I Opened a Restaurant

 

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.

Moto Africa Life

 

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. 

Noise Problems in Kigali Are Out of Control

Hi guys. It's been a really tough start to the New Year. Noise in my area of Kigali has always been an issue, but lately it's out of control with all-night building work and chemical sprays. It feels like Kigali is becoming a city built for buildings rather than people. It's great to see so much development happening all at once, but it comes at the expense of public health. As much as I really don't want to, I have to admit that it might be time to look for a new home. Here's the story so far.

There's also a related video about the time they paved my road, which you might find interesting. It shows the road-building process and also the conditions that people are working under. Again - it's fantastic to see development happening in real time, but it does raise public health concerns along the way.

I feel like development isn't just about concrete and roads. It's also about developing the type of regulations and oversight that allows two million people to live on top of each other without exploding. That's the part I feel Kigali is kind of missing at the moment. There's a lot of regulations about noise on paper, but they're pretty much ignored when someone wants to build an apartment or spray chemicals in a residential area. It doesn't seem like there's much will to solve these issues at the moment.

Oath, Boast, Toast 2026

Welcome to my annual New Year's tradition, the Oath, Boast and Toast. This is where I promise to do something in the year to come, boast about something I have done in the year that passed, and toast someone or something important. Let me know your OB&T below.

Christmas in Kigali 2025

 

 

Christmas Day in Kigali, Rwanda.

Christmas in Kigali

Just a little vlogmas post about life in Kigali in the run-up to Christmas.

Memorial and Cultural Tours in Kigali

I'm helping my friend plot out some tourist routes around Kigali on a motorbike. So far, I've figured out a memorial tour, for people who want to know more about the recent history of Rwanda and the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi, and also a cultural one that includes some very cute vervet monkeys. I'm discovering parts of Kigali I'd never been to before.