How to plan A trip to Rwanda.

The planning part of the trip will take you quite a while. One of the websites that you will need for this trip is the https://www.rbc.gov.rw. Here you will find fhe latest information about Rwanda and how to make preparations for the trip. 

Naturally the first thing you need is a ticket. I went online and found an app called cheapflights. 

Here you can get hotels, book a flight as well as rent a car. What the app does is to scour the internet for the best deals. They then direct you after you have found the lowest prices to the particular airline that has the cheapest flights. In my case it was Rwandair so that is where i finally ended up. It is important to note that the priuces can vary. The price of a ticket tuo Kigali from Entebbe for example ranges from $370 to $250. There are days when you gwt better deals such as Sunday. Also make sure you have about three weeks ahead to get an even better deal. 

The second thing you need is to decide whether you are going to visit the country as a vaccinated passenger or a non-vaccinated passenger. If you are vaccinated then you will save a tonne of money. If not the first test you need to run is a PCR test. 

You need to schedule to have this done two days before you leave Kampala. I chose Rocket Health in Uganda to make arrangements for my PCR test. The way they do it is to take your samples. Both oral and nasal and then after a few hours mail you the results to your email. A word of advise. You will need to have a print out of both your ticket and your Negative PCR test result. This will be presented to at Entebbe Airport and you cannot leave without it. In addition to this you will need to have a yellow fever vaccine. I arranged to hsve this done with the same group-Rocket Health. One jab in the arm of your choice and you are done. Baggage checks sre simple. Make sure you are carrying less than 23kg in your luggage. Mine was only 10 even if i was worried sick. The flight to Rwanda was simple even if we delayed quite a bit at the airport. I was expecting a larger plane but this is really a short distance and these types of distances are not dealt with by larger jets. It was a 45 minute journey and the power of the plane on take off was incredible. I found out later that the plane eas a De Havilland DHC-8 400 series. 

After some instruction from the crew we were off. I must say that Rwandair did not capture my attention in those crucial 45 minutes. It rrally felt like a glorified bus ride. We were served one cup of a drink of our choice. Wine, beer, a variety of juices and water. This was “escorted” by a very small bag of crisps. Maybe the trip was too short to indulge the clients but i feel like this is a missed opportunity. I wanted Rwanda to capture my attention in those 45 minutes. I wanted to be awed in some way by the experience. My suggestion? I think that in addition to the work of Winnaz World, the airline should at least include the famous samosas from a place in Kigali called Samosas and more. 

Managed to take a few photos of the skies but these were limited. There are strict instructions on the plane to turn off your phones on take off and on descent. 

Once in Rwanda you will be asked for the details of your passenger locator form. This is the form that you will where you let Rwanda know where you will be staying and you supply the contacts of your host. You are also required through this form to tell the authorities where you will be staying (proof of admission) as well as a form about your Negative PCR test. Once you are done with immigration, you will be led to baggage check where you will first present your Negative PCR test results. Next is to have tests done so that they can confirm that you are still negative. These tests are done on arrival and are paid for online or in cash at arrival. I paid for mine while in Uganda and was required to show the evidence of this payment on arrival. The reciept that you are given will come in handy as you move from that place to exit the airport. Please make sure that you make arrangements with your hotel for pick up. It is these arrangements that will ensure that you are picked up as i was and taken to the hotel where you will isolate for 24 hours as you wait for your results. 

The services of Phoenix Plaza Apartments were amazing from the time we were shuttled to the hotel from the airport to the time when we checked in. The WifI is great, room service is good and there is great entertainment. While there i was able to watch The Africa Cup of Nations games which in this case was Tunisia 4 Vs. Mauritania 0 and Ivory Coast 2 Vs. Sierra Leone 2