Hi
I have one day in Kigali before beginning a tour (which includes the Genocide Museum so will leave this til the tour) so am looking for your top tips on how to spend the day! Also, I need to buy a sleeping bag...any ideas where one can be found in Kigali??
Thanks in advance for any help!
You may struggle to find a sleeping bag in Kigali. Nakumatt in the UTC has a small selection of camping equipment.
Not a huge amount to do in Kigali if you are already seeing the Genocide Memorial. You could do a day trip to Nyamata and Ntarama churches (also genocide memorials), or just have a wonder round the city, craft markets, lunch, drink in the garden at Milles Colines etc, it's quite a pleasant city for strolling.
If your Saturday is the last Saturday of the month not much will be open before noon and there will not be much public transport as it is Umuganda (sp?) when everyone has to do community service.
There is a small museum, the Kandt museum, which you can visit. Kandt was the first German governor of the country. The museum is in the house where he used to live. It is near the prison called 1930. Have a look at:
http://www.museum.gov.rw/2_museums/kigali/kandt_house/pages_html/intro/page_intro.htm
Umuganda is the right spelling indeed. This is from a 2008 New Times article:
"In Rwanda, on the last Saturday of the month, there is a mandatory work fest from 7:00am to noon, it is called Umuganda. It is a Rwandan tradition that dates back to long before colonial times.
During Umuganda (literally meaning "contribution"); every able bodied person aged 18 years or older is supposed to participate in the unpaid communal. Businesses close and no public transportation operates."