What Is Kigali, Rwanda Like? Spend A Day With Me!

Intro

Upon landing from Addis Ababa/Somalia with Ethiopian Airlines, I had a couple of days to kill in the capital of Rwanda. During my time in Kigali, I got up to plenty of activities, such as visiting the memorial, but I wanted to touch on a day in the life of visiting Rwanda. This is something I've never done for the blog, so let's see how it goes...

Waking Up Sick...

Honestly, there are worse places in the world to wake up in than Rwanda (imagine waking up in the US😂 (I'm joking, relax)). I had booked a hotel the previous night for approximately 98$ on hotels.com, and I have to say that it provided a very decent sleep for myself.

I digress; the first stop of the day was breakfast. I headed off to this spot just down the street, with a free-flowing brunch for 20 USD. Not bad, and the food was absolutely delicious.

Note: Walking around Kigali is extremely safe, even more than walking around London or Paris, for example.

Filling my belly up, it was time to explore the beautiful city. Back in primary school, I had a teacher who would talk about the amazing work he did in Rwanda, and I wanted to see around this country that I had heard so much about!

The biggest aspect I noticed is how clean and green the city is. Takeaway Africa as a continent; this could rival the likes of Singapore in terms of prettiness.

The whole day was spent walking and shopping, as downtown is pretty easily located if you are a walker (more on that soon). However, upon getting right into the center, I found a cute little supermarket I thought I would check out. As it would turn out, a supermarket in Kigali has gym equipment and pretty much everything under the sun!😂

Lunch

While Rwanda does have a lot of local food, due to my allergies and being sick, I decided on a hearty steak for lunch. I could drop countless recommendations, but all of the upscale restaurants are Westernized, with delicious steak and beers for valid prices.

Note: One of the biggest things I have learned for this trip to Africa is how much fries are served with meals. Pizza? Have some fries with that. Ham and cheese panini? Have some fries with that. Etc...

Returning Back To The Hotel

Following a long and hearty day, I had some time to reflect on Rwanda.

It's a funny place to be around as it doesn't feel much like the other places in Africa I have visited. From my experience, it is the closest country in Africa you can get to that is similar to the West. It is, for the most part, a safe and stable country with plenty of security all around. For me, Kigali wasn't everything that I hoped or dreamed of, but it wasn't bad at all. It's just not my type of place I would like to visit, it doesn't have the same hustle and bustle of their neighbour (the DRC).

Final Thoughts

If you are planning on visiting Kigali and haven't traveled much to Africa, this is a fantastic place for an introductory lesson. Don't get me wrong, Rwanda is a beautiful country, but the countryside is much more my vibe than the Westernized capital. That being said, I had some fantastic comfort food, walked along the greenest streets, and was mindblown by a local supermarket 🥴.