Huye Talking To? Week 9

Week 9 - Seeing Kigali team and visiting the King's palace.

As you are probably aware by now there are three teams in three different parts of Rwanda, the UK volunteers originally left the UK stayed in the capital (Kigali) for 6 days, during this time we met the in-country volunteers and established bonds, before being spilt into different groups and travelling to our respective cities, Huye, Gatsibo while some stayed in Kigali. 

A majority of the in-country volunteers are from Kigali, and some are from different provinces. 

However, this week we, the Kigali team were lucky enough to visit our beautiful city and take a break from the hustle and bustle of busy Kigali and enjoy some down time with the Huye team.

We welcomed them with open arms, and were more than excited to see their faces; they spent the early afternoon in the museum that I wrote about in week 7.

We had lunch together, chips, and then proceeded back to AMU where we took a coach to none other than THE KING’S PALACE! In the nearby town, Nynza which is about 45 mins from Huye. 

We reached the king’s palace where we took plenty of selfies and had an in depth tour of the King’s home, we also had a chance to see some of the Royal Cows (Rwandan’s have a lot of respect for cows, it’s a pretty big deal so they have a number of royal cattle at the King’s Palace.)

Based in Nyanza, 88 km south of Kigali City, this was the residence of King Mutara III Rudahigwa and the Royal Palace that was traditionally built. This Palace offers a detailed look into Rwandan traditional seat of their monarchy, it is an impressive museum, restored to its 19th-century state and made entirely with traditional materials. Recently the Long-horned Traditional cows, known in Kinyarwanda as "Inyambo" were also introduced because of the fact that cows form an integral part of Rwandan Culture . On the neighboring hill of Mwima, one can also visit the burial grounds of King Mutara III and his wife Queen Rosalie Gicanda.

The day was an opportunity to experience more of Rwanda, for both in-country and UK volunteers, everyone had a fantastic time. All in all the two groups had lots of fun and it gave the Huye team an opportunity to reflect and consider how differently things could have been.