So after 24 hours of travel (which isn't as bad as some of the horror stories I've heard) we are in our hotel in Kigali. Luckily both flights were relatively calm - keeping Anne's white knuckle moments to a minimum. The most excitement we encountered was when a lady collapsed from exhaustion in the Montreal airport. I felt quite important when we came out of the baggage claim area to see a gentleman with our names on a sheet of paper. The feeling quickly disappeared however when both our Visa cards were declined and we were forced to use our spending cash for the room. Our moods sunk even lower when we were given a speech on using 'small bills' to pay for purchases - apparently the exchange rate is horrible on anything below 50 dollar ... read more

After a year of planning and research, the trip is only 5 days away. Apparently more of my effort and planning should have gone into how to pack everything efficiently, as I'm having some difficulties fitting one month's worth of equipment into my 'supposedly' large enough backpack. The logistical challenges created by attempting Kilimanjaro in the middle of an African trek may have been a little over-zealous - or maybe I need to learn to pack/bring less stuff. Also, cutting it a little closer than Anne would have liked, we finally received confirmation of our Rwandan visas and finalized our remaining hotel/shuttle. The visas for Kenya and Tanzania will be acquired on arrival which should present some interesting learning opportunities regarding my haggling skills. Below is a map of the major travel legs for the trip: ... read more