We just landed in Kigali, Rwanda and got our East Africa tourist visas. The process was really easy. We just went up to the the customs agent and told him we wanted the visa. He put it through for us, and then we went to another counter to pay the fee. It was $100 USD per person and we paid by credit card. We were also able to get an MTN SIM card ($12 USD for 30GB for 30 days) and withdraw money from the Ecobank ATM before catching a taxi to our furnished apartment rental.

When I started planning our first trip to Africa, I wasn't sure where to go. Africa is a big continent and there are so many different options. I started looking into going to Egypt or maybe Morocco and West Africa. I spent a lot of time researching southern Africa, places like Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. But I just kept getting drawn to the idea of coming to East Africa. But even within East Africa, there's so many options. I was initially thinking we might go to Nairobi, Kenya, because it's a big city and there's lots going on there. But the idea of going to Nairobi as our first city in Africa felt really overwhelming. And the more I looked into it, the more I realized that Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, was going to be a great place for us to start.

Though Kigali is safe, actually, it's probably one of the safest cities we've ever been to, you still need to be careful, as we ended up finding out. But before we get into that, I want to talk about how easy this city is for us as travelers. It's so easy to walk around Kigali. They have these big sidewalks and the motos don't get on the sidewalks. Kigali also has this amazing, beautiful car-free street.

Chris and I are noticing that most of the signage around here is in English. So, English menus, English signs on storefronts, making it really easy for us to get around. Now, for most people here, I think English might be their second language because it seems like when people are speaking in groups amongst themselves, they're speaking Kinyarwanda, but when they speak to us, it's in English.

Kigali is so clean. And it's not just Kigali. We were driving around other parts of Rwanda and it was so clean there too. You don't see garbage or discarded water bottles or anything on the side of the road.

Crossing the street is surprisingly easy here. The cars and the bikes seem to stop at the pedestrian crosswalks. I even feel totally fine walking to the gym by myself in the morning.

Kigali isn't super touristy, so you don't get lots of vendors running up to you trying to sell you lots of stuff. (Of course, you still get a little bit of that, but it's not nearly as bad as it's been in other places we visited.) Most tourists who come to Kigali, land here and then they head out immediately for gorilla trekking. But in our opinion, Kigali is worth spending some time in.

The Nyabugogo market area is quite a bit different from the area that we're staying in - it's hectic and one of the busiest areas in Kigali. Though you should always be careful, it's good to take even more precautions here. It's hectic and there are lots of people approaching you. We ended up getting surrounded by people wanting to sell us stuff, which was a bit scary. Thankfully they eventually left us alone and we were able to enjoy the area. Nyabugogo is also a great place to buy produce and other grocery items.

Back in the Central Business District, the car-free zone has a restaurant we really liked called Pan-Afrikan Kitchen. I loved the chicken stew with sukuma wiki (collared greens sauteed together with tomato and onion) and ugali (bread/porridge) for $4.50 USD.

We're going to be in Kigali for an entire month, and so we'll see if it continues to be as easy for us as it has been. We also can't wait to tell you about what we love about Kigali and some of the other parts of Rwanda that we visit, like going on safari. Over the next few months, we also have plans to go to other countries in Africa. So, if there's anything that you want to see, please let us know!

Rwanda's Akagera National Park delivered in full force! Lions in the grass, elephants on the move, buffalo herds blocking our path, a leopard hunting impalas, and then there were the rhinos. We saw Africa's Big Five, plus zebras, giraffes, warthogs, and baboons showing off their rear ends, but nothing topped the moment when two rhinos walked straight towards our vehicle. Those creatures are massive and incredible looking!

Yesterday, we took an amazing hike through some of the villages of Rwanda, about a 1.5 hr drive from Kigali. Our day started off at the very busy Nyabugogo Bus Terminal in Kigali. It was a bit chaotic, but we managed to get on a bus heading toward the town past our destination.

We thought the bus would have some stops along the way, and we would be able to easily get off at the trail head. But the bus didn't seem to be stopping anywhere, meaning we would be ending up well past our destination. So as the bus was speeding down the road, we got the help of some passengers to ask the bus driver to stop. The bus driver pulled over and we hopped off. Of course, we had no idea how we were going to get back to Kigali at this point, since clearly this wasn't really a bus stop! We also hadn’t brought much water or eaten anything.

Fortunately, there was a beautiful coffee shop called Azizi Life, where we were able to get some food and extra water. We were debating about sharing the egg chipati sandwich or getting one each. We settled on sharing one and we were really glad we did. It was a huge dish with fries and salad too. All for $5 CAD. The staff was also very friendly and provided some options to us for getting back to Kigali after our hike.

We then headed out for a fantastic 10km hike over rolling hills and past beautiful scenery, through villages with people offering us banana beer and waving at us. And the reason I wanted to do the hike in the first place: the suspension bridge near the end! When we returned to Azizi Life cafe at the trail head and we were trying to figure out our options to get back to Kigali, a gentleman overheard our conversation and offered us a ride back, as he was heading that way anyways. The conversation back was a great way to end a fantastic day.

The last Saturday of the month is Umuganda in Rwanda. This national holiday gives time for every Rwandan to contribute to their community through activities like street cleaning, providing professional services like engineering and medicine, and giving feedback on the future of Rwanda. As slow travelers, we were lucky enough to be able to walk through the streets of Kigali this morning and see what this monthly holiday is about. Our latest video captures this and other amazing experiences we've had in Rwanda like going to the busy Nyabugogo Bus Terminal to catch a bus to go on a hike through Rwandan villages, walking through the vibrant Nyamirambo neighbourhood of Kigali, trying food on the Biryogo Food Street, and taking in African tea and coffee culture.

During our time in Kigali, people were so friendly to us. The other day I decided to take a dance class and was having trouble finding the studio. We asked someone if they knew where the studio was - he didn't, but he turned around to ask a few of his friends to see if they knew. One of them did and directed us to an alley across the street. When we tried the doors to the studio they were locked and the shopkeeper next door noticed we couldn't get in. He came out of his shop to advise us that they usually opened a bit later and offered to call the owner to see when they would be arriving. Here's me pictured before the class - a bit nervous about what kind of class I was getting into!