Arrival in Rwanda

We made it. Writing this from Kigali after roughly 24 hours of travel.

The first leg was about 12 hours. Slept some, read some, stared at the flight tracker more than I'd like to admit. Landed in Doha with a tight connection. And by tight I mean we basically sprinted through Hamad International with carry-ons bouncing off our hips. The airport is impressive. Didn't get to appreciate much of it.

First Steps in Kigali

Made the connection. Second flight brought us into Kigali. Getting through the airport was straightforward. Exchanged currency and picked up local SIM cards. The exchange rate takes adjustment. You hand over U.S. dollars and get back what looks like a lot of Rwandan francs, but it doesn't stretch as far as the numbers make it seem.

First Impressions

Don't quite have the words for what Rwanda looks like yet. Even just from the road between the airport and our accommodations, the landscape is something I wasn't prepared for. Green hills everywhere. The country is called "the land of a thousand hills" and that is not a metaphor. Everything rolls and climbs and drops. Vegetation lush and thick. One of the most visually striking places I've ever looked at, and I've seen almost none of it yet.

Too jetlagged to properly absorb any of it on day one. After 24 hours of travel your brain is not doing its best work. I kept looking out the window thinking I need to remember this, but my eyes were barely staying open. The real experience will start settling in once I've slept and can actually be present.

For now, I'm here. That's enough.