Southernmost Source of the Nile, Burundi

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Beautiful Tea Field Scenery

We awaited the arrival of Natacha, amidst the massive crowds around us, staring at us.  We hoped they would arrive in time to see what interest our presence generates, as I think they would be shocked.  Alas, the hundreds of kids were called back to church, just minutes before the car arrived. Natacha had recruited her friend, Lopez, to volunteer to drive us to the Southernmost Source of the Nile.  Along with her daughter Ketsia, and niece Olga, the six of us drove the road (passed Mugamba where we had tried to get to the day before) towards Kasumo, where the source was located.  The tea plantations along the drive were amazing.  The bright greens of the new tea leaf chutes is quite a spectacular colour when it wraps around the hillsides into the distance.
So…. there are 3 claims of the source of the Nile, and they have all been given separate titles.  Jinja,

With a Tea Farmer in Mugamba

Uganda, has the major source, as the water pours out of Lake Victoria.  Southwest Rwanda, has the

longest source of the Nile.  And that leaves the Southernmost Source in Burundi.  Sharing is good!! This source was discovered in 1934, by the German, Waldecker.  At 2 044m of altitude and at 6 671km from its contact point with the Mediterranean sea.
Now….. I was pretty much expecting a little trickle out of the hillside, but just to be there would be interesting.  What we discovered upon arrival was laughable.  In their infinite wisdom, they had built an ugly concrete retaining wall, with a PVC pipe sticking out of it.  From this, came the trickle into a small pool, and in true African style, the pool had a few plastic bags, an eaten corn on the cob, and an old toothbrush.  How's that for a tourist attraction???  I think the guides might have been a little 'put out' after our laughter.  I'm sure you'll

Believe it or not, this is the Source of the Nile - in all it's Glory!

understand when you see the photo. 

We did climb up the hill to where a tasteful pyramid had been built to signify the importance of the discovery, but we were disappointed to see all the graffiti etched into it.  The pyramid was on top of the ridge that separates the Nile Basin from the Congo Basin.  That is pretty cool - two massive rivers!

We then set out on what turned out to be a pretty horrible road, in the direction of Lake Tanganyika.  As we were driving this road, we started to realize that we wouldn't make it back to Bujumbura that night, so a new plan had to be formulated.  *Stub

With Natacha, Lopes, Ketsia and Olga at the Source

Burundi is not a very large country and we didn't know much about it. The reality is, is that it is overshadowed by its neighbours: touristy Tanzania in the east, problems of massive Congo to the west, and the famous history of Rwanda to the north. It was not until we got here that we started to learn of some of its history. Though it has not been openly admitted to the world, we learned that Burundi also has had its own genocide. Before Rwanda's massacre in 1994, tribal conflict between the Hutus and Tutsis existed here too for many years. Some of the first documented instability happened in 1972 and then 'civil war' started in 1993, and though the political circumstances were different to Rwanda's, many Tutsis ended up being massacred - about 300,000 people tortured and murdered! Brutal! Sad.

The Graves at Buta

It's not that long ago, and everyone has a story. Everyone has lost someone during that time. As we drove along the long bumpy dirt road, Lopez told us horror stories of those times. His own, of how when he was at high school, he moved to a boarding school in the north and was captured by rebels. They held him along with others, for about a week. He was lucky to come out alive, but with a machete scar on his arm as a reminder.

We had heard of a place called Buta - a boarding school/monastery in the south that, sadly, was the site of many merciless killings on April 30th, 1997, where students were killed in their dorms by grenades and  bullets.  It turned out that Lopez had known some of them before he had moved school - six of the forty students killed here.  It was a very emotional and sombre visit. I can only imagine what it must have felt like for

Blue Bay Beach

him: this was the first time he had been here.

It was almost dusk with scary dark clouds in the sky when we arrived at Buta and just as we left it started raining. Unsure about the quality of options for food and accommodation in close-by Bururi, we decided to push on through the storm to touristy Rumonge on Lake Tanganyika's shoreline. It was not a pleasant drive as it was a steep, winding descent. As sheets and sheets of rain came down, the now-tarmac road had turned into a river, and at times, you couldn't see through the windscreen! I urged Lopez to take it easy; this had some effect, but still went too fast for comfort. An hour later with a sigh of relief we arrived in Rumonge (pronounced Ru-mon-gee), found a hotel, some food, and finally flopped into bed at midnight.

Etching on the Rock

All night the storm raged. We were disappointed that it was still raining when we hit the beaches the next morning. White sandy beaches…. I think our guide book lied! But it was a scenic drive along the lakeshore. We were also impressed with one of the beach resorts we stopped at - Blue Bay - a nice layout of cool buildings with tall thatched roofs. There were other resorts that we stopped at that were not as impressive and were a little neglected.

Heading down an unmarked dirt path (not really even a car width) we came to our final destination of the trip: the alleged spot where David Livingstone (off exploring the interior of Africa at the Queen's command), was found by Henry Morton Stanley (who had been recruited to find him)
and the famous line: "Dr. Livingstone, I presume," was uttered.  The simple boulder apparently marks the spot of the encounter. I should point out that the same spot exists in Tanzania too! Ha! * Mush

Livingstone-Stanley Rock

Things Michelle will remember:
1. The two lines of graves behind the church of the forty or so people killed that day at Buta
2. Being impressed with Ketsia and Olga: we had been in the car for most of the day and not once was there a squeak of complaint! They were awesome to be around.
3. A surprisingly tasty breakfast dish called Gatoke (pronounced gatokay) -  basically stewed bananas with meat or veg.
4. The tiniest goat we've ever seen.

Things Martin would like to forget:
1. The white-knuckle ride down towards the lake sitting in the passenger seat with a front-row view!