My African Adventure 5-7th Jan

5th Jan: First full day in Kigali complete. It was a little scary but only for one reason: a beggar whipped dad on the arm after dad had pushed him away gently. I don’t want a full on fight happening on the street. We ran out of electricity in the evening too which wasn’t scary; just meant we had to sit in the dark. African life. I took my first two bus rides of the trip. Not as cosy as mum and dad made it out to be. Had dad’s special cheesy, tomato pasta for dinner, a huge avocado for lunch, two sweet bread doughnut things and coffee at 11ish, and a tiny little banana and an apple for breakfast. Rained during the night and the wind got pretty fierce at 5pm. Burnt my shoulders a wee bit so perhaps I’ll get a tan. Got myself a SIM too so I can contact the world! Maybe I’ll wait for them to come to me; make the most of being in Africa… The people all seem to be friendly, if not a little difficult but again, African life. Highlight: “You’re fairly white compared to everything here”- dad

6th Jan: So we didn’t get attacked by anything/one today, that I remember. Headed into town again in search of a SIM for dad and info on the chimps. We were told what I already knew having looked up the national parks website. I also spent pretty much £15 on factor 50 sun cream but man did I need it!? Also hilarious! Buro de change- the man was selling SCOTTISH POUNDS! Rocked dad’s world. Went to a massive market, bought some tomatoes and passion fruit. Had a giant mango for lunch. Got it everywhere. We ate out for dinner- goat/ beef on a stick and chips. Not bad. Took a wander before bed. Really looking forward to granny and mum getting here. She’s going to bring us chocolate because the stuff here isn’t good. On the bus they have the radio or a CD playing Hillsong! I knew most of the words… Breakfast was good: bread, banana, peanut butter. Dad thought his egg was pre- boiled but it wasn’t… African life.

7th Jan: Today dad and I visited one of the schools where mum and dad pay for kids to go. Term isn’t back until February so we spoke briefly to the headmaster and he suggested I marry his son… Walked around another market and bumped into a guy who apparently knew dad. We got lost trying to find some food place dad knew but ended up elsewhere drinking yogurt and eating chapatis. On our way back through town I spotted an iPhone 6. The guy said it wasn’t ‘original’ but I don’t know if that means ‘brand new’ or ‘legit’: I’ll go back and find out. Dinner was kind of like Tuesday but minus the cheese, swap pasta for rice and include a green pepper. It was quite good actually. Currently it’s raining a little and was heavier earlier. I really don’t want it to be raining during the day. I want to continue working on my tan. Wonder how much sleep I’ll get tonight/ how noisy it’ll be. Went out by myself and purchased a loaf of bread from across the road. Bless him- the boy giving me my change, I don’t think he could count. Witnessed a cat… Think it lives next door. I’m slowly getting closer to meeting a chimpanzee (without the glass). Not looking forward to washing my hair tomorrow but I really can’t put it off for another day. Lowlight: using the ‘facilities’ at a bar- round the back and down an alleyway- and having to stand in goodness knows how many other people’s urine whilst trying not to splatter too much of my own on myself. At the same time praying I didn’t get attacked. African life.