Rwandair… actually pretty awesome

I went to France for a week.  It was a retreat for the Charity.  I was hesitant, there is lots to do here, and it was a long way.  But I was thinking of some sort of holiday, and it was France!  The food!  The wine!  The pastries!  The wine! The wine! The wine!

I have to say it was a pretty arduous journey though.  Started with the overnight bus to Kampala (I did say, “never say never again” didn’t I?).  I then had to hang there for most of the day before my flight to Paris, Rwandair.  Rwandair, expectations were low.  And so it proved, as I squashed into a little prop driven thing from Entebbe to Kigali, the capital of Rwanda.  I went hand-luggage only, make it easy in the airport, it was only a week.  I couldn’t get my bag in the overhead bin (though it was 15kgs and pretty bulky), so I squashed it between my legs on the floor.  Kigali airport: rubbish.  Clean, modern, lots of potential but food and drink options, awful.  I had been awake for a long time, maybe 41 hours by the time the safety brief finished.  I was sure to get some sleep, even in ‘economy’.  And so it transpired, I did sleep, right up to the point when the steward woke me to ask if I wanted the meal.  Jerk!  Of course, he wasn’t to know I had been awake so long.  But it was 2am local at this point.  Yes, Jerk!

Anyway, fast forward, the trip back from Paris.  Again, I had low expectations.  Check-in was fine, I think my back pack was pushing 18 kgs at this point… I had a new South Sudan T-shirt, two fan-less mini computers, three packets of business cards, four head torches, two smart-phones, two pairs of new work-pants, a printer cartridge (don’t ask), a smart speaker and a laptop charger… In departures, I got a sandwich, some chocolate and a beer whilst I waited to be called (all major food groups covered) and waited.  We were a little late (an hour) being called.  But whatever, I had taken precautions… during my 12 hours hang time in Paris I took in a park and last decent bottle of wine (and made my entry to the “best use of a paper Nespresso cup” competition).  So, we were eventually called, and I waited until the queue went down (they wont leave without me!) before approaching the desk.

“Ah, yes sir (sir?) I have a new boarding pass for you; an upgrade”.  “Well thank you”, I said, “that’s very nice of you”.  Now and again Polly and I turned left when we got the plane.  But I never turned left and carried on right to the front.  Yup!  The front!  Rwandair saw fit to put me in Business Class!  Flat bed!  As much pre-flight champagne as I would like!  (for the record; 5, not petite, glasses).

Actually, pretty awesome!