Kigali centre - 3rd June

 The flight 

Our flight from Heathrow was due to take off at 9:20pm, so being British, we got there 3 hours early. It is important to note that RwandAir do not have an electronic check in and bag drop, so you will have to queue. This queue is likely to take longer than you think because apparently Rwandan’s do not travel light and then like to argue when their baggage is over the limit and they are charged extra. 

Otherwise we had a small bite to eat and drink in the Aspire Lounge (free access with Bens credit card) and then headed to our gate. 

When we boarded, we were all packed like sardines into the back section of the plane with no passengers in the middle section. We later learned this was for weight distribution during take off and landing - but such an empty flight meant we could spread out once in the air - Ben happily had a row of four seats to sleep on. (Photo to come when we are home!)

I didn’t sleep well (which I expected) but watched a cool lightening storm over Chad at 2:30am. A flight attendant noticed I was awake and brought me a juice which was nice! 

Otherwise RwandAir was ok. We got a basic meal after takeoff and breakfast before landing. Nothing special like an Emirates flight but was nothing particularly wrong with it!  

The entry to Rwanda was very easy - a free visa on arrival - and we were out within 45 minutes. 

A driver from Kingfisher travel company came to pick us up and take us to our hotel.

Four points Sheraton and Kigali centre 

We opted for early check in after our flight and so when we got to the hotel we dumped our stuff in our room (lovely) and headed down for our free breakfast. A lovely big buffet with continental and cooked breakfast with anything you could want (including roast beef if you so desired). 

The staff were very attentive and nothing was too much trouble, not one person looked like they were interested in getting a tip either. 

We freshened up and then headed into the centre. We made a quick stop at the Belgian memorial - max 30 minutes but worth the stop (and completely free). 

The centre was a hive of activity, people stared (obviously) but we’re polite. It felt safe, clean and calm to walk around in. 

We went down to the Kandt Museum (a German colonist) and saw both the museum about his life, and the visiting reptile exhibition. It was very cool to see a black mamba, gaboon viper (right), puff adder (below) and twig snake, not so cool to see their live prey! 

Be warned that this place is at the bottom of quite a large hill… it’s a long walk back up. You could easily get a Moto taxi back up if you’re feeling brave (I wasn’t and suffered the walk). 

Back at the hotel we went and sat by the pool (if the filter hadn’t broken 30 minutes before we got back we would have had a swim) and then the tiredness was starting to catch up with us! 

We managed to find a German butchery for dinner, and luckily we’re there on the first Saturday of the month - Suckling Pig night! It was very delicious - but be aware of giant portions! 

The bed in the hotel was super comfy and we slept well! 

Car hire 

Ah yes the dreaded subject back again! Kingfisher were great at letting us know when they were dropping the car off (6am) and told us it was because on Sundays the city has a no drive zone from 7-10am. This would have enabled us to get out before the closures! 

However when Ben went down to get the car I went straight back to sleep for two hours and only noticed he’d been gone when he returned. 

A long saga of no coolant in the car and driving round several petrol stations to find some with the kingfisher guy, only to decide on filling it with water and hoping for the best. 

Either way we didn’t leave before the closure but as we were leaving the city it was probably ok (although we did have to drive in circles for a bit before we found the way out!) 

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