tanzania 2018
    Day 5

    King’s Palace Museum, Nyanza

    February 4, 2018 in Rwanda

    Woke up at 6:00 am with no plans for the day, I decided to visit the King’s Palace Museum located at Nyanza, 2hrs drive from Kigali. Joshua my cab driver had requested a $100 (RFW 85,00) price tag for the trip, I would be damned if I spend such colossal amount for a 1hr walk around the museum, so I decided to negotiate it down by sending an offer of RFW 40,000 ($48) to him by SMS. After waiting 1hr without any response I contacted the taxi driver Oliver who took me round the museums 2 days ago. He promptly agreed for the amount so we sealed the deal for 12noon. Joshua later called making a counter offer of RFW 50,000 I allowed him to present his case after which I told him I already agreed for someone else upon which he now agreed to take me for my initial offer. I politely declined. Seems he is out to exploit foreigners.

    The trip to Nyanza from Kigali took 2hrs. Route was very scenic, with dangerous curves as we kept going up hill one moment and down hill the next moment. Movement was slow due to trucks on the road and the nature of the road, also traffic police were situated along the road with speed guns.

    The King’s palace museum consists of 2 parts. The first is a replica traditional hut made from wood, with the floor covered with mats, also saw the famous long horn cows of the king. There are 2 smaller traditional huts shaped like the kings but much smaller. The first is for a virgin girl who is the custodian of the king’s milk while the second hut is for a virgin boy who is the custodian of the king’s wine.

    The 2nd part is a modern brick and cement building built by the Belgians as a replacement of the original king’s palace which they burnt down earlier.
    In all the museum walk around took 1hr but it was worth the time as I had nothing else planned for the day.

    After a 2hr trip back to Kigali, I asked the driver to drop me off at M- Peace Plaza for late lunch. The plaza is supposed to be a shopping complex but there were few shops, most of the spaces were unoccupied.

    Had an early dinner later in the evening, went down to the reception to settle my outstanding bills after.    Read more

  • TravelerRwanda & Tanzania 2018
    Day 6

    Good Bye Kigali, Transit Dar-es-saalam

    February 5, 2018 in Tanzania ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    Left the hotel for the airport at 6:00 am. Security at the airport was quite impressive. We had to exit the car, offload the bags for a dog to sniff out, pass through metal detectors before loading the bag back into the car and driving to the drop off zone.

    Not much crowd at the airport. Went to an eatery within the departure lounge to have breakfast of orange cake and water. A Cameroonian lady walked over to my table and asked if she could share it. We got talking and I discovered she used to work for Shell downstream in Cameroon, had lots of interesting discussions on Africa. Left for the departure gate at 8:00am, had to pass through security scanning again. The departure area after the security scanner is isolated from the duty free shops.

    Flight left on schedule and after 1hr 30 mins we landed at Kilimanjaro airport, in Tanzania for some passengers to disembark. No new passenger boarded. After 30 mins the flight continued reaching Dar-es-salaam in about 1hr.

    Unlike at Kigali Airport we were given Visa forms to fill at Dar-es-salaam airport after which an immigration officer checks and directs you to a desk for finger printing and then onto another desk where an immigration officer would specify the type of visa you should be granted and amount to pay, after payment at the cashier’s counter we had to wait for about 30mins before the passport was returned with an entry stamp in it. I requested why the real visa wasn’t fixed instead since I was going to Zanzibar, but I was told the stamp is acceptable.

    After picking up my bag I headed for the domestic wing to check into my Zanzibar flight only to discover that a flight would be leaving within the next 1hr 30 mins and I would have to wait 4 hrs for mine. I decided to change to the earlier flight and had to pay a change fee of $38.    Read more

  • TravelerRwanda & Tanzania 2018
    Day 6

    Welcome to Zanzibar

    February 5, 2018 in Tanzania ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    Flight left Dar-es-salaam at 4:00 pm and got to Zanzibar within 20 mins. Had to fill an entry card at Zanzibar but my passport wasn’t checked. Taxi was waiting for me at the airport entrance. The trip to stone town took about 15 mins. Stone town looks like one of the ancient cities in western Nigeria.Read more

  • TravelerRwanda & Tanzania 2018
    Day 7

    Walking tour of Stone Town, Zanzibar

    February 6, 2018 in Tanzania ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    Had early breakfast at 8:00 am in preparation for the walking city tour. My guide Eddy was already waiting downstairs when I came down at 9:00 am as planned. We walked through the old city first to get an Airtel sim card. It took over 30 mins to register and activate the sim card, thereafter the tour started with a visit to the oldest market in Zanzibar which is divided into three sections. We visited the fish section where I saw Octopus, squids, snapper, ray fish and other exotic fish. From the market we proceeded to the slave museum. The compound also houses the 1st Anglican church in Zanzibar which was built in 1874. Saw the sad dungeons where slaves were kept prior to being auction and transported across the sea. We then visited the African House, the old fort which is being prepared for a musical concert starting on the 8th, walked past the House of Wonder, which was the Sultan’s office and the first building with electricity, lift, telephone etc. and finally passed in front of the Palace Museum and then back to the hotel. The entire tour took roughly 3 hrs 30 mins. The entire tour cost TZS 60,000.

    Later in the afternoon I walked down the beach to the floating Restaurant to have lunch on the pier overlooking the ocean. The meal was surprisingly nice and was Beef Pilau with rice. Came back to the room about 3:00 pm and slept till 7:00 pm.

    Dinner was at the famous street market and comprised of BBQ meat & sea food, with fried plantain and chips. The sea food tasted spoilt so I spat it out so as not to purge.    Read more

  • TravelerRwanda & Tanzania 2018
    Day 8

    Exploring Stone Town on my own

    February 7, 2018 in Tanzania ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    Had breakfast early, collected a street map of stone town from the reception and decided to explore the town on my own. Strolling down the seafront my first point of call was the Palace Museum which was the residence of the Sultan of Zanzibar. Zanzibar was part of Oman in the olden days as such the Sultans ruled Oman & Zanzibar together, at one point one of the Sultan moved his capital to Zanzibar and ruled from the Island. The Palace contained old furniture and personal belongings of previous Sultans who made the palace their home. Also, on the ground of the Palace are graves of members of the royal family.

    I continued my sole exploration of Zanzibar by following the outer perimeter road, down narrow streets with sharp corners passed by the 5 star hotels; Hayatt, Double tree and Serena until I eventually came out on the road leading to the Statehouse and high court. The statehouse is a large white building, the fence was shoulder height so I couldn’t see well into the compound. I continued pass the Peace Museum, hoping to walk round the state university of Zanzibar, unfortunately I missed my road, flagged down a bike man who told me I was heading in the direction of the airport and redirected my path. I eventually abandoned the search for the university and flagged down a bike to take me to the slave museum. Interestingly I discovered that most locals in Zanzibar don’t speak English. The bikeman instead of taking me to where I asked took me to a street with lots of restaurants, well it’s a blessing in disguise. I alighted from the bike, paid him Tsh 1,500 for the ride and went into Lakmaan restaurant and ordered Octopus with rice and on 2nd thought added beef and fish just incase I didn’t like the octopus. The octopus tasted crunchy and soft. After lunch I tried to get another bike to the hotel but alas the bike man didn’t understand English. Out of frustration I checked my phone again and still no data signal and then I remembered turning off mobile data the previous night, damn. On putting it on I called on my old reliable and trustworthy friend who would never lead me astray “Google Maps” and discovered I was only 14mins walk from the hotel so I walked back.

    Later in the evening I went to the Floating Restaurant and ordered their fried rice which was supplied with fried egg “sunny side up”, no meat or fish? What a strange meal. Luckily I had the foresight of buying BBQ meat at the evening street market when I stopped to buy roasted corn.    Read more

  • 2024© FindPenguins
  • Home
  • About us
  • Blog
  • Group Tracking
  • Press
  • Terms
  • Privacy Policy & Cookies
  • Support
  • Legal notice
  • English