Cafe Bourbon

This may be one of my favorite places on earth. I know I said that I’d stay away from Western-style places, but after one interestingly muddy cup of coffee at my hotel, I came up the hill to the café, which is inside the Union Trade Center. There is a bank there, too, as well as several fast-food type places. There are tables and chairs in the center of the floor, and the shops are all around the border on two floors. This is also where I bought my Rwandan cell phone for 14900 RWf. I can also get pay-go cards to add minutes to the phone at all hours, which I needed to the other night when I called back to the states and got cut off mid-call.

Kigali seems like NYC to me. There is so much going on at all hours; maybe the city takes a nap between 4:30 and daybreak (just before 6) which seems the case on the weekend when the clubs blare out dance music.

Café Bourbon never seems to close, although I’m sure it must. It is a magnet for muzungus (White people). I always sit alone and it’s just like being home in that muzungus pretty much ignore each other. I’ve bumped into NAR interns here a few times, which has been useful.
The coffee here is astoundingly good. Rich, but not bitter. The milk I get with my café au lait is frothy, thick, and hot. The food is really good, too. European-style cheeses, ripened like Camembert. I haven't had a hamburger here, but the club sandwich is terrific. My teenager would love it: the first layer is a fried egg, bacon, and cheese; the second layer is grilled chicken, more bacon, and another type of delicious cheese. I couldn’t finish it. Today I had a croque monsieur, which is a grilled ham and cheese sandwich. Everything is served with fried potatoes—at least one large potato-sized servings. All this is great, because often this is my only big meal of the day. I bought some rolls so that I could take anti-malarial meds with food at night, but these calories serve me well throughout the day.

The best thing about Café Bourbon is the free internet. A whole hour free as long as you order food or drink!!! After that, it’s 3000 RWF for each hour. I’ve never had to pay for the internet; I pre-type as much as I can think of, eat my food when it comes, and while I’m finishing my coffee, I get online to blog and check email.

Yes, I’ll bring some Rwandan coffee home—if I don’t drink it all first.