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9 Facts about Rwanda
9 Visitor accounts
9 Facts for the visitor
9 Attractions
9 Culture
9 Infrastructure
9 Travel advisory

Services - Facts for the visitor

In this section you can find information on:

- Entry requirements
- Embassies
- Customs
- Health
- Time
- Electricity
- Weights and measures
- Money
- Communications
- Photography
- Dangers and annoyances
- Public holidays and special events
- Rwanda Tourism Office (ORTPN)
- Books about Rwanda
 

Entry requirements:
• Visas (information from the Immigration Office, October 2004): Generally, tourist visas cost US$60, are valid for a period of 15 days, and can be obtained at Kigali's international airport or at the border posts. They are required by all visitors except nationals of the USA, the UK, Germany, Sweden, Canada, Hong Kong, South Africa, Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Mauritius. Nationals of these countries are allowed to enter the country for a period of up to 3 months without a visa. For more updated information please check with the Rwandan embassy closest to your home.
• Yellow fever certificates are compulsory for a visit to Rwanda.
• Visitors from all nationalities require a passport that is valid for at least another 6 months at the date of entry.
• Entry to neighbouring countries: For land crossings to the eastern parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo (Goma or Bukavu), one-month visas can be obtained at the border (for most European nationals they cost US$30), and the border crossing takes hardly more than five minutes (this was our experience at the Gisenyi/Goma border in July 2003). Changes should be expected. Visas for Uganda or Tanzania can also be obtained at the border.
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 Embassies:
• Rwandan embassies abroad: Rwandan embassies abroad can be found in Brussels (Belgium), Ottawa (Canada), Beijing (China), Paris (France), Bonn (Germany), Tokyo (Japan), Pretoria (South Africa), London (UK) and Washington DC (USA).
• Foreign embassies in Rwanda or responsible for Rwanda: 

Customs:
• Rwanda has standard customs allowances (e.g. 200 cigarettes and 1 litre of spirits).
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Health:
• The following vaccinations are advisable: tetanus, diphtheria, polio, hepatitis A (if you stay more than three months, also hepatitis B)
• Malaria is a problem in those parts of the country that have a lesser altitude or higher temperatures. Therefore, prognosis against malaria is recommended (e.g. Lariam).
• Medical supply in the country is limited although Kigali has a reasonably equipped private hospital (King Faycal Hospital). Sufficient health insurance as well as insurance for return transport are recommended.
• Please ask your doctor for more information.
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Time:
• Rwanda time is GMT/UTC plus two hours.
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Electricity:
• Rwanda uses 230/240V at 50Hz. While power supply in many urban centres is quite good, it is rather limited in most rural areas.
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Weights and measures:
• Rwanda uses the metric system.
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Money:
• Currency: The Rwandan Franc (RFr) is the unit of currency in Rwanda. Notes come in 100, 500, 1000 and 5000 dominations, coins in 1, 5, 10, 20 and 50 (but it’s rather unlikely that you will deal with coins).
• Exchanging money: In the past, only US dollars were accepted at most money changing facilities. Today, even on the streets Euros are exchanged without much of a problem. Travellers cheques still  give a hard time as only banks accept them and rates are significantly lower as cash rates. It appears  to be even worse for credit cards (only few banks and major hotels accept them), so that it is  recommended to bring sufficient amounts of cash for personal expenses. It has to be noted that larger  bills usually generate higher exchange rates than smaller bills (at least in the streets).
• Exchange rates: Foreign exchange rates vary according to the changing facility. Generally, rates at banks are lower than at foreign exchange bureaus (“forex bureaux”). Street money changing is now prohibited, and you will hardly come across any unofficial money changer any more. ATMs are not available in Rwanda. Fluctuation in October 2004 ranged from RFr 570 for US$1 at banks to RFr 585 for US$1 from forex bureaux. Your Amahoro tour guide will be able to help you finding the best option. In certain hotels and restaurants, it’s possible to exchange money  or to pay with US$ or even Euro.
• Costs: It is true that Rwanda can be quite an expensive destination compared to its neighbouring countries when you wish to enjoy a certain living standard. The main reason for this appears to be the large number of expatriates and NGOs in the country. However, in our 2003 visitor survey we discovered that budget travellers who already had been to other African countries were quite  satisfied with the living costs. Therefore, we believe that costs can be kept to a reasonable budget level if the visitor doesn’t intend to enjoy all the luxury he or she finds at home.
• Tipping and bargaining: Tipping is common in the cities due to the large international presence. Bargaining is definitely worth a try when buying souvenirs from street vendors in Kigali. However, in most shops and tourist facilities, prices are fixed.
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Communications:
• Telephone and fax: Rwanda has a comparably excellent phone network. The international dial code is +250. Rwandatel is available in all major hotels, at phone kiosks and from private providers. If you want to use your international mobile phone, please check with your own provider whether you will be able to use the Rwandan network. For example German SIM-cards still don’t work in the country. Local SIM cards (“pay as you go”) using GSM system are widely available for reasonable prices at MTN RwandaCell shops. Please ask your tour guide for more information.
• Email and Internet access: Internet cafes are starting to be available at different places in Kigali and even in smaller cities such as Ruhengeri. In Kigali, you can find one for example in all large hotels or at the Kigali Business Centre in Kacyiru. Recently, the aforementioned places have also established Wireless LAN connections. Currently (October 2004), these are free at the Hotel Intercontinental and at the Kigali Business Centre.
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Photography:
• As in most other countries you are not allowed to take photos from anything related to government institutions or military installations (this includes even post offices, banks, bridges, border crossings, prisons, dams etc.). We even faced fierce opposition when we tried to take a photo outside of a UN building. Always ask before you want to take a photo of people – in most cases they will accept when you ask politely. To take photos of the gorillas it should be noted that their habitat is in the jungle and it might be quite dark.
• The choice of films is still very limited and they might be more expensive than in other countries. Therefore, it is advisable to bring all equipment you intend to use on the trip.
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Dangers and annoyances:
• General: You can find up-to-date information on the security situation in Rwanda in our section on travel advisories. It is interesting to note the differences among these official national statements. For our part, we believe that Rwanda is one of the safest places in the whole region and throughout the summer of 2003 during which we interviewed more than 500 visitors, we didn’t come across any major safety concern or problem. To the contrary, the large majority of the respondents to our survey were extremely satisfied with the security conditions in the country. Hence, if you take the usual precautions that are advisable for any trip to a developing country, you should be on the safe side.
• Women travellers: The usual precautions are appropriate (e.g. not walking alone at night time).
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Public holidays and special events:
• New Year’s Day (1/1)
• Democracy Day (28/1)
• Genocide Memorial Day (7/4)
• Easter (Good Friday, Holy Saturday, Easter Monday around March/April)
• Labour Day (1/5)
• Ascension Thursday (around May)
• Whit Monday (around May)
• Independence Day (1/7)
• National Liberation Day (4/7)
• Harvest Festival (1/8)
• Assumption Day (15/8)
• Culture Day (8/9)
• Republic Day (25/9)
• Heroes’ Day (1/10)
• All Saints’ Day (1/11)
• Christmas Day (25/12)
• Boxing Day (26/12)
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Rwanda Tourism Office (ORTPN):
• Address: Boulevard de la Révolution n°1, PO Box 905, Kigali, Rwanda
• Contact: (tel) +250-576514, (fax) +250-576515, (email) reservations@rwandatourism.com
• Despite the new public working hours (7 :30 am to 3 :30 pm), the ORTPN office in Kigali is generally open to visitors up to 5 pm Monday to Friday, and Saturday mornings. Gorilla permits have to be booked here, and the office offers a small range of printed information, maps, postcards and souvenirs.
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Books about Rwanda:
• Barnett, M. (2003) Eyewitness to a genocide: The United Nations and Rwanda. Cornell University Press.
• Briggs, P. and Booth, J. (2001) Rwanda: The Bradt Travel Guide. Bradt Travel Guides Ltd, Bucks.
• Chrétien, J.-P. and Straus, S. (2003) The Great Lakes of Africa: Two thousand years of history. Zone Books.
• Destexhe, A., Marschner, A. and Shawcross, W. (1996) Rwanda and genocide in the Twentieth Century New York University Press.
• Finlay, H., Fitzpatrick, M., Fletcher, M. and Ray, N. (2000) East Africa. Lonely Planet. Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd, Footscray.
• Fossey, D. (1988) Gorillas in the Mist. Mariner Books.
• Gourevitch, P. (1999) We wish to inform you that tomorrow we will be killed with our families: Stories from Rwanda. Picador USA.
• Halsey Carr, R., Howard Halsey, A. and Halsey Carr, R. (2000) Land of a Thousand Hills: My life in Rwanda. Plume.
• Mamdani, M. (2002) When victims become killers: Colonialism, nativism and the genocide in Rwanda. Princeton University Press.
• Melvern, L. (2000) A people betrayed: The role of the West in Rwanda's genocide. Zed Books.
• Nolting, M.W. (2003) Africa’s top wildlife countries. Global Travel Publishers Inc, Ft. Lauderdale.
• Pottier, J. (2002) Re-imagining Rwanda. Conflict, survival and disinformation in the late 20th century. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
• Stevenson, T., Fanshawe, J., Small, B., Gale, J., Arlott, N. and Stevens, T. (2001) Field guide to the birds of East Africa: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi. Academic Press.
• Tadjo, V. (2002) The shadow of Imana. Travels in the heart of Rwanda. Heinemann, Oxford.
• Uvin, P. (1998) Aiding violence: The development enterprise in Rwanda. Kumarian Press.
• Waller, D. (1997) Rwanda – which way now? Oxfam, Oxford.
• Weber, B. and Vedder, A. (2003) In the kingdom of gorillas: Fragile species in a dangerous land. Simon & Schuster.
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