Wednesday Oct 7th - Onwards to Kigali

We pack our nets & belongings and drag them out into the courtyard for our bus to Kigali.

Some of our new friends from the Festival come to see us off, Gloria Magambo & Pamela Acaye, Kiki.

There is a sense for some that we are leaving a second home - a place of peace & learning/growth?

The film crew weaves among the piles of belongings, standing clusters of goodbyes, small pockets of thoughtfulness or tears.  We pile into the bus sans film crew, and they film our bumpy exit from the hotel into the street, an awkward three point turn with small children from the neighborhood seeming to get underfoot and miraculously escaping the lumbering bus as it lurches and turns.  Film crew piles in and off we go, off to Kigali for Part 2.

It is a three hour drive to Kigali, through this beautiful country.

We arrive in Kigali at the Milles Collines and check into our rooms.  The film crew is off again, following the Volcano Technical crew & Ross to our next venue, "Heaven".  This restaurant will transform into a theatre for our show after regular dinner service ends.

Tomorrow is our tech day at "Heaven", with actors in the afternoon. 

Dinner is found around the corner at Chez Robert, again a buffet but hot and delicious.  There are many buffet options to be found in Rwanda, for lunch or for dinner, from simple (rice & beans) to elaborate (add 2 kinds of meat, plantains, dessert), with Fanta or beer as a chaser.  Chez Robert has a secret back garden, with hidden booths, a fountain, rockery and paths - an enchanting discovery.  The cast will return here again in the next week.

A good dinner makes a long day go down easier.

Post by Tara