Along the Tanganyika Lake in Burundi

It was a very tiresome journey, the one between Bujumbura, in Burundi, and Kigoma, in Tanzania. Around 9 hours sitting in a Matatu (small bus) is a bit too much, when one considers covering less than 300 km

Nevertheless, the wonderful view of the of the Tanganyika Lake, the hills and the valleys along the track were worth being squeezed the whole day.

The Burundian capital, Bujumbura, is located on the very north extremity of the lake. Heading south from that point towards the Tanzanian border one would cross a number of small villages and markets at its side.

Burundi is one of the poorest countries in the world and every now and then, the country is plagued by internal ethnically motivated conflicts.

Obviously, the subsistence of the communities located at along the lake is guaranteed through the fishery.

Quite a number of beaches at the shade of the typical palm trees look so inviting, specially for the tired ones, squeezed in a matatu in such a hot day. Yes! Im talking about me at the occasion!

Though the inviting environment there is no sign of any effort to improve, or maybe to create, a touristic structure in the region. A handful of small lodges can be spotted along the more than 100km shores in the country.

Towards south, approaching the border to Tanzania, we take distance from the Tanganyika and invade the mountainous part of the country. Predominantly inhabited by farmers.

The view of an abandoned refugee camp on the mountains close to the Tanzanian border. Reminiscence from the last local conflicts.

Burundi is, like most African countries, full of potentials but due to corruption, mismanagement and international influence very far of seeing some proper development.

Cheers everyone!

A bit about Kigali

The first thing at all I connect to Rwanda and its capital Kigali are my memories related to the genocide. 

Today, 20 years later, Rwanda is one of most developed countries in East Africa, and definitely the one with the best environmental politic.

Te level of development of the country can be observed in the capital Kigali. Its the more organized and clean city in East Africa. Travelers are not allowed to enter the country carrying plastic bags. They must be exchanged for paper bags at the country border.

"Umuganda" is the day when the whole country mobilizes to do public work in their local areas. It happens once a month.

Rwanda is known as the "Land of thousand hills."

Cheers peeps!

Up to an extinct volcano in Rwanda

<sitting in the bus from Ghanzi in Botswana to the border of Namibia>

Once in Rwanda there is no way to leave the country without visiting one of its National Parks. Totally the country has three of them.

Roman and I opted for hiking the Bisoke, one of the extinct volcanoes of the Volcanoes National Park. The start point for the adventure is the city Musanze situated on northwestern Rwanda, close to the border to DRC Congo.

The park Volcanoes National Park comprises five extinct volcanoes and is famous for its population of gorillas. The renowned scientist Dian Fossey, famous through the movie "gorillas in the mist" spent 18 years studying the gorillas in that area until her assassination in 1985.

The hiking track covered approximately 900m altitude till the top of the Bisoke at 3700m. Crossing five different kinds of vegetation including a dense rain forest ending with the rocky summit of the volcano and the crater lake.

All the way up and down we had the company of four heavily gunned army soldiers. According to our guide they were supposed to help us against attacks of the buffaloes and elephants, which inhabited that area of the forest. I asked myself if the dangerous, and probably heavily gunned animals, would come across the border from the DRC Congo side.

Well our expectations of nice walking in the forest spotting a few gorillas and maybe some chimps along the way were in vain. It was rainy, cold, muddy, the volcano was misty and we didn't get to see even the shade of an animal. Nevertheless we enjoyed the whole mud action.

Despite of being soaked to the bones and the hard laundry action at the end of the day all the mud and rain challenge was a huge fun. I obviously lost the bet on not sliding down the before reaching the finish line.



The 900m up to the top were finished in 2:20 hours instead of 4:00 hours. We all reached the finish line happy, some thorns in our hands, some great pictures in our pockets and no fight against "buffaloes or elephants."



Next stop Burundi.
Cheers peeps!

On the top of the world at the Bunyonyi Lake

The lake Bunyonyi is one of the most beautiful spots at the southwest of Uganda. It stays at around 2000m height 8 km far from Kabale.



We took bodabodas (kiswahili for "motorbike taxi) and wet up hill to the. Up there we got camping places at the Kalebas Camping.



Awesome fauna and flora.



For free one can just hike around the lake and enjoy the breathtaking scenario. Definitely worthy stoping there for one or two days.




Papirus plants belong to the typical vegetation around the lake.

On the carrier of a bodoboda: the best way up to the lake.





Next!? across the border to Rwanda BAAM!

The Ugandan stroll: 30km through the Queen Elizabeth's National Park

The initial plan was to cross the Queen Elizabeth's National Park in Eastern Uganda. Me and my friend Roman headed to Kassese with bus starting from Fort Portal. After reaching the bus station of that city we started walking down south aiming at the first city after the southern boundaries of the park.

On the first day, we managed to walk the whole afternoon and were happy after counting more than twenty kilometers, some of those already in the northern areas of the park. Most of the time we were following tracks off of the road avoiding the proximity to the trafficking lorries.

Along the way we could observe the foggy mountains, the Rwenzori chain, growing in the west. We passed fields populated by butterflies and amused ourselves with the nest bearing trees. Every now and then, the local wildlife, like impalas or baboons, came out of the bushes to greet us.

It was hot, humid, and late in the afternoon we were exhausted. The Rwenzori could no longer be seeing. Our legs were tired and our feet already had gotten blisters. We stopped at this hotel by the road, had some food and, literally, crashed.

Next day morning we started as early as our legs allowed us. We reached the north of the park right after leaving the village where we slept_ well, that was more kinda few houses at a traffic junction than a proper village. At the very same point we had crossed the Equator, stop for pictures, then we moved on and kept counting down the kilometers.

We were already counting the 15th kilometer of the day as we were approached by these policemen, or national park guards, or something similar. There was kinda check point out there. They explained us the danger of walking in that area and prohibited us to continue. Right away we had to take an available vehicle and reach the next village. So much of our "crossing the National Park by foot."

We head to our next destination earlier than planed and this attempt became a traveller's tale.

Cheers ;)

A paradise-like backpackers

The Nile Explorers Backpackers is a real oasis located by the Bujagali waterfalls on the outskirts of Jinja, Uganda. The campsite on the top of a hill direct by the White Nile river and with a awesome view of the river valley have something of paradise-like.

A piece of rain forest embraces the whole campsite and stretches all the way down to the valley along the river sides. Some exemplars of its inhabiting fauna come out every now and then to show their exuberance and salute the most curious guests.

To spot a small colorful monkey jumping from one tree to the other or a majestic fish eagle flying across the valley is not a rare event. With a good camera and bit of luck one can take exciting pictures from the breakfast table. No joke!

I was so happy to have found such an breathtaking place. My friend Roman and I had a two-nights layover in the Nile Explorers Backpackers while on our way to Southern Africa. We quite enjoyed the relaxing atmosphere specially the few beers with the view to the valley and the walking down to the river.

The Nile Explorers Backpackers is definitely a place to recommend: one can book great outdoor activities, ideal for budget travelers, has a nice personnel, it is safe and awesomely located. By planing a trip to Uganda it is a must.

Cheers peeps!