RWANDA

Location - East/Central Africa; Capital - Kigali; Population - 10 million; Currency - Rwanda Franc MORE RWANDA

From Kampala, Uganda we took a bus direct to Kigali, in December 2007.

1000 Rwandan Francs

Nyamirambo mosque in the Muslim quarter of Kigali

Selling fruit in the Nyamirambo area - Kigali

Kigali city centre

The Kigali Memorial Centre is a memorial to the 1994 genocide.
It is the resting place for around 250,000 people who died in Kigali and surrounds - Kigali

The museum is excellent and well worth visiting.

The wall of names has a long way to go to be completed - Kigali Memorial Centre, Kigali

The Kigali Memorial Centre houses a museum, gardens and a documentation centre

Mass graves in the Kigali Memorial Centre - Kigali

Between 800,000 and 1 million people were killed in Rwanda over a period of only 100 days, starting in April 1994.

I've read 2 very informative books about the genocide -

Season Of Blood: A Rwandan Journey by Fergal Keane

We Wish To Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed Along With Our Families by Philip Gourevitch

- Shake Hands With The Devil by Romeo Dallaire, the UN Force Commander in Rwanda from 1993, is also meant to be a very good account

Part of the memorial gardens - Kigali

Visit the Kigali Memorial Centre website here

The Centre was established in partnership with the Aegis Trust

View of Kigali from the Memorial Centre

Walking along Rue de la Securite, just north of Nyamirambo mosque, we saw the amazing sight of hundreds of bats clinging to the trees, in broad daylight - Kigali

Rue de la Securite - Kigali

A spot of construction work on Rue Kalisimbi - central Kigali

The influence of football and the English Premiership shows itself in Kigali

Hotel des Milles Collines and it's assistant manager at the time of the genocide, Paul Rusesabagina, were the inspiration for the film Hotel Rwanda - Kigali

More about Paul Rusesabagina here

More about Hotel Rwanda here

The view from the top floor restaurant at Hotel des Milles Collines - Kigali

Swimming pool at Hotel des Milles Collines - Kigali

Night time view from Hotel des Milles Collines, Kigali

The site of Radio Rwanda.
I'm not sure whether this was the location of the former station RTLM, aka Hate Radio, which broadcast Hutu Power propaganda at the time of the genocide - Kigali.

RTLM explained here

Ecole Technique Officielle was the setting for the film Shooting Dogs - Kigali

More here

Shooting Dogs official website here

Motel Bella is a colonial house close to the shores of Lake Kivu in Gisenyi, north west Rwanda

Motel Bella's gardens, leading to Lake Kivu - Gisenyi

The beach outside Hotel Kivu Sun - Gisenyi

Lake Kivu and Gisenyi's beach, with the DR Congo town of Goma stretching westwards

The cacti get pretty big in Rwanda, Gisenyi

The DR Congo border is a short walk from Hotel Bella in Gisenyi - this photos shows the outskirts of Goma, close to the border

100 DR Congo Francs

A very active Nyiragongo volcano, in DR Congo - Gisenyi

The grounds of Jamila Beach between Gisenyi and Rubona.
Jamila is the very amiable owner of Motel Bella in Gisenyi.
In December 2007 she was a few months away from opening Jamila Beach.

We'd pop over to Jamila Beach for a day out - Gisenyi

Lunchtime overlooking Lake Kivu at Jamila Beach, with Marie (working for the UN in Goma), my friend Christina, and Jamila - Gisenyi

The gardens of Jamila Beach - Gisenyi.
Email her at jamgisen@yahoo.com for more info about Jamila Beach.

These fishing boats at Rubona are linked together for stability - Gisenyi

Website and content Copyright © 2008-2011 Mark Wilkinson. All rights reserved.

LINKS

www.rwandapartners.org - helping Rwanda's 'healing and restoration'

www.hrw.org/reports/1999/rwanda - Human Rights Watch analysis of the genocide

www.rwanda-direct.com

www.rwandatourism.com - Rwanda tourist board (ORTPN) are responsible for the issuing of gorilla tracking permits

www.rwandagateway.org

I am not responsible for the content of external websites.