Rwandans like to hug. They are huggy people. In fact, it's difficult for them not to hug. This posed a problem in a country without much experience of tourism. Waiters wanted to hug their customers before they served them. It was difficult in this hugging culture to explain to staff at five-star hotels that they couldn't hug everyone. It's the kind of thing that makes Rwanda so delightful.
When I was there a few weeks ago I went to Rue Bourbon, a coffee shop in a new mall in Kigali. It's a version of Starbuck's aimed at people who want to feel in touch with the modern world of Europe and North American. It was a hot day so I ordered an iced coffee, and asked for a hot latte for my friend who was shopping. When she sat down and saw my cool cappuccino she changed her order.
The waitress put up with my atrocious French and happily added ice cubes. The manager was so concerned something had gone wrong he came over immediately and wanted to make sure everything was okay.
How is it possible that such wonderful places descend into utter madness?
I hadn't planned on going to Rwanda, my original intention was to head straight to the Democratic Republic of Congo, but Yvonne convinced me that the drive from Kigali to Gisenyi, on the banks of Lake Kivu, was one of the most beautiful in the world.
She was right. Arriving from Nairobi, I immediately sensed how much safer Kigali was.
You could actually walk, unlike in the Kenyan capital, and there were pavements to walk on. The city is clean and safe. The Rwandans have banned plastic bags.
My first stop was the Hotel des Mille Collines, made famous in the movie Hotel Rwanda.
First impressions of the country are tinged with memories of the coverage of the genocide.
These days you can sit by the pool at night, overlooking the illuminated city, listening to the French-speaking families who frequent these parts.
Breakfast is served upstairs in the restaurant that has a panoramic view and excellent coffee.
Rwanda really is "the land of a thousand hills" - they undulate across the country. There is much to see in Rwanda, not least the monuments to the genocide that began in 1994. The museum in Kigali gives a comprehensive history of the 100-day frenzy.
It explains the country's previous history and the legacy of colonialism, which it talks about in an impressively even-handed way.
It also explores other genocides. On the site itself 258 000 bodies have been reburied. Within the country there are 70 memorials to the massacre and the gruesome Murambi memorial displays the remains of 70 000 people. On the bus tour that took us round Kigali our first stop was at the memorial site where 10 UN Belgian soldiers were murdered. The four-hour tour provides a flavour of the city.
We drove past Radio Television Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM) the Rwandan radio station widely regarded as having played a role in creating the atmosphere that paved the way for the genocide. The building is still there but the offices have long been closed. We went to a sprawling new suburb where big houses are being built, many by Rwandans who have returned.
You can find them, and the ex-pats, many Francophones, at Rue Bourbon and also at Republika, a trendy restaurant, with great food, and lots of atmosphere.
After my first night at the Hotel des Mille Collines I decided to try out the Serena. Like Serena hotels everywhere, they have good standards. It was here I discovered Laurent Hategekimana, a Rwandan artist whose work reminds you why Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse found inspiration in African art.
The drive to Lake Kivu, one of the Great Lakes, takes almost four hours from Kigali, and every kilometre is beautiful, through the same verdant wavelike scenery. It is also full of people, walking, working, cycling, eating, driving.
You can see how wonderful Gisenyi was in the old colonial days. Beautiful mansions, tended gardens, panoramas over the endless water. It's more decrepit these days, but the tree-lined streets remind you of a faded past.
The Serena on the lakefront does not live up to the same standard as other Serenas, but it is certainly the place in Gisenyi where people congregate. It's a bit tatty, the service is patchy, and they play bone-jarringly awful country-and-western music.
Sitting on the shores of the lake, the sixth biggest in Africa, and watching the sun go down is quite something though. From there it is a short drive, about five minutes, to the border with the DRC, and you can cross to Goma.
Rwanda is synonymous with gorillas. In 2005 President Paul Kagame launched an annual ceremony for naming new baby gorillas, called Kwita Izina, part of a plan to protect the remaining population of less than 800 mountain gorillas.
Rosette Chantal Rugamba, director general of the Rwandan Tourist Board, is one of those amazing African women who will turn the continent around, if anyone can. "You can't dwell on the past. Maybe we can teach the world how to spot the signs so a genocide never happens again. My contribution to healing the genocide," she says, "is to tell the world how beautiful this country is. We can talk about lakes, dancing, gorillas.
"We need to tell the world - Rwanda is back."
