Dispatch from Kigali - Day 1

Sam's garden and the surrounding hills.

They say honesty is the best policy. Well, I'm a firm believer in that axiom. So, honestly, I could not have asked or imagined for a better introduction to Rwanda. Simply put, the last 24 hours have been amazing, beyond my wildest dreams, and surreal.

My flight from Brussels, though delayed due to a few individuals who had to be forcibly removed from the plane, eventually made it to Kigali (I've been told an hour delay is lucky these days). I was greeted at the gate by a billboard that proclaimed, "August 9 an important date to put in your dairy!" Semantics and spelling aside, a pretty welcome reminder of Rwanda's second free election this coming August. I shared a chuckle with the Dutch nationalist waiting beside me in line. Little did I know what the coming evening held in store for me.

Thus far, I owe all of my stories to the brothers Dargan, James and Sam. They have been gracious hosts and, for some country fellas from my hometown of Florence, South Carolina, I'll say they're doing pretty well for themselves. After James picked me up from the airport we went straight to Sam's for what I was told would be a little cocktail party. Little it wasn't. Cocktails there were...

...cocktails and a wonderful dinner and beautiful, interesting people. What an introduction! As the evening turned into the early morning and the conversation strayed from casual introductions to intimate stories, the mood was poised for perfection. But I'll leave it there for the evening. Anticipation is the best part of the story after all. My last Primus (THE Rwandan beer, fyi) of the evening calls and tomorrow's a full day. Tomorrow, more to come from Kigali and the stories of a globe-trotting, marathon running Aussie. Cheers.