Welcome indeed! We have yet another new hotel in town. Gorilla Golf Hotel, situated in Nyarutarama, was officially opened a few days ago and this is good news for both Rwandans and tourists! I remember during the mid 90s, Aggrey and I never had this kind of variety. During those days, there were not more than 3 big hotels in town. That’s why we used to find ourselves visiting smaller hotels whenever we wanted to hang out to sip on our favourite frothy beers! One such small hotel was called Cosmos Hotel. We would enter this place to a standing ovation. Patrons would surround us and shower us with all sorts of praises. This would normally be followed by a drinking spree, in which our pockets would fall victim. We would toss rounds of booze until our pockets went dry. The only negative aspect about this famous Nyamirambo joint was that we would enter the bar in total peace but leave late at night in pieces. The next morning, we would pick up the pieces wondering how on earth we had made it home. Neither Aggrey nor I would recall who brought us home in the wee hours of the morning. There were some really good nights when we would get too zonked to recall who snatched our valuable wrist watches and money purses. Such a loss would serve as a wakeup call. We would wakeup cursing and swearing in the name of God never to return to Nyamijos for a drink. But late in the evenings, we would somehow unknowingly find ourselves hoofing through the shortcuts and eventually ending up at Cosmos for yet another binge. At Cosmos, we also used to enjoy extra services such as sauna and massage. On one such evening at Cosmos, we were joined by some pretty young ladies who had travelled all the way from Buja. They were socialites. We exchanged pleasantries and shared some drinks. But due to their long journey, they lamented to us with a request: could we sponsor them for massage at this Cosmos spot? Aggrey and I immediately offered to sponsor. In fact, we informed them that we, too, really wanted that massage for sure! So Aggrey and I walked around with our chests protruding outwards with an air of arrogance. We paid the hefty sum and all moved into the cubicles for a good massage. This was heaven indeed! Imagine after this, we would stroll down for a number of cold ones. Life could never be better, could it? Not quite though. Aggrey and I were in for some unpleasant surprises. You see, it was the very first time for us to be treated to a massage. That’s why we acted like real jerks when the health club personnel began to gently rub their smooth palms on our naked bodies. Instead of falling asleep like our dear friends, Aggrey and I started to laugh and giggle out loudly as the fingers tickled us! We laughed so much that it became unbearable. And so like lightening in a storm, we sprinted out wrapped in towels. We never looked back until we reached our doorstep. What a mess! It was so obvious that the village had completely refused to come out from us. That was during the mid 90s. Today, you will definitely enjoy massage parlors in the many big hotels that have sprung up all over the country! Viva Rwanda!
