Bujumbura Baby

Sorry it's been so long since I posted! I've just been relaxing these past couple of weeks in Kigali and so I've had nothing really exciting enough to post about. But this past weekend, I got pretty restless and decided it was time to leave Rwanda for the first time since I arrived. So we hopped on a bus and took the 6 hour journey to Bujumbura, Burundi!

Upon arriving in Buja, we quickly saw the differences between this capital and Kigali. Apart from the topography and climate (Buja is much flatter and hotter than Kigali), the city as a whole is less developed and has a lot less going on. But what it does have is the beach. And I love the beach!

We started our first day by going for a run (c'mon, are you surprised?)...

But seriously, it's such a great way to explore a new city while getting a workout. Running in Bujumbura is much easier too as it is generally flatter. The heat was a little tough to deal with but I was distracted by the new sites. Many people ride bicycles here (unlike Rwanda) and there are bicycle taxis! The city is surrounded by mountains and hills making it quite pretty.

 Hanging out at the hotel after running and before heading to the beach!

After our hot run, we ventured out to the beach. The beach in Buja is on the longest lake in the world - Lake Tanganyika. It's a nice, sandy beach and the water was really warm. Norah and I were pretty happy...

 Loving the beach

 The beach is surrounded by Congolese Mountains and hills

We went swimming and played in the sand like kids. It was awesome.

We even did some yoga on the beach. Sand is pretty hard to maintain balance on but nice and soft for a wobbly headstand....

 Trying my best not to fall over...

The water is really shallow so we managed to do a lot of dancing and singing while we splashed around. I think the locals thought we were crazy. Actually we got some funny looks from the tourists too...

I got all buff on the beach too. "The beach is that way"...Marta you know this pic was solely for you!

Sunday was really rainy so we decided to use the day to explore the city a bit. There were a few really pretty old trees in Bujumbura. This one was my favourite:

 Looks enchanted

A traditional Burundian meal is Mochopo - basically it's this really greasy goat meat with onions and this salty powder stuff and you squeeze some lime on it. 3 months ago, if you told me to eat at this establishment, I would have laughed at you and walked away. But my standards have dramatically changed and I'll try just about anything now. This restaurant is literally a shack. There are dirt floors and and just pieces of wood for tables. The goats are roaming IN the 'restaurant' - I don't even think I can call it a restaurant. Food hut? Anyways, this mochopo was actually pretty tasty. Grossed me out to eat it with my hands but in the end, I didn't get sick so that was pretty awesome :)

 Digging in...

 Some people cycling

Bujumbura was a cool city. Not sure that I'd go back as it was somewhat boring but it was nice to see something outside of Rwanda and to get a taste of another African country. Plus it was great to be a beach bum for a few days. Being in Burundi also made me appreciate just how developed Kigali is relative to Bujumbura. Burundi hasn't quite reached the stability of Rwanda and you could definitely feel it.

The drive home was really pretty. In the picture above, you can see the lake on the left hand side of the photo. In terms of natural beauty, East Africa is definitely the place to be!