Day 1 in Rwanda! Road trip from Kigali to Gisenyi !

Last night Numerien and Cyrille had agreed to come and pick me up between 9, 9:30 - 10 in order to take the bus to another town, Gisenyi (where I will be working) When I went to bed I thought for sure they will be late to pick me up. I am not going to set an alarm. I will be awake before they get here because they will be late.

Mannnnnn !! Was I wrong. They were on time and I was late. They asked me you are not a morning person are you ? I was embarrassed. Ok so that won’t happen again; Numerien is punctual.

So we left Chez Lando to go to the bus terminal (See pics above) and had to buy three seats on the bus due to my excess luggage ;) (Luckily I left some stuff at Nausicaa’s mom house and was left with 2 suitcases and a backpack.) I figured it would be difficult on the bus…

The bus system is privately owned but works very well. Every 30 minutes there is a bus to Gisenyi. The ride took 3 hours but was amazingly beautiful. There is no denying that Rwanda is the land of the thousand hills ! Numerien says thousand hills, thousand problems and thousand solutions and he is probably right. The road is perfect (again what a big difference compared to other African countries I visited) but curvy. You are continuously lingered from left to right, basically falling on top of each other due to the hilly landscape. It ended up actually being good for my vertigo. I think that being flipped from one side to the other, it somehow balanced the crystals in my ear.

I sat next to a young guy who was editor of umycoradio.com and hoped to receive a scholarship abroad in order to further his education. I hope he gets it.

I noticed on the bus that the young generation doesn’t speak French but only English. While the older generation only French and no English. So I never really know in what language to approach someone. However these are minor issues.

When we got 2 hours into the bus ride I got so sleepy. We had made it now from Kigali to Musanza and I saw the Diane Fossey foundation :) When I was basically becoming narcoleptic Numerien decides he wants to talk.. Sigh…

Arrival in Kigali: Part 2 - Chez Lando When I walked out the airport both the organisation that I am going to be working for UTCCN (Union theicoles de la Crete Congo Nil) and the driver of Chez Lando (my friend Nausicaa’s mom is the owner) were awaiting me. Numerien Nsengumuremyi (UTCCN) & Cyrille Mwumvaneza (local representative of Exchangevzw) brought me as I had previously requested to Anne Marie and Joseph (my friend’s parents) and owners of Chez Lando Hotel in Kigali. Anne Marie Katengwa is such an impressive woman. She is tall, beautiful, kind, classy and a real business woman. I was so happy to see her and she immediately made me feel home. Joseph (my friend’s father and Anne Marie’s husband) is unbelievably friendly, welcoming and heartwarming. Both Anne Marie and Joseph are very highly educated Rwandans. Joseph even speaks Dutch ! That really caught me off guard. He said he hadn’t spoken it in a long time but yet he was fluent! Joseph had lived, travelled and done business all over Europe. He knew every detail about Belgium and studied in Swiss. (@ Nausicaa if you are reading this: your parents are fantastic!) Anne Marie made sure I was at easy showed me the guest room as you can see from the picture above is beautiful. A large beautifully decorated room with view on an amazing garden. I took a picture (see above) of a peacock looking animal but I wasn’t sure what it was… anyone ?? In any case it makes a lot of noise. It sounds like the battery of a dying phone ;) The family, Numerien, Cyrille and I were served delicious food. We all talked for a few hours. (I found out that Cyrille speaks German and studied in Canada.) Another polyglot in the room! Numerien and Cyrille were very happy to have met the owners of Chez Lando through me. I am sure Cyrille will stay in touch with them. I had brought everyone gifts: Godiva chocolates for Numerien and Cyrille, a poncho for Anne Marie and two wines for Joseph (a true wine connoisseur). During our conversation Anne- Marie informed me about her hotel across the street (Chez Lando) of which I had a glimpse. I found out that Chez Lando is so much more than a hotel and everyone should know. Now why should anyone stay in Chez Lando when travelling to Kigali or Rwanda ? Let me give you 4 good reasons: 1. It’s a family run hotel in Rwanda by Rwandans. 2.The atmosphere is very welcoming and the owner (Anne Marie) immediately brings everyone at ease. 3. The hotel’s food is amazing and the place is unbelievable clean. 4. Anne Marie supports entire communities trough this hotel. How ? All products used in the restaurant are locally and ecologically produced on their own 3 ha farmland. They have an entire team of people working on this field. Besides growing their own crops they also buy other locally and ecologically grown crops from female cooperatives!! Yes Anne Marie supports many women cooperatives. The products sold in the boutique are also from local farmers with fair trade labels. The 84 bedroom hotel and executive apartment owner employs many people and also provides traineeships. Every year they take multiple interns from the hotel management schools and identify future potential. Many of these students are offered a job upon graduation at Chez Lando. The work atmosphere is fantastic as everyone aims at pleasing the customer while maintaining a familial feeling. I am sure there is so much more to Chez Lando but these are already good reasons to spend your next stay at this resident hotel in Kigali. Hope to see you there! Here is the link to the hotel and support Rwanda entrepreneurship !

Francine Carron September 20, 2015