8-Day Burundi Discovery Tour with Gitega Drummers and Lake Tanganyika

• Arrive in Bujumbura and transfer to hotel accommodation. The rest of the day is left at leisure to relax after your flight. Overnight at Club du Lac Tanganyika or similar. No meals nor guided arrangements were included today.

Bujumbura

• Burundi’s capital lies at the northeast corner of Lake Tanganyika. Its estimated population of 800,000 is Burundi's largest city, and it is an administrative, communications, and economic centre. 
• It is also Burundi's main port and ships most of the country's chief export, coffee, as well as cotton, skins, and tin ore. Bujumbura grew from a small village after it became a military post in German East Africa in 1889. 
• After World War I it was made the administrative centre of the Belgian League of Nations mandate of Ruanda-Urundi. 
• The city's name was changed from Usumbura to Bujumbura when Burundi became independent in 1962. The city centre is a colonial town with a large market, the national stadium, a large mosque, and the cathedral for the Archdiocese of Bujumbura.

• 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 Burindi has faced. 
• Later, we tour the suburb of Kinama, gaining insight into daily life. Overnight at Club du Lac Tanganyika or similar. (BL)

Rusizi National Park

• Not far from Bujumbura itself, Rusizi National Park is centred on the Rusizi River and, as such, is home to a number of wetland species, including Hippos and Sitatunga. 
• An area of the park consists of the channels and islands of the Rusizi Delta as it flows into Lake Tanganyika. 
• Set aside as a protected area of 9000 hectares in 1980, today the park consists of less than 6000 hectares, due to population pressures in adjacent areas.

• 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)

• 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)

• 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. Overnight at Hotel Tropitel or similar. (BL) 

Lake Tanganyika

• Part of the Rift Valley lake system, Lake Tanganyika is the longest freshwater lake in the world (420 miles) and extends into Burundi, Tanzania, Zambia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. 
• Numerous rivers flow into the lake, including the Rusizi, and in turn, it flows outwards into the Lukuga which forms part of the Congo Basin.
• It is home to around 400 different species of fish including many cichlid species which are found only here. 
• It was first ‘discovered’ by the explorers Burton and Speke in 1858 during their search for the source of the Nile, and saw action during World War I when British and German forces engaged in gunboat battles on the lake.

• 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. Overnight at Rama Hotel or similar. (BL)

• 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 at Club du Lac Tanganyika. (BL)

• 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. (BL)