Rwanda calls itself the land of a thousand hills, and Kigali is draped over a good number of them, at roughly fifteen hundred metres above the sea. The city climbs and drops in short steep pitches, with red-earth lanes running off the tarmac and views across to the next ridge every time you crest a rise. It is clean, notably so, with a monthly community clean-up day and a ban on plastic bags that visitors notice at the airport. The roads are well surfaced, the lane discipline is better than in most capitals in the region, and the air at this altitude is cooler than the equator suggests.
You will be sharing the streets with thousands of moto-taxis, the riders in numbered vests and spare helmets for their passengers. They are a lesson in local riding manners: quick, close, but mostly predictable. Rules about helmets are enforced, and riders here take them seriously. If you are on a foreign bike, sort out your paperwork and insurance ahead of time and carry copies.
The city's history is heavy. In 1994 an estimated eight hundred thousand people were killed in the genocide against the Tutsi over roughly a hundred days, and the memorial at Gisozi tells the story with care. Many visitors spend a morning there before riding anywhere, and it changes how the countryside feels afterwards. Kigali today is also a young, busy place, with cafes serving the country's high-grown coffee and bars where the Primus beer flows on weekends.
From here the Congo Nile route heads west toward Lake Kivu. Leave early, because the road climbs through tea terraces and banana groves, descends to river valleys, and climbs again, with plenty of bends and some slow trucks. Expect cool mornings and afternoon rain in the wet months, March to May and October to November. The dry months from June to September are easiest.