"Bujumbura!" a Bujumbura Travel Page by Rrroel

Bujumbura is not exactly on the tourist map and understandably so. As the capital of war-torn Burundi, most of the people here have enough things to worry about and tourists simply stay away. Beginning of July, when I was starting to prepare my move to Burundi, embassies and international organisations were busy evacuating their staff, since rebels were indiscriminately shelling the centre of Bujumbura. People living in the outskirts of town could wake up finding dead child soldiers in their garden...

But eventually I made it till Buja in the end of September and everything is fine here - I'm here because it's safe, not the other way around! Downtown is the only part of the city (and of the whole country, for that matter) where it's safe, but there is still a curfew from 11pm till 6am. There's even a peace agreement now that seems to be respected! Despite all this, the general situation is still pretty volatile and it's well possible that the next time you come across some news about Bujumbura, and you will visit these pages, that it will be because of bad press and that the little stability there is now will all be wiped away in a coup d'état or yet another rebel attack...

But people have to live and they try to make the best out of it, on a day-by-day basis. Bujumbura itself is a small capital, on the northeast point of lake Tanganyika. Everything is green and tropical and you can have wonderful views over the Burundese hills and on the Congolese mountains on the other side of the lake. The only possible and safe excursion, some 5 km out of town, goes to a beach on the northside of the lake. Very popular on weekends. In the city are plenty of bars, cafés and restaurants, many of them are professionally run. And despite the curfew at 11pm, it is still possible in weekends to go out all night long, trying out trendy moves on hot Tanzanian music in Buja's tremendous open-air nightclubs! They're packed every weekend and even most of all on Sunday evening for the after-beach. Welcome in Bujumbura!!