I kid you not, there is an English country garden in the volcanic ranges of Rwanda. It's called Imbabazi. Open for afternoon tea, events, and even camping. Such a beautiful place, it was hard to leave.
Check out the book Land of a Thousand Hills, the memoir of Rosamond Carr who used to live there.
Hi guys. It's been a while since I made a blog post. I've been a little bit busy.
I've talked about CasaKeza on here many times. It was started by my friend Maia back in 2016 and has been my local ever since. I've had many a lovely (and inebriated) night there. Even slept in the garden a couple of times.
It survived COVID (just) and soldiered on bravely, but with Maia out of the country and the rising cost of utilities and repairs, it went into a bit of a decline. Maia asked if I would help her sell off the assets, and that's what I was planning to do. But CasaKeza always had a bit of a strange pull. It has a beautiful garden and a lovely vibe. It seemed worth giving it one more go.
So, on 1 April I took over the assets and reregistered the business. We had to choose a new name for tax purposes - which was a whole fiasco. I've created a playlist of everything involved, you can watch that if you're interested. We were going to keep the CasaKeza name, but it all got a bit complicated, so we've rebranded as The Cauldron.
I'm sure I'll make many more posts about it in the future. For now I'm just trying to get things up and running again. It's been hella challenging, but also a lot of fun. Creative in ways I never imagined, and frustrating in ways I suspected but was not fully prepared for (paperwork in Rwanda is on a whole other level). I am sure there are many adventures to come.
Hi everyone. Most of you know that I drive a motorbike in Rwanda. I have a friend, Asha, who does the same in Cameroon. It's not common to see female bikers in Africa so there's a bit of camaraderie. She just released this video and it's such a good one. You'll laugh, you'll cry, it'll restore your faith in humanity. Please show her some love with likes and subs.
It was a huge pleasure to be part of the first ever International Female Ride Day (IFRD) in Rwanda, organised by my friend Mingina. More pictures here.
Doing a mammoth catch-up on the past two months in Rwanda. Sharing snippets of life from Guy Fawkes Night, to concert tuning a piano, to the cake we couldn't cut. Plus some ideas of things to do and places to go.
Hi guys. Just heading on a little road trip to try to find a waterfall in eastern Rwanda. Rusumo Falls, right on the border wiht Tanzania. I've skipped over the prep video where I talk about which helmet I'm wearing and what I'm taking with me, but you can check that out here. I'll update this post as each video is released, so check back.
Every now and then I run a poll of my viewers to figure out what the best things to do, see and eat in Rwanda are. We're up to episode two at the moment, so plenty of time to join in with future polls.
Today I'm celebrating ten years since I moved back to Rwanda! I was originally a VSO volunteer from 2007-2009, then returned a few years later. I was only passing through, or so I thought, but a decade later and I'm still here! So, I've decided to share some of my favourite memories along the way.
For the past couple of years, my annual Oath, Boast and Toast has moved over to YouTube. Let me know if you've made any resolutions in the comments below.
I did a Christmas. Went to a Christmas market in Kigali, present opening,
and then over to a friend's place for eggnog and nosh. Hope everyone is having
a thoroughly festive time!
Hi guys. Following on from my Rwandan Road trip, I'm now on a trip around Europe (and possibly Morocco). Off exploring the world, seeing new things, eating new (and sometimes odd) things. You can find the full playlist here, including a bit of pre-departure prep in Rwanda before I left. But I'll add a selection of my favourite videos below. Keep checking back over the next few weeks to see more. Also, if you enjoy my videos, I'd hugely appreciate a like, comment and subscribe. Those things really help to promote the videos and get the channel out to new viewers.
A day playing on the beach with my cousin, Tamsin
(you can follow her here).
Hi guys. I'm going to start a massive catch-up of book reviews shortly, but the start of this year has been a bit crazy and I wanted to share a little road trip around Rwanda I went on with friends.
My lovely friend Maja, in Gisenyi, told be about a second-hand bookshop that has just opened in Kigali, so I decided to go and take a look. It turned out to be the most delightful place. Home-made fudge, big mug of coffee and hours of book-browsing on a rainy afternoon. If you're ever in Kigali, check it out.
Last week I went to visit my friend at Bugesera Nursery (Instagram) about an hour south of Kigali. She has quite an incredible garden, so I thought I'd share.
Hi guys.
So, I've mentioned my struggle before. I've been getting into videos more and there's only enough time in the day to write and edit or take videos and edit, I can't do both consistently. As I've spent several years blogging, and as Blogger itself is getting a bit blah (so many layout and template bugs it's horribly annoying), I've decided to post my latest video updates rather than write them all up.
So, here's what's been going on lately:
More about that hash:
And there's also been a lot of talk lately as a young woman, Liliane Mugabekazi, faces two years in jail for wearing a revealing outfit to a music concert. If you want to hear more about that, you can click here.
So, I know that people who have been following my blog might not be as interested in videos. It's certainly been a turbulent transition for me, as I've always preferred being behind the camera, but I think I'm settling into it now and, although there's a lot less writing content, it is fun to show you around my neighbourhood. Let me know what you think, what you'd like to see more of, and, if you wouldn't mind awfully, consider subscribing to the channel and liking the videos you enjoy.
Heading home to Rwanda tomorrow after a truly wonderful holiday in the UK. Last little bit of news before I go - a little art exchange with the wonderful Maria Strutz.
