This is a little different “walk” than what will be featured on other days of This Global Walk Outside, because we don’t actually live here...yet. We’ve owned this property for four years and have been developing it slowly, and we hope to start building our home in the next few months and finally move onto the property in 2022! I’m excited to share this space with you.

In Rwanda, we like to say that there’s plenty of green space, you just aren’t allowed to walk on it. And it’s true! There are plenty of pretty gardens and green areas, but no public picnics are allowed, there are no free public playgrounds, and very few areas even to pay and go be in nature. This was a huge blow for us, especially moving over with small kids, and a small yard! Typically, to get to a playground, you have to find a restaurant that has one, and then go eat there. Which is hard if you’re on a budget. I mean, just look at Shep’s face. He needs to be able to swing! :)

The other cultural factor here is that, even if you find a public place to be in nature, you’re going to draw a crowd. There’s no privacy, and it can really ruin the zen you’re trying to create.

When we considered all of these things, and the opportunity presented itself to invest in a beautiful property just a few minutes outside of the city, we jumped on it. We knew that, eventually, this would be a key to our longevity in Rwanda. I mean, look at that view! It’s a panorama of Kigali city.

When we originally bought the property, it was growing local favorites: cassava and banana. But the real treasure was the producing coffee grove! My husband works in agriculture and is a certified Permaculture design professional, so we’ve spent the last four years developing the land from growing traditional crops into a beautiful, lush, edible landscape. I like to say it’s like Willy Wonka had a forest :) There are several types of bananas, pineapple, Surinam cherries, guava, Japanese plums, several citrus varieties, pomegranates, edible hibiscus, moringa, neem, chaya, katuk, macadamia, and of course, coffee. Plus a large kitchen garden, growing everything from kale to okra to chili peppers. You can see our daughter, Halle, picking ripe coffee below.

We’ve slowly put in infrastructure over the last two years, including a large gazebo and firepit, and outdoor kitchen, a solar power system, and rainwater shower and pit latrine. We leveled 5 campsites and opened to the public for camping and picnics, and are in the process of building a luxury eco-cabin, which we will rent out to help finance the building of our own home on another part of the property in the coming months. At this point, the only thing missing is us!

For now, we frequently host cookouts, campouts, birthday celebrations, restaurant pop-ups and meet-ups. We even had our first wedding this spring! Our friends have open invitations to go up to the farm whenever they need a minute to breathe fresh air and get into nature, and many take us up on it. It’s a gift to us, and one we get to share.

Most photography by Laura Mulkerne who was based in Kigali but is now in Hanoi, Vietnam!