An introduction to Rwandan foods – a snacking guide for hungry travellers!

Trying new foods is such an integral part of the travel experience.

As well as the regular packets of biscuits and bottles of sodas and water, the small bus park in Musanze (stop off point for tracking the gorillas in Rwanda) has an interesting selection of snacks for the traveller.

Rwanda seems remarkably free from the heavy, starchy snacks like chapatti, mandazi and ‘defenders’ (‘defender from hunger’ cakes), and even sambosas (samosas) that we have everywhere in Uganda.

In Rwanda, you might break up your bus journey by munching on:

• Hard-boiled eggs, served with hot akabanga chilli oil of course!
• Fresh groundnuts in their shells
• Cape gooseberries – in a plastic bag! – in Rwanda?
• Strings of bright orange tangerines
• Igikwanga (chewy snack made of cassava flour) pictured above. On its own igikwanga has little taste. Eat it with groundnuts and it’s rather interesting.
• Strings of sweet tree tomatoes (it’s rare to see these in Uganda)

Here are a few favourite Rwandan foods

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lady eating in bus. Nyirangarama Rwandan snack foods

Nyirangarama Rwandan snack potato. Diary of a Muzungu

Nyirangarama Rwandan snack potatoes. Diary of a Muzungu

Nyirangarama Rwandan chips foods. Diary of a Muzungu

Nyirangarama sign. Rwandan snack foods. Diary of a Muzungu

Packed lunch. Kigali Serena Hotel. VisitRwanda

Packed lunch. Kigali Serena Hotel. VisitRwanda

Kinty Rwandese tea. Kwita Izina 2018. Kigali Serena Hotel

Kinty Rwandese tea. Kwita Izina 2018. Kigali Serena Hotel. VisitRwanda travel

Gishwati cheese. Rwandese food. Diary of a Muzungu

Gishwati cheese. Rwandese food. VisitRwanda

Solomon Oleny tries local wine. Red Rocks, Musanze, Rwanda

`Solomon Oleny tries local wine. Red Rocks, Musanze, Rwanda

Diary of a Muzungu drinks iyiwacu wine. Red Rocks, Musanze, Rwanda

Diary of a Muzungu drinks iyiwacu wine. Red Rocks, Musanze, Rwanda

Nyirangarama strawberry jam. Made in Rwanda

Nyirangarama strawberry jam. Made in Rwanda

Akagera National Park Rwanda. buffer zone honey

Akagera National Park Rwanda. buffer zone honey

Rwanda street food. bus trip

Rwanda street food. bus trip. This photo was taken in Musanze bus park

Rwanda street food. bus trip

Rwanda street food. bus trip

I really enjoy Rwandan food and have been known to bring a few titbits back with me to Uganda. Some of the favourite items I’ve found so far are:

• Nyirangarama strawberry jam. I love strawberries and they are rare to find in Uganda. This strawberry jam is made in Rwanda. It’s delectable and full of fruit.
• Gishwati cheese. This mild flavoured Gouda-type cheese is very moorish and can withstand a two-day journey back to my village in western Uganda! It’s better priced than any such quality cheese in Uganda. Did you know Gishwati – Mukura is Rwanda’s newest National Park?
• At Red Rocks Initiatives in Musanze, I tasted potato wine and banana beer. My friend David loved the banana beer so much, he wrote a whole story about it.
• Rwanda is known for its good quality tea and coffee. Tourists that track the gorillas are given smart-looking presentation boxes of tea or coffee as a memento of their experience.
• Akagera ‘buffer honey’ is harvested from beehives near the boundary of Akagera National Park.
• Nyirangarama must be Rwanda’s most popular stopover – and the BEST place I’ve found in East Africa for enjoying baked (Irish) potatoes! I’m drooling just remembering them. They are big, cheap and always ready. They also sell chips. The shop next door sells whole Gishwati cheese, akabanga chilli oil, fresh bread, mandazi (donuts), strawberry yoghurt, Uganda Waragi, takeaway buffet and other snacks. (There’s a free – clean – toilet nearby too).
• If you’re staying at a tourist hotel, you can often get a packed lunch to take on your journey. The lunch box provided by the Kigali Serena Hotel is one of the smartest I’ve seen. I particularly like the local products.
• However, by far my favourite takeaway on my last trip to Rwanda was this fantastic sambaza (fish) and matooke chips lunch! Thank you and murakoze to Bethany Hotel on Lake Kivu for this filling and tasty lunch.

These are some of my favourite Rwandan snacks and foods – and I haven’t even mentioned brochettes and the excellent beers!

Trying local food is such an important part of my travels and so is taking public transport, but beware the ‘helpful porter’ at Musanze who grabs hold of your bag as you exit the bus and demands 500 Rwanda francs to haul it 100 metres!

“No way!” I told him. “I dragged my heavy bag for 20 minutes and no-one paid me!” I joked indignantly in a language he did not understand. I pulled a face and the price dropped to 100 RWF – for a service I didn’t really need.

Which are your favourite East African foods? If you are in Uganda, it may be the rolex! Mombasa street food is a favourite of mine too.