Team Rwanda has just landed in Kigali! It’s been an eventful journey here–after taking off from Pearson, we landed in Montreal and were delayed for 2 hours due to a damaged wheel on the plane. The delay caused us to miss our connecting flight in Brussels, but fortunately, Air Canada paid for us to stay in the Sheraton Hotel overnight as we waited for the next flight to Kigali. Dan and Gareth seemed to have a great time sampling the beers in Brussels (I’ll let them tell you about that one), while I got some needed rest to recover from jetlag.
That aside, the journey has been very smooth–no lost luggage, no delays at the airport–and we’re now just chilling in the airport cafe while we wait to contact Dean Rama in Butare and get a taxi there. It’s 8pm local time, and around 25 degrees. It’s completely dark outside, but what little I saw of Kigali from my airplane window already has me pumped for tomorrow, when the sun is up and we can really get to see the landscape.
I’ve met some interesting people along the way, including a Danish woman working as a freelance journalist in Rwanda. She’s doing an article on the informal economy, specifically the motorcyclists who transport people around. I’m hoping she’ll drop by in Butare sometime, as she expressed interest in Ivey’s work with the University and the research project centering on the informal economy. I wish I could read Danish, as her work sounds very interesting!
(On another note, I think I just got bit by a mosquito as I was writing this!)
Anyway, signing off now to go see about that taxi to Butare. Till next time!