From Tanzania to Rwanda

We left Busisi around 08h15 and arrived in Benaco at 16h00.  It took us close on three hours to do the last 60 km’s due to the very badly potholed road.   Thank goodness we would only have another 18 km’s from Benaco to the Rusumo Border Post.  Unfortunately, this is the only way in and out of Rwanda from/to Tanzania, which means we have this rotten road to contend with on the way back.


Unfortunately I cant show you haw bad the road is because the wifi link here is to weak to upload pictures.

Our night in Benaco at the Starmax Motel was a truly “African” experience (Richard and Lynn – even more so than our stay at the “Lodge” in Kanga, Botswana!).  Amos, the Manager was extremely friendly.  The rooms were clean, but the en suite left a lot to be desired – French toilet, shower and basin the same cubicle.  The town was experiencing a power outage for the last three days already, so there was no water either.  Thank goodness we are totally self-sufficient in our camper!  We were able to have a decent camp meal in the carpark.  For dessert we ordered local cuisine – chicken and cooked green banana that tasted exactly like potato!  Interestingly, there are five varieties of bananas in Tanzania, and the green ones that they cook apparently never turn yellow!
The adjacent pub and nearby main road were noisy during the night, so not much sleep was had.



Rusumo Border Post & Kigali

Day 46 & 47 – 24th  & 25th July 2019

We arrived at the “One-Stop” Tanzania/Rwanda Border Post at 08h00 and left at 11h00.  This was mainly due to the Rwandan systems that are extremely slow and a thorough search of all bags and containers that were in the inside of the vehicle.  They didn’t however ask us to open up the camper.  We still don’t know what exactly they were looking for.
We needed to pay US$30 each for a visa, 15 000 Rwanda Franc for vehicle entry and Rf 30 503 for 3rd Party Insurance.

We knew we wanted to visit the Kigali Genocide Memorial when we got there, but had heard from Stan (our planning mentor) that there were interesting churches near Kigali, so decided to fit that in before reaching the city.  We visited the Nyamata Genocide Memorial where more than 10 000 tutsi’s were massacred.  A rather depressing experience, but one which gave a better understanding of the genocide era.   We were to find several more of these types of memorials scattered throughout the country during our travels.

We found our way to the Step Town Motel, situated in Kigali Heights, that had a great view over the city.  Both the accommodation and restaurant were excellent.  The staff were really great too, and we shall be returning here on route back to Tanzania in 8 days.


We visited the city’s attractions the next day, including the really big and very well laid out Genocide Memorial and Gorilla Statues in the city centre.  We were able to stock up on supplies at the Simba Shopping Centre.



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