Breakfast in Rwanda

The original plan was to travel all the way from Kigoma to Kigali in one day. While this journey is perhaps 100miles as the crow flies, and still only 300 by road, I knew this was an ambitious plan. When, just outside of Kigoma a truck spun out in the mud, blocking the road for a few hours I knew it wasn't going to happen. The rest of the trip went smoothly however, and I did make it to the (former refugee camp) town of Benako at the border just before sundown. I settled in at a derelict guesthouse (no running water) and went to bed.

I woke up early the next morning and went out to look for something to eat before I hit the road. After looking around, and asking a few people, I pulled up a bucket around an open fire with a small group of people where they were brewing coffee, and even had mandazi (soggy donut type things). The people were friendly, the breakfast was as good as expected, and soon enough I was on the back of a motorcycle headed towards Rusumo Falls (Tanzania/Rwanda border, [pictured]).

Most borders are hell, with overzealous immigration officers surrounded by disreputable towns. This border was thankfully a breeze (though if I wasn't American or a select group of other nationalities I would have been refused entry and would have had to go the nearest Rwandan embassy to arrange a visa [in Nairobi], a rare time when it paid to be from the good ol' USA, lots of other countries charge us 10times what others pay to reciprocate our generous immigration policies.) So I walk into Rwanda to await the next minibus headed towards Kigali. I had some time to wait so I walked around the Rwandan side of the border. It was immediately apparent that the standard of life was a bit higher on this side of the imaginary line. I stopped into a local restaurant for a 2nd breakfast (It was only 8 in the morning) and for less than $1.50, had an amazing breakfast of fresh chapatis, eggs, beans, and tea. Needless to say, this was a good sign of things to come in the land of a thousand hills.