I had other objectives in mind weeks before I landed in Bujumbura, the capital city of Burundi, unfortunately I landed a day late, due to my flight getting canceled from Lusaka(Zambia)- Nairobi (Kenya) and then onto Bujumbura (Burundi) due to protests that were taking place in Kenya at the time (June 2024) when the whole city came to a closure due to some new tax laws that were being implemented. The initial plan was to pass the Congo border by land and spend a few days there, upon arrival, that wasn’t the case, I couldn’t process my Congolese visa at the embassy in Mozambique a few weeks earlier, even being told to go to the UK to process the visa, it was all too difficult and messy and required a lot of effort. The Congolese border is only about 15 kilometers from the main area in Bujumbura.

The new plan worked out as follows- I landed in Bujumbura a day late meaning I had lost a full day in Kenya, it was early in the morning, and I got a taxi to my hotel, The Kangaroo Hotel, with no power or water when I arrived, a bit irritating, 80 USD for 2 nights, so as soon as I checked in, I got a different taxi to take me to the Rusizi National Park, and there, took a trip up and down the river, 120 USD, and even got a view of the Congolese mountains in the distance.

The boat ride was really fun, we even got to see quite a few hippos, exotic birds, and even a crocodile in the distance.

upon completion, I ran back to the main center area and there just happened to be a drum performance taking place with some of the local community. It was really enjoyable to watch and the locals all greeted me and perhaps a bit surprised why I was there.

The next day was a bit irritating for a few reasons, most importantly, there was little fuel in the country, from what I’ve heard, this is quite normal, so my hotel was unsure about how I would be able to get back to the airport. The earlier ride from the airport to the hotel had cost 10 USD. and took about 20 minutes. When the petrol runs out in Burundi, panic sets in, in this case it was all about whose car was topped up since yesterday, eventually we found a guy who was willing to take me for 25USD, over double the price when compared to the previous day.

The African adventures continued….