African Adventure: Love At First Sight

Monday - July 24, 2017 Never been so happy to leave a place at 5 a.m. so quickly. Blah blah blah same creepy guys at the bus station and same kind of bus today, but no charger. Traveling into Rwanda, there was a notable difference in the scenery. So many hills and houses and people walking all over the place. The bus ride may have been bumpy but there were actual roads this time and the driver was back to the left side, making me feel at home.

Immigration was semi annoying? These people don't believe in lines so we kept getting skipped and this one lady said we weren't in line (wrong) because we're standing and talking (true, but in line). We had to go from getting our passports stamped that we left to Tanzania, to another booth to get a paper to then take to a third booth that gave me a receipt to take to the bank booth to then pay my single entry visa and end up back at the second booth to finally get the visa on our passport. Someone give me a drink, please. Side note: we also got in a fight with the bathroom lady for charging us and not anyone else, men or the other local women. There wasn't even toilet paper or soap to wash your hands so we got all aggressive about why we had to pay. Lindsey finally did but not without a few more words. If I hear the word Mzungu one more time, my head's going to explode. Rwanda is an incredible country, despite the recent genocide. They've banned all plastic bags so we were slightly hoping they wouldn't check our bags because all of us had our dirty shoes wrapped up in them. Spoiler alert: they didn't. The bus station in Kigali, Rwanda was much less aggressive than the ones in Tanzania. Sure, some guys kept being annoying (it's an international thing) but overall, everything was calm. The city is filled with boda bodas, taxis and even Mercedes Benz's and Volkswagen. The people were kind and the dress code isn't as strict as the one in Tanzania; we all looked forward to showing off our shoulders and knees! Moji Hostel was equally, if not more, beautiful than the one in Moshi. The two story complex had a rooftop area, tons of open space and quirky decorations like half of a tub for seating area. Joseph, the owner, looks just like Randall from This is Us *small freakout* The rooms are more cramped here, fitting six to a room with bunk beds. We had a girl from Norway share the room with us and Jordan had to take the other bed because his room wasn't going to be ready until tomorrow. A shower and shave away and we were all excited to be in such a pretty city. Kigali is fairly modern with lights and buildings you'd expect from somewhere at home. After dinner, we went to this cool rooftop bar in front of the hostel. Literally could fit right in at home with its rooftop lights, music and general vibe. I felt underdressed for this Brickell-look-alike place. My margarita was incredibly strong and the chocolate mousse was everything I'd ever wanted in a dessert; Africans also don't believe in dessert so this was big news. A few of us chipped in for a hookah and we all had a generally happy night.