Explore the Vibrant Kimironko market in the heart of Kigali city, Rwanda.
Kimironko market located in the heart of Kigali is the biggest market and shopping area in Rwanda. The complex and versatile market invites all people in and around Kigali to shop the different products. The market has a variety of products from essential goods like clothes, and home accessories to food such as vegetables and fruits.
Kimironko market is well strategically located in the heart of Kigali accessible to anyone around Kigali and beyond. The market presents products from Rwanda and those imported from neighboring countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda.
Kimironko market has different entrances that ease the accessibility of the market given the number of people it hosts on a daily. Each entrance is directed to a different section of the market selling different products. This eases shopping, especially for newcomers in the market, and saves time searching for a product in a different section.
The main Kimironko market gate is adjusted to the bus park and several boda stages that shoppers hire for a ride home. Kimironko market is the biggest and busiest market in Rwanda. The weekdays are the busiest days in the market since these are the days when business in the market is very active and traders from neighboring countries bring in their merchandise. However, Sundays in the market present slow and sluggish business due to the low turn-up of traders since it is their day off.
What to combine the Kimironko market tour with?
Rwanda is a tourism hub with a variety of attractions for visitors to check out. These attractions are located in and around Kigali. The country’s good road network enables visitors to quickly access these areas in the shortest time. Kimironko market tour in Kigali can be combined with the following activities.
Kigali city tour
Kigali is ranked as the cleanest and most beautiful city in Africa. It is a luxury marvel with beautiful streets decorated with beautiful flowers and lights. The city is well organized with spaced roads and walkways. Kigali city is located on several hills and valleys with its beautiful buildings offering incredible scenes as the sun sets behind them.
Gorilla trekking
Gorilla trekking involves navigating through the dense vegetation in search of the endangered mountain gorillas. Rwanda is one of the few countries that hosts endangered mountain gorillas. This is because it is located in the Virunga conservation area that stretches from the Democratic Republic of Congo in Virunga National Park, through Uganda’s Mgahinga Gorilla and Bwindi Impenetrable National Parks to Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park. This conservation area is the only remaining region in the world hosting these mountain gorilla primates.
Volcanoes National Park is located about 104 kilometers from Kigali and takes approximately 2 hours to get there. The gorilla trekking experience in the Volcanoes National Park offers a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to encounter the endangered mountain gorillas in their natural habitat. Visitors are given approximately an hour with the mountain gorillas where they will observe them as they play, feed, and roam around with their daily chores.
Cultural encounters
Culture has been the heart of Rwanda’s heritage since ancient times. There are different cultural sites where Rwanda’s heritage and culture is fully exposed. The Iby’íwacu Cultural Village located in Musanze district a few kilometers from the main gate of Volcanoes National Park offers the best cultural insights of Rwanda’s rich heritage.
At the village, visitors are exposed to different traditions like dress codes, norms and values, and traditional activities like cattle rearing. The visitors are also entertained by the traditional dances as they enjoy the traditional dishes.
The King’s palace located in Nyanza town is also a great place to uncover Rwanda’s rich cultural heritage. Rwanda was once a monarchy that was ruled by King Rudahigwa Mutara III during colonial rule. However, due to strong resistance from the other tribes and also from the Belgian colonialists, the monarch collapsed. The king’s palace is now a cultural site for visitors to learn about the traditions of Rwandans and how their kings were.
Genocide sites
Visitors on a tour of the Kimironko market in Kigali can also combine their tour with a visit to the different genocide sites in Kigali. The year 1994 is a dark year that every Rwanda of this generation cannot forget. This is a year that saw the country undergo a genocide of the Hutu majority against the Tutsi minorities. For over 100 years the country saw approximately 800,000 people massacred in cold blood.
There are different sites where the genocide severely took place around the city. These include the Kigali Memorial Center, a place where over 250,000 people were buried. The center exhibits the names of some of the people killed in the genocide. It has different sections from the child section to adult and a section showing the different genocides that took place across the world.
Nyamata Church is also another genocide site to check out in Kigali. This place includes a church that saw the massacre of over 1,000 people who had sought refuge in the church. The clothes and blood of saints on the walls of the church are still visible even today. There is a mass grave behind the church where most of the victims were buried.
