We spent about a day and half in Kigali during our trip to Rwanda to trek to see gorillas and chimpanzees. Of the things that we saw while we were in Kigali was the Kimironko Market, which is the busiest market in Kigali. Like many markets, the number of vendors and the variety of products available can sometimes be overwhelming. It is often a sensory overload with all of the fragrances, colors, and people bustling through the narrow walkways. We were there with a guide, but it could have easily been visited on our own, but you do have deal with many people coming up to you and trying to get you to spend money in their particular section of the market.

The bins of fruit and vegetables were so colorful and many of the items were very familiar like bananas, pineapples, mangos, and potatoes, but there were equally as many items that we were not familiar with and are local to that region of the world. In addition to all of the food, you can find all of your clothing needs from shirts to shoes to hats. There are even about a dozen people sewing clothes tailored specifically for you. Of course, there are many different arts and crafts for sale that make for wonderful items to take home from Rwanda that are unique to the local culture.

People come from all of the surrounding countries including Uganda, Kenya, and the Democratic Republic of Congo to buy and sell goods, which definitely made the market insanely busy. Kimironko Market was certainly very interesting and markets in general are almost always on our itinerary when we travel. We especially like markets such as these that are more about supporting the local community than catering to tourists. You could certainly spend hours browsing through the market, but we were on a fairly tight schedule, so we only spent about an hour walking amongst the various vendors.