KENT $ LYNN’S TRAVELS

We arrived around 7:30 PM in Kigali and if you have ever traveled to new territory that not everyone speaks English, it can cause a little anxiety, We were fortunate enough to book the trip through Wilderness Travel, a recommendation from Lanette Wayne (she should really be a travel agent) and we are really glad we did.

The first thing we saw was a big sign that said “Schutte” and almost all anxiety went away. The agent took us to the front of the line and within minutes we had our visas, gone through customs and had a glass of wine while they located our luggage. Wine helped Lynn!

Rwanda is known for 1000 hills, kind of like Minnesota is 10,000 lakes, so although different landscape and one less zero, we kind of felt like we had something in common.

Checked into a quant facility called “The Retreat hotel” in time for dinner and yes, you guessed it, a glass of wine. We were of course up somewhat early the next morning and decided to go for a walk around the area. First thing we did was get a map and I know you are surprised, but I went the wrong way and all we saw were a lot of guards around a very protected area. They shooed us away with rifles in their hands only realizing later it was the President of Rwanda compound so it was kind of like walking around the White House and not knowing it. Needless to say, they don’t allow pictures in the presidential area (thank the lord we didn’t take any”. Our second walk we definitely went another way and found fun shops. Lynn thought it would be a good replacement for no pictures of the restricted area with a picture of Kent with a gorilla statue. It does really represent Rwanda.

Arrived in Amsterdam around 1:30 PM, which is 6:30 AM CST, and the Marriott had our room ready for us(Thanks Randy as I know you must have called ahead for us). We immediately started exploring the city and were told it is basically a 30 minute walk to any place we wanted to go. We happened upon a guided boat tour that was going to leave in 15 minutes so took it. It was a recorded tour with the driver pointing out all the highlights. It was in 3 different languages with English being last so we typically heard about the site right after we passed it. We saw several bicycles along with the 7 canals then several more bicycles then the mayors home and then again several more bicycles. We did realize it was a little safer in the boat though as when we were walking we were almost hit several times by, yes you guessed it, bicycles. We think when we arrive back in Amsterdam, we are going on a bicycle tour.

One of the popular areas is the red light district where we stopped at a little pub and had a glass of wine. We now know where all the supplies came from for “Fifty Shades of Gray”:-0! Ended the night with a great meal at an Indian Restaurant where they had several spices from hot, hotter and “I cant believe I just put that in my mouth, (Lynn’s favorite).

The Mayors House

Lynn has always wanted to do an African Safari! So the original idea was “when you retire from teaching lets plan on an African Safari to be the big celebration!

So what happened instead was Lynn and I became grandparents and of course Lynn became an amazing grandmother..

What comes with grandchildren is the opportunitity to spend time with them and sometimes babysit and stay with the grandchildren when your children need to work.

So in August of 2018 we decided to seriously begin planning the trip. It took most of the year to prepare, especially when we are planning on being gone from September 2nd-27th and must have under 33 lbs of total luggage each.

We will start out spending a day in Amsterdam, then we are off to Rwanda, Tanzania for the Safaris and end up in Zanzibar.

Let the Journey Begin!!

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton