Getting There

There are no flight connections between Chattanooga (my nearest airport) and Kigali.

At least that's what every online travel service stated.

I had concerns about flying through Kenya which is where most flights connected. Flights direct to Kigali from Europe where out of my price range (Cheap). Luckily, I found Ethiopian Airlines and after some investigation felt comfortable that connecting through Addis Ababa would work.

Earlier searches had shown I could leave Atlanta Sunday AM and arrive in Kigali Monday morning flying Ethiopian Air. but when I finally received the message that I had an official invitation, those flights were full. In fact there were no flights in my price category (Cheap) that could get me there Monday AM without leaving Friday.

My Guide book suggested that sometimes it's cheaper to fly to Europe and get totally different flight package from Europe to Africa.

So I looked to find which airports in Europe are serviced by Ethiopian Airlines and then checked prices from those airports to Kigali. The best prices where out of London's Heathrow Airport and there were seats available for Monday AM delivery if I could get to London by Sunday evening. Next, I started searching for flights from Atlanta or Chattanooga to London's Heathrow. There was a flight that could get me from my local airport - Chattanooga to Heathrow leaving early Saturday evening and arriving in London Sunday noon (4,500 miles according to Google). I've got a bit of a layover in London then Sunday evening catch a flight to Adis Abeba through Rome. just enough time to switch planes for the 2.5 hour hop to Kigali (4,600 miles according to Google).

For the return flight I left myself three days in London for a bit of tourism.

Soooo , , , , I'm set! 14 hours to get from Chattanooga to London and another 11 hours to get from London to Kigali and only about 12 total hours of layover and 6 hours of time zone difference and I'm there Monday about noon!

Tickets are in hand (or at least electronically in hand) and I'm leaving in less than a month. :-)