Taking the Jag to Rwanda

Yep, you heard right. We rode in the jaguar from Kampala to Kigali ... sadly it was not that kind of Jaguar. The jaguar bus was a huge, very old, very dirty coach bus packed with Africans and two mzungus, Ryan and me. The bus ride was definitely not pleasant, but for ten bucks vs. a $300 plane ride, I would do it again. The worst part had to be when the roads totally deteriorate near the Uganda-Rwanda border, so that dust is just flying everywhere like you have never seen, and just then the conductor of the bus walked down the aisle and opened every window in the bus. Seriously. Explain that one to me. So this ensured that we were entirely covered in dust upon arrival, not just a little bit. The smell on the bus was pretty bad, lots of people here just do not have showers, but at least when the windows were open the smell was better. So there is always a bright side, right! And the border crossing was an adventure also - our bags were literally rolled around in the dirt a few times as they checked them for plastic bags. At least Rwanda does not allow plastic bags into the country. Yay Rwanda - every little bit helps to save the environment.

Differences between Uganda and Rwanda are almost immediately apparent. The roads in Rwanda are much better - there are paved roads here! And the landscape is not as lush and green as it was in Uganda. My first impression was that it is so organized in Rwanda. It seems as if every bit of land is tilled and cultivated, and the different plots of land are divided neatly by shrubs or trees. The buildings along the road are more like adobo structures than the mud huts and rudimentary brick buildings we saw in Uganda. And there is not the color here that there was in Uganda. There, nearly every building was brightly painted yellow, hot pink, lime green, bright blue, or orange. And though they were painted because they were advertisements, it was still very pretty and cheerful. There are not nearly as many painted buildings here in Rwanda, making it a bit less cheerful I think. And here there are so many buildings but not as many people, until you get to Kigali. It is the opposite in Uganda, where there were sooo many people but far fewer structures.

So those are a few ruminations on our first day in Rwanda. More to come soon, and much more to say about our adventures the last week in Uganda!

xo
Jackie