

Bujumbura is the capital city for Burundi, Rwanda's neighboring country. Its population has the same mix of people groups: Hutus and Tutsis. Their language, called Kirundi, is 95% the same as Kinyarwanda, Rwanda's language. It is slightly bigger than Rwanda, but is population is smaller (8.7 million) than Rwanda (10.5 million). Burundi's economic and political conditions are not as good and promising as Rwanda. Burundi is also part of East Africa Community.
Three ladies I escorted to Burundi |
We chose to drive because we were not saving much time even if we fly. The road trip normally takes six hours including an hour needed for passing through the border. But the trip down to Bujumbura took almost nine hours. Yikes! Why? Because of an accident that stopped the entire traffic for quire some time and several big trucks that slowed down all cars following them.
Hotel club du lac Tanganyika |
Bujumbura is at the altitude of 700 m. So it was quite warmer than Kigali. It was an unpleasant experience.
Tanganyika Lake Beach |

Bujumbura has access to the Tanganyika Lake. It is big lake that borders four countries: Burundi, Tanzania, DR Congo and Zambia. I heard that the lake supplies a variety of fish and one of them tastes really good. The fish dish grilled is called "Umukeke" Both Kristin and I had an expectation to eat this Umukeke, but we could not eat it. That made us think of visiting the place again.
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Traditional dancers with drums on their heads |
In Butare, there is a frozen yogurt shop where you can taste American style frozen yogurt. Obviously we stopped there for the cold taste. It was delicious.
Overall, I have now added Burundi to the list of countries that I have visited. It was the 43rd and ninth in Africa. - Jeffrey
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