Greetings All at Cozy,

Our profound relationship with Cozy Guest House, for Kevin and myself, began when we met Taratibu at a cocktail party for the Canadian contingent at the 4th International Investment Conference at the Serena Hotel in Kigali on the evening of Sunday, May 27th, 2007.

Taratibu graciously offered us a ride home to the Novotel Hotel after we had spent an enjoyable hour or so talking about life as a refugee in Uganda - an experience Taratibu will never forget.

Along the way Taratibu told us that he had a little guest house where we might want to stay instead of at the Novotel, and he asked the driver to take us there to see it. It was around 10pm when we pulled up to the gate, honked the horn, and waited as footsteps came running to swing the doors open for us to drive inside.

Then Taratibu took us down the hall and showed us the rooms and we decided right then that this is where we'd come when the Conference was over and we left the Novotel. It turns out that it was almost across the street from the Novotel - just down the road a hundred yards or so, next door to the Kenya Embassy.

So that is how we came to arrive at Cozy Guest House early in the afternoon on Wednesday, May 30th, 2007.

"The rest", as they say, "is history".

And for those in the know, the photos tell the story:

Let me just add, for the benefit of posterity, that the friendship we experienced from Taratibu's wife Winnie and her wonderful staff - Moses, Ishmael, Jerome and Janet - made our stay at Cozy Guest House not just a destination, but a major component of the journey.

Amahoro,
Jackie Jura

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