We were smitten with Kigali from the moment of our arrival. The setting amongst countless hills, clean, well-lit streets, the cosmopolitan feel – after our long days of travel across Central and Northern Tanzania, Kigali felt like a veritable paradise.

We were hoping for some comfort and relaxation in Kigali (as well as a good place to do some trip planning), and so we used Airbnb to find a room in a home in Kimihurura – a vibrant neighborhood near downtown, popular with expats. The American couple who lives in the home (and rents out their spare bedroom) happened to be out of town during our visit, so we had the run of the place – although the groundskeeper and his dog were on hand to show us around.¹ (Okay, the groundskeeper showed us around; the dog just alternately barked at us and wanted to be petted.)

On the night of our arrival, we took ourselves out for a drink to celebrate our successful journey from Tanzania. We then went out to dinner at a Chinese restaurant – the nicest restaurant we had seen since leaving Dar es Salaam.² We managed to catch the tail-end of happy hour (three beers for the price of two!), and enjoyed drinks and dinner on a terrace with an amazing view of nighttime Kigali. From our vantage point, Kigali was like no other African city we had seen in months: the traffic moved in orderly patterns across the network of paved roads, the brightly lit windows of buildings gleamed in the dark.

As it turned out, the first night was the last time that we went out to dinner in Kigali. The next night we discovered that the city’s second-most highly ranked restaurant on Trip Advisor was a nearby burrito place called Meze Fresh, and more importantly that you could order from it using the online delivery service Hello Food!

The burritos were so delicious that we ordered them two nights in a row.

Although it would have been easy to remain indoors in Kigali – our accommodation was comfortable (and had wifi), food delivery was cheap and fast, and there was a dog in the mix – I promise that we ventured outside to do some exploring. We spent time wandering around the city, checking out its neighborhoods and its stores, and just generally people-watching.

To reach downtown Kigali from Kimihurura, we used moto taxis. These are exactly what they sound like: motorbikes used as taxis. I dreaded the moment that I would have to climb aboard the back of one of these moto taxis, sure that I would fall off and perish, but I ended up really liking them as a mode of transportation. They were cheap, impervious to traffic jams, and made you feel like you were flying. We joked that we should just ride around on the backs of moto taxis all day as a fun way to see the city.

Of course, our visit to Kigali wasn’t all exhilarating trips on moto taxis and delicious delivery burritos; we also paid our respects to the victims of the 1994 genocide with a visit to the Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre. The memorial center shed light on the historical tensions that led up to the massacre and had several bone-chilling displays, including ripped and bloodied articles of clothing found in mass graves, photographs of the victims, and videos of survivors describing the horror.

Walking around Kigali as a tourist in 2014, it can be hard to imagine that something like the genocide could happen in such an orderly, seemingly friendly place. The memorial center brought it all home, and the contrast between modern Kigali and the history presented in the memorial center demonstrate just how far Rwanda has come in twenty years.

Where We Ate (& Drank):
☆ The Sundowner Bar. This is where we had drinks on our first night in Kigali. We decided to have dinner somewhere else, but plenty of people (including, but not limited to, large groups of expats) were inside having dinner.

☆ Flamingo Chinese Restaurant. We enjoyed happy hour and Chinese food (noodles and a sizzling plate of vegetables) while enjoying a great view over Kigali.

☆ Bourbon Coffee. We took advantage of the free wifi here one afternoon, and enjoyed coffee and delicious sandwiches.

☆ Meze Fresh. Our favorite place, hooray! Kind of like a Rwandan incarnation of Chipotle, you get to customize what goes into your burrito. Marc, who can be somewhat snobby about Mexican food, was obsessed with the carnitas burrito he constructed. The second night we ordered food, we even got Hello Food to deliver us some beers along with it.

☆ Hero Shop. Remember when we arrived in Kigali and our taxi driver insisted on asking for directions from everyone walking down the street, including someone who happened to be drinking a delicious-looking smoothie? We found the smoothie shop not far from our rental, and it was even better than I imagined: Hero Shop carries a spinach smoothie.

---

¹ We particularly enjoyed having access to the house’s kitchen – we cooked breakfast each morning – and washing machine.
² In many smaller cities/towns across East Africa, the only formalized restaurants – if there are any at all – are located in hotels, and are nearly always uninspiring.