During our time in Rwanda, Kigali specifically, we planned on doing our respective sports as often as we were able to. Jason found a tennis center, an instructor to play with and a ball boy to clean up after them. I found a dojo from our club, ISKF, that allowed me to join them for a few evenings.

The trick, it turned out, was figuring out how to get there. Each sport was about a 20 minute drive away from our guest house. With traffic being what it is, we knew that could easily become 40 minutes or more in a car. That wouldn’t work at all. Hmmm.

It is hard not to notice the hundreds and thousands of mototaxis weaving in and out of traffic on the streets of Kigali. We’d been on scooters or mopeds before, but never motorcycles. This could be fun…besides, it looks like everyone is wearing helmets so I’m sure it is also super safe!

Our first time needing one, we were fortunate enough to have Abdoul with us and he was able to negotiate the price for us. We wouldn’t have known where to start. $20? $40? $6? $10? All of these prices were equally feasible in our eyes.

The actual price? For each of us? $1.50. One dollar and 50 cents. Canadian.

I guess we found our mode of transportation. Unbelievable!

I hopped on my motorcycle and the driver handed me my helmet. I’m not sure how much it would have helped me if we had gotten into a serious accident, but I held it down with one hand and grabbed the seat bar with my other hand. Ready.

OMG. It was so much fun! Zipping in and out of the cars, changing lanes like we were alone on the road, not getting stuck behind anybody! It was awesome. We were never speeding and the driver was really cautious so it felt great. I relaxed enough to be able to let go of the seat bar and take some pictures and video. 100% recommend.

My dojo was in a mall, of sorts, and I got dropped off in the middle of a million people milling about. Boy, did my presence cause a bit of a stir. I had to pretend like I knew exactly where I was and where I was going so I wouldn’t get swarmed with everyone wanting to ‘help’ me find my way. Luckily, it was easy enough to find.

What a treat to be able to train in another country. Sensei Jean was extremely welcoming and gracious. I met so many people in the class and loved talking with them, sharing karate stories. The classes are 1.5 hours long, very physical, very active and very traditional. It was amazing. I had to adapt to the conditions – it was so hot and so, so humid. I was dripping sweat just standing there waiting for the class to start. LOL. Yikes. My gi almost didn’t dry in between classes!

After class my plan was to take another mototaxi back to the guest house but Sensei Jean would not hear of it. He voluntold another student, Robertson, to drive me back. Wow. The kindness is real. I hope to get back there one day to train again.

Jason’s tennis was equally as successful. Clay courts, a coach and a ball boy. He loved getting on the court again and smashing some balls. Kevis, the coach, was a great opponent, allowing Jason the space to learn how to play on a clay court. One full hour at a time, sweating in the sun, watching the storm clouds approaching, being at the mercy of the weather gods. Believe it or not, they never got rained out. It would either rain just after they stopped playing, or the clouds would skip them completely. It was meant to be.

Jason was able to ask Kevis before leaving home if their tennis club could use anything or if there are certain things that are difficult to get a hold of in Kigali. Kevis came back with an enthusiastic response. While sports are a big deal and Kigali is a very modern city, they still don’t have great access to supplies. Jason used his magic and the tennis center back home was able to put together a huge box of extra tennis supplies – racquets, socks, shirts, grips, etc. – for Jason to donate to the club. Kevis was very grateful and knew they’d be put to great use.

We were so grateful that we were able to have a little bit of ‘normal’ during our six week long trip through Africa. Karate and tennis are such a big part of our lives back home and we were really missing it. So a huge thank you to Sensei Jean and his dojo and to Kevis and his tennis club.

Thank you also to the mototaxi drivers who got us there safely.