Holiday at Home

Addis to Kigali

It would have been great to have written some entries whilst we were at home but seriously, we didn’t have the time. It’s almost a month to the day since I wrote the last one whilst waiting to be picked up and now we’ve been back in Rwanda for almost a week. It seemed strange going on holiday to our own home. Wallington is Wallington and Rwamagana is Rwamagana. They are both different but they are both home. Both seem totally normal.

Mary had made a plan and it was a case of it’s Tuesday, so it’s Swindon followed by Dorset, it’s Friday so it’s Vinopolis and it’s Wednesday so it’s Lancashire followed by Southport and so on. Our friends and family did us proud and we were constantly on the move, being entertained, taken out and generally being treated regally with meals out of all varieties and home made meals where all the stops were pulled out. We went home considerably lighter than when we left in January and came back a little heavier than when we left Rwanda. But, all that walking will soon sort that all out! Thanks to everyone, too many to mention personally for giving us such a brilliant time!


View from Tockholes


The weather was kind to us and, at times, almost hotter than Rwanda but since we came back we have certainly felt a raise in temperatures with the rainy season well behind us and the dry season pounding its sun down especially in the early afternoon. Mary’s planning worked a treat and we managed to fit everything in that we had hoped for including a visit on the way back from Southport to my home town of Darwen where we met up for a delicious meal of Tockholes Bangers (at least that’s what I had) with my Uncle Wilf, who despite being a generation older than me, never seems to change.


We came back positive and ready for the next term, albeit a little exhausted. We’ve kept this weekend free to recover and take it easy after the hectic life in England.

Wilf and Stephen

We travelled by Ethiopian Airlines and the flights both ways were very good and conveniently timed. The only hiccup was arriving back in Kigali after 20 hours, collecting our cases from the baggage reclaim and finding that two of them where nowhere to be seen. We were not alone and a queue soon formed to find out what had happened. Terminal One in Addis Ababa had been somewhat chaotic and we think they simply forgot to put them on the plane or there was no room. It was sorted out two days later and we collected them much to our great relief. The loss of the cases would have been one thing but replacing their contents in Rwanda would have been somewhat of a challenge.

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