8 days Heart of Africa Burundi Escorted Small Group Adventure: On our Burundi safari experience, we will explore Burundi, which is the focus of your tour, and you’ll spend 8 days getting to know its history, culture, and wildlife, including dense forests, lively cities, and flora- and fauna-rich national parks. Even better, you’ll do so without meeting many other visitors, as Burundi is far from the main tourist trail.
Kicking off your journey, you’ll get to grips with local culture and customs with a Burundi safari of the suburbs of capital Bujumbura, run by local people. You’ll also learn about the country’s pre- and post-colonial history. Other cultural highlights include a visit to the National Museum of Gitega, which has an impressive collection of artefacts, and watching a performance of renowned Burundian drummers on the royal hill of Gishora.
You’ll also have the chance to explore some of the country’s rich nature reserves and areas of natural beauty, including the wetlands of Rusizi National Park, where you’ll find hippos, sitatungas, and many species of bird; the ‘Chutes de la Kalera,’ a collection of waterfalls rumoured to have healing powers; and Lake Rwihinda National Reserve, where you’ll take a sunrise tour in a dugout canoe.
DETAILED ITINERARY
DAY 1: Arrival in Bujumbura
Arriving in Bujumbura, you will be welcomed and transferred to the hotel by our Nyumbu Beyond Journeys. The rest of the day is left at your leisure to relax after your flight. Overnight at Club du Lac Tanganyika or similar. No meals nor guided arrangements are included today.
DAY 2: Bujumbura City tour and Boat cruise at Rusizi National Park
Today, Rusizi National Park’s wetlands form an ideal habitat for hippos, water-adapted Sitatunga antelope, and a wide variety of birds. Taking a boat trip on the Rusizi River and Lake Tanganyika, there’s time to visit a nearby fishing village. Later, we explore a little-known and intriguing African capital. Learn about pre- and post-colonial history and some of the challenges Burundi has faced. Later, we tour the suburb of Kinama, gaining insight into daily life.
DAY 3: Bujumbura—-Teza Tea Plantations—Kibira Nature Walk
Today, we drive to Teza to see the tea plantations and observe one of the main products the country exports and Burundian tea production. Later we take a nature walk around Kibira National Park. In the afternoon, we drive back to Bujumbura. Overnight at Club du Lac Tanganyika or similar. (BL)
DAY 4: Ijenda–Rumonge–Resha
Our first stop is ‘La Pierre de Livingstone et Stanley,’ a stone monument claiming to mark the site where explorer Dr. David Livingstone met journalist Henry Morton Stanley on 25th November 1871. At Rumonge there’s a first-hand opportunity to explore the increasingly contentious production of palm oil before continuing to Resha for the night. Overnight at Tanganyika Blue Bay or similar. (BL)
DAY 5: Resha – Lake Tanganyika—Nyakuza—Karera—Gitega
We continue to visit the southernmost source of the Nile in Rutovu near Rutana, only discovered in 1937. Continue to visit the ‘Gorge of the Germans’ at Nyakazu before heading to the ‘Chutes de la Karera,’ an impressive series of waterfalls said locally to have healing powers. Afterward, drive to the town of Gitega.
DAY 6: Transfer from Gitega to Kirundo
The country’s largest city, since January 2019 Gitega is again Burundi’s official capital. We visit the National Museum, a rather down-at-heel institution that nonetheless houses the country’s largest historical and ethnographic collection—in one room… However, museums and political administration are not Gitega’s headline acts. That billing rests with the world-famous Gitega Drummers, whose performance on the royal field of Gishora is a sight not to be missed. Later, we transfer to Kirundo for the night. In the evening, we will visit the Intore Warrior Dancers for a show. During the royal times, the Intore warriors defended the king and paraded in dance before the delighted people when returning from victory. The dancer wears the skin of a leopard and an elaborate headdress, bells on their ankles, and a necklace of ivory.
DAY 7: Canoeing on lake Rwihinda & Transfer to Bujumbura
Today it’s an early start for a sunrise trip by dugout canoe on Le Lac aux Oiseaux in Lake Rwihinda National Reserve. After a picnic lunch, we drive back to Bujumbura for an overnight stay in Bujumbura.
DAY 8: Bujumbura – Airport
Departure from Burundi – After breakfast, drive to the handcrafts market “Chez Natalie” to buy last-minute souvenirs for family and friends back home. Relax at the beach, enjoy lunch then, after, transfer to the airport for onward or homeward flights at the end of our Burundi tour.
End of the 8-day Heart of Africa Burundi Escorted Small Group Adventure Trip.