Tuesday, 20th of February, 2018.
Hitchhiking in Uganda and Rwanda.
A very nice and young truck driver, in a total Bob Marley vibe, gives me a lift from Kasese to Kalebe, a village just nearby the boarder.
From there, I paid 4 thousands until the border, which by the distance I think it was well paid.
At the boarder, everything is fine and I am just walking down the road when this young and nice taxi driver asks if I need help. Perhaps, I looked kind of lost because there were so many trucks that I could not figure out where actually it was the road. So he tells me that there is a town nearby but it is too small and really close to the border. He tells me that the best option is coming to Kigali, just over an hour from there, and his final destination (he is driving a British couple there).
When they pass by, they stop a little further. The couple invites me to come with them, because there are two more spaces available in the car and they had already paid. So yeah! One of the fastest “not thumbs up” hitchhiking experiences ever!
Once in Kigali, I decide for staying one night in the Backpacker’s Hostel. Everything it is quite crazy. To be around all these people it makes me get crazy. Why? Because even knowing that if they are here they are looking for a cheap place to stay, still they are all having beers from here, which means they have money. If I am jealous? Of course! I would love to have an ice cold Heineken right now. I have been to the Supermarket early and felt so crazy also. All that food and vegetables… and mushrooms! I saw people just buying simple things in their regular lives (like this women buying Heinekens and chocolate) and for one moment I missed having money to also be able to buy that. That is my weakness against the monetary world: food. I bought a bottle of water and a package of biscuits. It is cheaper having dinner here in the Hostel. And guess what: I get rice with vegetables masala and French fries! I do not know now if it is simply delicious or it is because I only had a rolex the whole day.
The manager is a very nice and enthusiastic young man. And among the guests, there is a charming man also camping (yeah, by the way I am camping and not staying in one of the dorms), and he is always cooking a lot of different food.
Right now, I’m completely in doubt about what I’m going to do: Should I keep the plan I discussed with K. and find a nice small town, and look for a school to teach there; or keep moving around, like the four corners of Rwanda, just asking for some locals to make my camp in their lands and then cooking my own food? I want to help and go to a school but also would be so nice just to get lost and discover the country. Of course there is the money part, and not having to worry about buying food and having to cook. Actually I think I also have to buy some gas…
I think I will stay one more night and, because I’m already here, take the opportunity to go around Kigali. By the way, everything here is so crazy! Do you want just one example? All the boda-bodas wear helmets! YEAH! And there is more: they carry one or two other helmets for the passengers. Bu-ha! But the town in general, you know?! There is this whole different atmosphere, so different from Uganda, which is so close. I mean, I am not talking just about Kasese, I passed throw Kampala and it was so different too.
Today, I did something which I hadn’t done since I’ve been to Senegal, almost two months ago: I had a hot shower. Before getting in, I thought it would be something amazing, that I would enjoy as I never had one before, but you know what? It was so normal, as I just had had one last night. I guess this is a good sign, right?
P.S.: I ended up having a beer. Not a Heineken but a local one.
Additional information:
– The town I was planning to go after leaving the Rwanda Emigration is called Ruhengeri.
– The couple who stopped for me was from England, Melissa and Jack, who have this incredible job back in the National Gallery in London! Wow! What a nice job, my friends! We had some nice talk until Kigali. They had spent one week in Uganda and another would be spent in Rwanda. They told me about a simple trail in the Volcano’s National Park, which could possibly make you cross the Gorillas path. They also surprised me when revealed not to have eaten any dishes from Uganda. Melissa is a marathon runner, what makes me admire her. With their email contact, Melissa also wished me a cute “Good Lucky!” Luckily, the Motel where they were staying (a nice one by the way) it was near of the Backpacker Hostel I should stay. Abdul, the nice young taxi driver, drove me even a little closer and gave me all the instructions. Because of that, I found it easily. Thank you very much, the three of you, for helping me so much that day.
– Looking back now, to my decision of staying at the Hostel, as usual, I thought I should not have done. If I tell you that I regret to have spent the twenty nine dollars for two nights and two dinners you probably are going to say that I am crazy. But if I tell you that with that money, which could be more than thirty thousand Rwandan Franc, I could survive for at least two weeks you might change your mind. I have to stop to get afraid to make camp in the big cities again, as I was doing in the west. Even somebody told me later that in Kigali you can walk back home at midnight and do not have problems at all with security.
10 Years Around the World 