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Bujumbura

Bujumbura is the largest city and capital of Burundi.

[edit] Get in

You can get in via airport, which is close to the city. Visa rules and prices change frequently. As of November 2011 two different visas are available on arrival - a one month, multiple entry visa costs US$90, a 3 day (2 night) transit visa is $40. Visas can be obtained from embassies prior to travel.

[edit] Get around town

Taxis are cruising all over town; you need to negotiate the price with them. As of early 2010, rides within downtown were about 1500-2500 Burundian francs; rides to and from airport can be absurdly expensive (20,000 francs) but there's little you can do about it. In town, during the day, a cheaper option is a moto-taxi costing 500-1000 francs a journey. Burundians typically rely on the many mini-buses, but you'll need someone to help you figure that out.

[edit][add listing] See

  • Musee Vivant, rue du 13 Octobre (heading west, just before Lake Tanganyika). Small "zoo" and natural history museum. Exhibits include fish from Lake Tanganyika, crocodiles, birds, and snakes. There’s also a traditional Burundian village on the grounds. For about 2,000 BFU per person, a guide will show you around. Sometimes, local cultural events occur on the grounds, such as performances by the Burundian drummers.  edit
  • Rusizi National Park, RN 4 (a few miles past Club du Lac, nearly at the Congo border). See hippos and crocodiles sunning themselves on the banks of the Rusizi River. The area is also where Gustave, the world's largest Nile crocodile, has been spotted. There are also some amazing birds to be seen. For about 3,000 BIF per person (plus tip), a guide and a guard will join you in the car and give you a tour of the park. You’ll stop at several points along the water to view hippos, crocodiles, and birds.  edit
  • Livingstone-Stanley Monument (La Pierre du Livingstone et Stanley), village of Mugere, about 12km south of Bujumbura on RN3. It's not the spot where Stanley said "Dr. Livingstone, I presume," but it has a gorgeous view of the lake. Livingstone and Stanley passed through the area and carved their names on a large rock.  edit
  • Go for scenic drives (security permitting!) for spectacular views from the hills of Bujumbura Rurale to the east of town or along Lake Tanganyika to the south of town. Find a place to enjoy banana beer or maybe a Fanta and chit-chat with store keepers.

[edit][add listing] Do

[edit] Beach

  • Karera Beach, Uvira Roadway (on Lake Tanganyika about 20 min of town). Nice beach resort.  edit
  • Saga Plage, Uvira Roadway (on Lake Tanganyika about 20 min of town), [1]. Beach with restaurant, entertainment complex, and hotel. Nice place to pass some time.  edit

[edit] Nature

  • Association Burundaise pour la protection des Oiseaux (ABO), [2]. A local conservation group that conducts birdwatching tours of Rusizi Park and other areas. Some of their guides speak English.  edit

[edit] Culture

  • Check local flyers for information on Burundian drummer performances, or just be on the look out for a wedding reception taking place somewhere. With help from locals, you can also arrange to visit a drum troupe, get a lesson, and then see a private performance.
  • Many activities are organized by the Centre Culturel Francais (CCF), Chaussee Prince Louis Rwagasore, +257 222351 (City Center). Extensive monthly film, theater and music program available from their offices. CCF also offers courses in French and Kiswahili (individual and group).
  • Ciné Caméo (19 Avenue des Paysans),in the Asiatic quarter screens all the latest blockbusters for about 2000FBu. The only cinema in the country, and a place to enjoy some air conditioning on hot dry season nights.

[edit] Sports

Several swimming pools available for who wants to cool down from the hot days. They play a lot of soccer and are extremely good at running.
  • Entente Sportive, Av du Stade. Daily open from 07 - 19 hours, FBu 3500 (Aug. 2008). Old colonial entourage. Length of the pool 33 meters!
  • Hotel Club Lac du Tanganyika, Chaussee D'Uvira (Take route in the direction of the Border with the DRC - Gatumba), +257 250220/221, fax +257 250219, [3]. Daily open till 20 hours. FBu 4000 during the week and FBu 10000 during the weekend. Hotel pool, but in the weekends meeting point for the ex-pat community of Bujumbura. Breakfast and lunch served at the poolside. Beach nearby.

[edit] Viewpoints

  • War Memorial* at the top end of Ave Belvedere - for great sunset views. The Belvedere and Chez Vaya restaurants are nearby and offer equally good views - although during weekdays they only open at 6.30PM - after sunset.

[edit][add listing] Buy

Interbank has several ATMs in Bujumbura that accept international VISA debit cards but they charge 5000 FBu for each transaction.

[edit] Groceries

Most of the things that one needs can be found in one of the stalls in the Central Market. Stiff bargaining is needed to get it for the right price.
Small supermarkets can be found all over town. They normally stock luxury items at a luxury price.
The largest supermarket in town is Dimitri on the little roundabout of Chaussee Prince Louis Rwagazore and Av du Congo. Do not expect too much, but Dimitri has shopping carts!
The Greek owned 'Boucherie Nouvelle' on Av du Congo is worth is worth a visit. Always busy, but then it offers a wide variety of meat, cheese and charcuterie. Opposite the butcher you find vendors with exclusive and rare vegetables and in the rainy season wild mushrooms of all kinds. Be prepared for a real hassle and 'persusive' sales techniques.

[edit] Souvenirs

  • The best place to buy souvenirs is the small curio market on Av de Stade.
  • Another small curio market is found on Chaussee Prince Louis Rwagazore, opposite Library St. Paul.

[edit][add listing] Eat

The people in Bujumbura love their food and enjoy eating out with friends or family. A beef or fish brochette, chips or fried plantain and a fresh salad is available in all restaurants. But take your time. All food is freshly prepared and the cooks take time. Waiting an hour before the food arrives is certainly not abnormal.
Restaurants are scattered all over town, but the best are located in Rohero and Kiriri.
Some restaurants that are worth a visit are:

[edit] Centre

  • Botanika Small, European style, funky dining. Expensive. Great outdoor eating area, good for brunch on weekends, has wireless. Popular with business, government and expats, often full.
  • Le Bouteille d'Or (near center of town, ask a taxi driver, or a local). Basic beer garden that serves a local specialty, beef "michopo", deliciously seasoned steamed beef served with little dough cubes.
  • Le Cayor, Chaussee Prince Louis Rwagasore (Opposite Centre Culturel Français). Busy for lunch. General Burundian dishes, but also Cameroonian food.
  • Oasis Greek restaurant and pizza on the main drag in town - next to Havana. Excellent Greek mezze.
  • Pont Muha, (continue Bld de la Liberte till you reach the river Muha). Best Burundian brochettes in town. If you are hungry take the brochette Hôtelière.
  • Tropicana, Chaussée Prince Louis Rwagasore (Head East from Palace De L'Indépendance). Stylish and new (Dec 2010) restaurant and internet café. Very good burgers, omelettes, juices and coffee.  edit
  • La Baguette Magique, Boulevard Lumumba Patrice. Not a café or restaurant, just a very good bakery. Worth stopping at to stock up on cakes/croissants.  edit
  • Chez Michel, Next to Hotel le Tanganika. Excellent Belgian Bistro with Belgian beers. </eat>

[edit] Rohero

  • BBQ, Avenue Muyinga. Interesting menu and cosy ambiance.
  • Chez Andre, Chaussée Prince Louis Rwagasore. Super fancy restaurant in a large, decked-out mansion. Service can be slow and disappointing.
  • Le safran, Av Kukiko 38 (Rohero II), +257 22 213 999, [4]. 8-1430 / 18-22:30. Le Safran, Av. Kukiko 38 (Rohero II), ☎ +257 22 213 999, [new]. 8-1430 / 18-2230. At Av. Kukiko in quartier Rohero II you'll find this quality restaurant with a buffet rocking every Friday evening with live music. The cosy bar with pool-table has a happy hour between 18:00 and 19:00 hours. medium. medium.  edit
  • Shanghai, Avenue Muyinga (coming from the central market, take the Chaussée Prince Louis Rwagasore and turn left just before the Alimentation Escale du Bien - it's about 600 m up the Av. Muyinga, opposite a kindergarten). Best Chinese in town. Very fast service (in and out in less than an hour), also open for lunch.
  • Tandoor, BV Uprona (Between Bv Uprona and Bv 28 September). Good Indian food  edit

[edit] Kiriri

  • Belvedere, Avenue de Belvedere. Dining with a superb view over the city. Also open for lunch. Expensive.
  • Restaurant "Chez Vaya"Traditional Greek Kitchen old from 1989 with panoramic view Tel (257) 22228231 Mob (257) 79921191 E-mail: vayaburundi@yahoo.fr[5]
  • Khana Khazana (khanakhazana@ovi.com), 2 Avenue de Juillet (Mr Anis lakhani), 0025778786786. Some of the best Indian food anywhere. MONDAY CLOSED  edit

[edit] Lake Tanganyika

  • Cercle Nautique de Bujumbura, Avenue de la Plage. The food is nothing to impressed with, but the views (on a clear day) on Lake Tanganyika and the mountains of Congo (DRC) are unforgettable. (closed since February 2010).
  • Ubuntu, Avenue de la Plage. Nice garden setting in deluxe hotel with rather overpriced food. The garden also houses several turtles, peacocks, and has some resident Uganda Cranes.
  • Eden Great lake views. Best pizza's in Bujumbura, owned and managed by well-known Belgian restauranteur who flies the mozzarella in from Italy. Ave de la Plage (along lake, past Ubuntu)
  • Restaurant Tanganyika, 1 Avenue de la Plage. Set in a glorious 1930s art deco building and run by a professional Belgian chef Restaurant Tanganyika serves up some of the best food in the city. Mains from 18,000.
  • Restaurant Hotel La Palmeraie, Nice new hotel with garden/pool side restuarant serving excellent french and international cuisine. Nice wine list, but meals can an be expensive (30-40$).

[edit] Kinindo

  • Habesha, Avenue Rukonwe (near the PSG Office). Good Ethiopian food.  edit

[edit][add listing] Drink

  • Le Safran, Av. Kunkiko 38 (Rohero II), +257 22 213 999, [6]. 8-1430 / 18-2230. At Av. Kunkiko in quartier Rohero II you'll find this quality restaurant with a buffet every Friday evening and Sunday afternoon and evening. The cozy bar with a colourfull dans-night on Friday has a happy hour between 18:00 and 19:00 hours. medium.  edit
Several bars are located on Av de l'Universite (between Bld de l'Independence and Blv Mao Tse Tung).
The best known places for a transnight dance are l'Archipel and Havana. L'Archipel can be found at Blv de la Liberté and Havana is on Blv de Uprona (around the corner of the Novotel).

[edit][add listing] Sleep

Bujumbura is not a cheap place to stay but there are places that offer better value than others. Accommodation can be broadly split into the northern beach resorts and downtown. Downtown can be further split into places near the lake, the city centre proper, and up in the hills behind the city centre.

[edit] Northern beach resorts

  • Hotel Club du Lac Tanganyika on the lake at $120 upwards. The Italian owned hotel is popular on the weekends with the expat crowd so a fee of 10.000BFR was introduced for the usage of the pool. Located outside of the city right at the beach. It also has some sporting facilities such as tennis courts.
  • Karera Beach Hotel on the lake. More of a weekend-getaway than a hotel, chalets on the beach (with kitchenette, TV etc) start at $65 per night. Breakfast and other services not included. tel 247818 or mobile 77762185

[edit] Downtown, lakeside

  • Restaurant Tanganyika 1 Avenue de la Plage - has 4 spacious rooms overlooking the garden - recently refurbished with new bathrooms, art deco fixtures, free wifi and air conditioning. A small sandy beach is over the road. Good value at $60 per night including breakfast. The road is a little noisy however.
  • Safari Gate, Avenue du Large (at the lake), +257 22 21 47 80, [7]. Don't believe the prices quoted on their website, they are long out-of-date. The cheaper $60 rooms are pretty dingy and have no view - better to splash out on a $120 room. $60 - $120.  edit

[edit] Downtown, city centre

  • Hotel Amahoro, Av Industrial, [8]. In the center of town. Wifi, nice little restaurant, and conference rooms. The cheapest rooms have cold showers. US$40-80.  edit
  • Hotel Botanika tiny, delightful boutique hotel above Restaurant Botanika - one of the best restaurants in town. Located in centre of town, in the vicinity of a lot of bars and nightclubs, so very noisy on weekends. Great food and service and wifi. around $90 per night.
  • Dorado Hotel, Avenue de L'industrie, +257 22 25 95 07, [9]. Basic hotel with air conditioned rooms and wireless internet. The food from the restaurant is excellent. $80.  edit
  • Guesthouse Ave du Cafe, Ave du Cafe (near maison de la presse), (257)22222056, [10]. Simple NGO-style guesthouse in a house. Currently only 4 rooms. You share living space and dining table with other guests (mainly Belgian NGO workers on mission to Burundi). Tarif includes breakfast, lunch, laundry and wireless. Other numbers are 78880176 or 75800801 email guesthousebujumbura@yahoo.fr $45.  edit
  • Water front hotel (approx 100 USD). The former international Novotel brand and has been privatised after being state owned for several years. The former first hotel in town, is in desperate need of renovation and has seen a lot better times.
  • Hotel de L'Amitie (approx 50 USD ) in the centre of town.

[edit] Up in the hills

  • Vaya Hotel, (257) 22228231 (), [11]. Vaya Hotel  edit The restaurant is 20 years old, shabby and overpriced, but the (4) rooms are good value. It's situated at the top of the hill near University, far from the centre of town, so its quieter and cooler. (around $90 per night)
  • Village Hotel $100 upwards per night. Located in Rohero. Owned by Interbank Burundi. 28 rooms, all amenities including swimming pool and internet. E-Mail villagehotel_bujumbura@yahoo.com tel (257) 22244359
  • Hotel Alexestel, Avenue MAKAMBA (Avenue Makamba, Rohero I), (+257) 22 253972 (), [12]. checkout: 12.00. Room types: Basic, Single rooms - Double rooms and Deluxe room. Facilities: Free wireless Internet connection, free swimming pool, a bar-restaurant. Laundry service, free breakfast, mosquito net, hot water in bathroom. 50$-60$-70$.  edit
  • Hotel Alexestel, Nyakabiga, Avenue MUYINGA (Avenue Muyinga, close to new mosque, Nyakabiga), (+257) 22 253972 (), [13]. checkout: 12.00. Room types: Single rooms - Double rooms with or without A/C. Facilities: Free wireless Internet connection, a restaurant. Laundry service, breakfast, mosquito net, hot water in bathroom. 25$-30$.  edit

[edit] Stay safe

Bujumbura is a moderately safe city, but common sense prevails. Walking around during the day should be fine, but at night time (6PM) the streets get very dark and you are best off getting a taxi except for very short walks. Day or night there are very few police around. The area near the port feels pretty dodgy day or night.

[edit] Contact

English/French language broadcasts are available from BBC World Service on 90.2MHz and 105.6MHz.

[edit] Cope

[edit] Embassies

  • Belgium, Boulevard de la Liberté, 9, +257 22 22-61-76, [14].  edit
  • Greece, P.Ο. Βοx 1660, Bujumbura, +257 22 42 42532.  edit
  • United Kingdom. There is no UK embassy in Burundi, but there is a liason office + 257 22 22-32-66. Burundi is covered from the British High Commission in Kigali, Rwanda. Consular assistance is provided by the Embassy of Belgium.  edit
  • United States, Ave des Etats-Unis, +257 22 20-70-00 (fax: +257 22 22-29-26), [15]. M 9AM-noon, 2PM-3PM, W 2PM-3PM, F 9AM-10:30AM.  edit

[edit] Get out

About 60km south of Bujumbura are two lakeside resort hotels, Blue Bay [16] and Resha Royal Imperial Hotel [17] which make for nice day trips or as somewhere to stay overnight. Both have restaurants serving up excellent grilled fish.

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