By: Rene Anthere Rwanyange
“What I found to be impressive is nature; I was impressed by the rainy forests, national parks, and animals. I had a lot of magical moments. Before visiting Rwanda, I thought it was a small country, but the country has different sites and regions that you can explore even though it is small.
What captured my impression was how open the country is and the love of the people. When we arrived at the airport, people were waiting with families; it was a different picture than what you can see in German. It was really lovely; people were open and supportive.” Says Norah, a German national living in Switzerland.
Norah Knauf was one of a group of 26 holidaymakers from Germany who visited Rwanda on a 12-day trip that left them blown away by the beauty and tourist attractions of the small East African country.
Just like any other tourist, in 2019, when she heard about a trip to Africa, particularly Rwanda, from family and friends at the club, she immediately became interested.
For the 28-year-old, it was a perfect time to step out of her comfort zone to explore a new culture, meet people, and explore something new because she didn’t know what to expect in a different world.
Like any person who had never traveled to the continent, Norah said that she was interested in coming to Africa, and Rwanda was a very good starting point.
“Coming to spend time in Rwanda was very nice because I came with people I’ve known for a long time so that we could explore together as friends.” She explains.
Picturesque scenery of sprawling hills, contours, and valleys, long stretches of greenery, a variety of organic food, and top-notch hospitality facilities are some of the attractions that mesmerize the team.
For Dirk Wahrenberger, a 39-year-old salesman from Stuttgart, Germany, traveling to Rwanda gave him the opportunity to see firsthand the inequality between rich and poor countries.
The salesman who visited Rwanda for the first time says that he always travels to Asian countries, but the experience in Rwanda was a reflection of what is said about the country.
“It’s clean and safe, like they talk about [Rwanda], and the people are friendly, plus the food is delicious,” he noted.
Mr. Gaspard Ngarambe, a Rwandan residing in the German city of Mainz, explains that he first linked up with the German vacationers through social interaction and playing football back in Europe, where they live.
“We had planned to come to Rwanda in 2020, but because of the pandemic, this trip was postponed.” Ngarambe, who has German nationality, points out that these are friends of Rwanda. They love traveling and interacting, and they’re thrilled to visit Rwanda for the first time.
Every year FC Ente Bagdad members choose the best vacation places in the world. This year they decided to come to Rwanda. They are proud of the good things they saw that they did not already know, including Rwandan culture and impressive tourism places. Some of them say that the way they heard Rwanda was different from what they saw because it is a topography to go out and relax, the country has good people, the city of Kigali has a high level of cleanliness as well as other cities around the country, very secure and fast in development.
