Changing money - or, My Visit to the XXXX Bureau

It's actually Forex Bureau of course but the first time I was directed to one I stupidly asked "Do they really sell Australian beer here?"

Changing money is one of those things that have to be experienced. It's done in a Forex Bureau, of which there are a lot. In the centre of Kigali there is a whole city block devoted to them. When you pull up in a car you are mobbed by guys from the Bureaux trying to get your custom and proclaiming loudly and forcefully why their particular one offers you a better deal than all the hundreds of others. Which is interesting, as they all seem to advertise exactly the same prices - currently 600 RWF to the AUD.

You walk inside and are ushered into a pokey little dark booth with the teller a mere shadowy presence behind a glass panel. You pass your American dollars through a hole and he checks them carefully to make sure they're genuine - fortunately I followed everyone's advice and brought only large, new notes as they don't like taking used ones and give you a much worse rate for small notes. Both times I've been to one the power has been off which makes the booths even darker and which means that the money-counting machine doesn't work so you have to be careful to check you're getting the right money. Power being off is not a rare situation as there are two or three outages most days - usually only short though, no more than a couple of minutes.

Despite their appearance they are all perfectly legal and regulated by the banks. But the first time it felt vaguely illegal not to mention immoral - rather like lining up for a porno peep show. Not that I have ever been to a porno peep show of course, but I'm sure if I ever did that's what it would be like.