My first impressions:

My first amazment came from seeing Lake Victoria today. The source of the Nile. So big, so calm and inviting.  A short stop over in Entebbe. I thought about Idi Amin. And Milton Obote. Uganda is still not as calm as its best friend, Lake Victoria. We weren’t allowed to leave the plane. Just as in Rome 16 hours earlier.

When I did eventually get out, I experienced Africa. Greenery. Heat. Acacias. Flame trees. Red earth. Smells of earth. Of pollution. Of Africans. Sweet and penetrating. Of rain. People smile. They laugh. They are colorful. They are curious.

I am in Kigali. The capital of Rwanda. It´s surprisingly orderly. Clean. Calm. Few people. I see two men with big scars on their shaved heads. Signs of the genocide. Tutsi and hutu. Somebody tells me one should not mention these tribal names. They´re all Rwandans today. Most of them also have mobile phones today. That is the biggest difference I remember from my last time on the continent, in the year 2000, when I explored Maasailand by foot. The arrival of the mobile phones. Africa is more connected today.

I am staying at Serena Lodge. I will go down to the bar soon and meet my sponsor and have a mug of O.P Andersson with him. Olly left a note saying he left an hour before I arrived. Can we meet in Goma? he asks.

I don´t know. We are in Africa. Anything can happen! Next report will tell!