Arrival of the Muzungu

Early in our visit to Rwanda, we visited the two largest towns in the country: the capital city of Kigali & the town closest to the gorilla trekking area, Musanze. Our main attraction in Kigali was the genocide museum, which was both enlightening and a very heavy experience.

On the two hour car ride to Musanze we spent time chatting with our driver, Kevin, and were very fortunate that he felt comfortable enough to open up to us and tell of his personal experience during the genocide, losing four of his seven siblings. At the age of 13 he narrowly escaped a horrid death and was saved and taken alone to a refuge camp in Uganda where he lived for three years, not knowing if any of his family was as lucky as him to survive the atrocities that took place in his home country. It's one thing to visit a museum for learning, but always a much more powerful experience to hear first hand about a personal event.In the smaller town of Musanze we wandered through the local market where Kristin had some local garb made – skirt and headdress. She was an instant hit among all the locals who both laughed out loud, and told her how 'smart' she dressed and that she wore it well. We went from being the Muzungu (gringo) of no interest to the celebrities noticed by everyone – quite an experience.

Touched down in Rwanda, land of a thousand hills – view of the capital city of Kigali

Our wonderful driver and guide, DJ Kevin, showing off his talented family – Knowless & one of the Urban Boys, both who will perform in the finals of the Rwandan version of American Idol this weekend 

Flowers above one of the many mass graves at the genocide memorial

One of the very intense and heavy displays at the genocide museum 

DJ Kevin sharing some personal context of his experience in the mid-90's

Kristin and me on our first day with Rwanda's most major river behind – which flows from the hills of Rwanda to Egypt

Bikes and foot are the primary mode of transport here, even for super heavy & large loads

All food here in Rwanda is found in-country – farming is just huge here, notice the baby strapped to this woman's back

Kids, kids, kids – everywhere

We found our way through the market to the textiles

And Kristin got involved to get some attire made

Both a skirt and a lovely hat

Doesn't she dress smart

One of our fantastic friends we met in town