Luxury in Rwanda
on Geri Skeen (Rwanda), 06/Jul/2011 03:56, 34 days ago
I’ve worked out what I need to do occasionally for a bit of R&R. It’s to take a swim in the Mille Collines hotel pool whenever I go to Kigali. It’s the hotel of Hotel Rwanda fame (though they changed the name of the hotel in the film and actually filmed it at a different hotel). As I swim, I recall how those taking refuge here during the genocide ended up drinking the pool water, and I feel relieved to be part of the sanity and normality which has returned after that madness. I’m usually the only person in the pool, which is maybe 20 metres long. It’s cold enough to keep me moving but not unpleasantly cold. I have always loved swimming on my back looking at the sky and feeling the sun on my face. The pool attendant knows me now and insists on teaching me a bit of Kinyarwanda each time I go. This time it’s ‘Ngiye coga’ – I’m going for a swim. He leaves a towel on top of my rucksack and I relish a touch of the ex-pat lifestyle after the relative discomfort of Gitarama. Then a cappuccino and fish lunch by the pool.