Rwanda
Bugura

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    • 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.
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