Football, the popular sport
Soccer is still the most popular sport, and on your trip you will come across many soccer fields, improvised or not, where young people of all ages play. When the national team, nicknamed the Amavubis ("Wasps"), plays at the Amahoro stadium, many people come out, but most of the time without any overflow. The Wasps, it is said in Kigali, "are not afraid to attack any animal", since the African teams are a bestiary (the Elephants of Côte d'Ivoire, the Atlas Lions of Morocco, the Eagles of Nigeria, etc.). If soccer was logically put to sleep for a few years after the genocide, today in this team there is only Rwandan identity: "Don't ask me who is who (Hutu or Tutsi), I don't know," said the former German coach Michael Nees. Anyway, I don't talk about this with the players, since there is no conflict in the team." However, the team has modest results (only one participation in the African Cup of Nations in 2004) and was ranked 135th in the FIFA rankings in early 2023. It should be noted that the national championship (two divisions) is also well attended, but not as much as ... the English championship! On Sundays, the English clubs have their own fans, crowded in front of the television sets in the cafés and bars of the country.
Cycling land
Cyclists train in the hills around Ruhengeri. Every year in November, the Tour of Rwanda, one of the most prestigious races on the continent, established in 1989, sends professional and non-professional cyclists from all over the world to race in the hills. Millions of Rwandans flocked to the roadsides to watch the spectacle. The country is in the running to become the first on the continent to host the prestigious UCI Men's World Cycling Championships in 2025. On the riders' side, in April 2019, Rwandan time trial champion Joseph Areruya became the first black African cyclist to compete in the legendary Paris-Roubaix.
By bike or on foot on the trails
In the Land of a Thousand Hills, cycling, mountain biking and walking tours are very popular with tourists who set foot in the country. Among all these itineraries, the Congo Nile Trail along Lake Kivu, from Gisenyi to Cyangugu (227 km), is surely the most popular. This circuit can be done in both directions: either starting from Gisenyi, or starting from Cyangugu. It takes about ten days to complete the Congo Nile Trail on foot, and between six and ten days for mountain biking, depending on the activities along the way, bearing in mind that the trail is mostly paved. Nevertheless, the trail offers breathtaking scenery of Lake Kivu from start to finish. You can also enjoy cycling sessions around Kigali or mountain biking in the steep hills of Lake Burera and Lake Ruhondo and venture into the Volcanoes National Park.
Igisoro, the traditional game
Rwandan men play a lot of igisoro, a traditional game of the mancala family, the famous African board and strategy games. At the beginning of the game, forty-eight dry peas are distributed in the twelve holes of a wooden plate. The aim of the game is to capture as many peas as possible by taking turns to grab the peas in one of the holes and place them in the other holes.
