Further Afield

ENJOYING BUTARE

We stopped in Butare on the way from Nyungwe to Kigali and were pleasantly surprised to see what this town has to offer. The number of young people in and around immediately strike you and you're reminded that it is very much a student town which is home to among other institutions, the National University of Rwanda. Offering a huge range of places to eat and visit we started off with a visit to the National Museum of Rwanda followed by lunch at the Hotel Ibis.  

National Museum of Rwanda is a huge complex situated on your right as you enter Butare from Kigali. The entrance was only RFr 1,000 (£1 sterling) per person. Very well laid out with artefacts and replicas from pre-colonial times, one is introduced to every aspect of Rwanda - at this stage, the explanatory notes are only in French and Kinyarwandan but the plan is to add English translations too. Some art and crafts are for sale at the museum too (some of the best prices in Rwanda) and behind the complex are a variety of craft workshops and a restaurant serving local style meals.

Hotel Ibis offers a lovely variety of meals on a 'patio' along the main road in the centre of town. A perfect place for a lovely meal and watch the working Butare pass which includes a who's who of the world's charity and aid organisations.   The meals are huge (seemingly the norm in Rwanda) and really tasty. The lunch with a couple of beers cost only RFr8,500 (Approx. US$16) for both of us.

Further entertainment (for Sarah anyway) followed in the form of me having a haircut in the local barbershop across the road from the hotel. Admittedly, the guy did do a really good job and was frequently complimented by his colleagues for doing so well with a 'mzungu's' haircut. A few shops from the barbershop is the excellent Co-opérative des Producteurs Artisanaux de Butare (COPABU) arts and crafts shop.

The arts and crafts featured a variety of Rwandan items with some Congolese products too. Once again, the low prices were refreshing, even lower after negotiating down the prices marked on the items. Only a few days later someone told me that the reason art and crafts in the rest of the country generally cost more than in Butare, was that this was a source of much of the products.

Continuing from Butare toward Kigali, you'll find a little sign on the left to the Potterie de Gatagara . Follow this road for 2-3km (the sign says it's only 1km!) to a home for the handicapped. The pottery is located immediately on the left just outside the gate. The potters were busy working in their little workshop when we got there and gladly opened the shop for us to see the finished products.   On display was a variety of crockery items and animals and all at very reasonable prices.

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