Lake Tanganyika (Bujumbura, Burundi)

I kept hearing about how amazing the inland beaches are on the shores of Lake Tanganyika, that divides Burundi from the Congo. For quite a while the region has been very unstable, with a civil war that is now starting to calm a bit. I consulted with one of Guen's colleagues who works down in Bujumbura and she said that it should be okay to come down right now, so I thought what the hell and decided to swing down here for a couple of days.

Being here is REALLY stretching the little French I speak, but it's a fun challenge. I got a spot at this little hotel right on Lake Tanganyika - it's really cool. You see this beautiful beach and these kind of eerily empty bars/restaurants scattered around. I literally didn't see one person in the hour I spent walking down the beach and dipping my feet in the water yesterday afternoon. Then on my way back I ran into this waiter from the eatery near my hotel named Claude. With fragmented bits of Kiswahili, French, and English we talked for about 2 hours while I ate chicken and rice and sat next to the 30 foot snake they keep as a pet at the place. Then I went into Buj and got a chance to check out the town for a while. The lake is definitely the biggest attraction and the tourism industry pretty much died with the conflict over the past decade. There's this U.N. fortress on the way to the lake from town that makes most federal penitentiaries in the states look soft. On the bus ride down we saw a lot of soldiers or "rebels" as the folks around here call them with AK-47s and such. They warn about land travel but most of them seem more bored than anything else.

Something to note - folks here in Burundi refer to the Genocide as "the crisis" in Rwanda. Burundi has a very large population of Tutsis and still allows classifications of both Hutu and Tutsi.

Also, apparently the D.R. Congo is about 15 minutes driving from where I am on the lake. Really interesting vibe here. It's been cool.

I woke up early this morning at 6am and watched the sun rise. It was awesome. Standing with my feet in the water looking up at the mountains in the distance covered in mist as a bright red sun rose out of the clouds.