Rwanda - definitely has potential

I arrived in Kigali a few days ago and was surprised to see Grindr was active here. Quite a few guys had potential. Even though I said no disappearing photos and no money boys (Grindr doesn’t allow you to use the word “money” but there is a $ emoji for some reason), I got both - disappearing photos and MBs. A few guys offered massage. One guy I really liked didn’t mention money up front but when I asked, he said he needed money to cover transportation because he was a student. It was a reasonable amount.

But then I had an issue with my first hotel, 2000 Hotel - there was construction on the floor above me that went on later into the evening, and after an overnight flight from Cairo, I just wasn’t in the mood. I was supposed to stay there three nights, go south to Kibeho for a night and then return to Kigali for 4 more nights. I didn’t like the location of the 2000 and was unimpressed by their lack of urgency on moving me to a new room even though I saw many empty rooms on my floor. So my intentions of meeting up with this one guy who wanted transportation money went out the window because I decided I needed a 5-star hotel. I moved to the Serena Kigali, which is up in the hills and has pretty tight security. Even though this guy told me anyone can have visitors in hotels, I’m feeling hesitant. That and also, I came down with a cold, I’m having stomach issues, and meeting random strangers is not high on my priority list right now (getting over this cold is). But I wanted to report.

There was another guy who contacted me on Grindr whose screen name was “sauna to dai” - when I asked him what it meant, he said he was at the sauna. The only information he would give me was the name - Sky. I asked if it was gay and he said no. I asked what he does there and he didn’t answer.

There is a nice gym and sauna here at the Serena. I went there on Saturday before I came down with this cold, and there were a few older Rwandans (younger than me) and I wondered if anything might happen. My ideal situation would be to meet someone here at the hotel to avoid the awkwardness of meeting in the lobby and all of that, so we’ll see.

This is my first time in sub-Saharan Africa. After Cairo, I have to say I appreciate the cleanliness. It is spotless. No litter anywhere. Plastic bags have been banned for years. Getting around is challenging because of the hills, but there are a few ride share apps that I plan on trying - one with Volkswagens. The people are lovely - beautiful women and handsome men. My biggest complaint is that they speak at such a low volume as someone with hearing loss it’s incredibly frustrating. Not matter how many times I tell them that my hearing is bad and ask them to speak up, they continue whispering. I’m starting to get irritated by it, but it’s obvious it’s cultural.

My main reason for coming was to go to Kibeho. One of my post-retirement projects is visiting places of Marian apparitions and Mary appeared to three school girls in Kibeho in the early 80s. There was also a genocide memorial there. The juxtaposition of the two sites was very powerful and a bit confusing. The genocide memorial was haunting.

If you want any tips or help with travel planning, I am available for a small fee of 5,000 euros (just kidding - but that seems to be the new thing on this forum).

So, Rwanda has a scene on Grindr and apparently Sky sauna is a place where action might happen. Other than that, it’s a lovely, clean country filled with low talkers.