Driving in Kigali

So here we are arrived in Rwanda and begun to learn our way around. Rwanda is often referred to as the land of “A Thousand Hills” and indeed what we’ve seen so far of Kigali at least lives up to its moniker. We’ve been driving one of the vehicles that belongs to Tulane. By we, I mean Reid drives us around and we cringe in the passenger seating. It’s a manual transmission, 4-wheel drive Toyota. If I thought that driving in Windhoek, Namibia was insane, I need to take the opportunity to reassess having experienced what can only be described as unbridled chaos, if indeed such a phrase can exist. The traffic here is constant. Where all of these people can be going, I haven’t a clue but there is constant movement on roads until late in the night.

We’ve been staying in an apartment on one of the main drags of the city and since there isn’t any air-conditioning, windows remain open all day to the sound of motors, horns, and general mayhem. There are as many pedestrians lining the roadways as there are vehicles, all perilously close to the flow of traffic. Additionally, the number of moto-taxis weaving in and out of already rapidly moving vehicles can turn the steeliest of drivers into a basket case of nerves. The moto-taxis come up from behind on the left or the right—which ever direction suits their fancy. They stop and start for potential and current fares with no prior indication. They turn left in front of speeding on-coming cars. I suppose riding on the back of one of those could qualify as the practice of an extreme sport .

I cannot, in all of my wildest imaginings begin to believe that I will be able to master the art of driving here! We will eventually have to purchase our own vehicle and I’m sure with our budget, it will also be a manual transmission. I am intimately acquainted with my limitations in negotiating hills in a manual having lived it in Windhoek. I am not looking forward to reliving that experience compounded with the addition of the aforementioned chaos….Oh did I also mention that there are as many unpaved roads in the city as there are paved? What about the lack of street signs? People navigate by landmark, go figure. More on that later. I’m exhausted just writing about the topic!