Africa No.6 - Twins, your other half / Burundi

Burundi is a tiny country located beside Tanganyika Lake.

As I went down to Butare, southern province of Rwanda, I got to know that I was getting very close to the neighboring country Burundi. With two of the other traveler friends, it came up to our mind that we could just wait for a few hours in the bus and get in to Burundi.

Getting entry visas of Burundi was a bit tricky. We Japanese could get visas on arrival but they would expire in 72 hours. It means that we had to get out of Burundi in 3 days, either for Tanzania, which border was not very safe, or for Rwanda, which we needed to get entry visas again. Going to eastern part of DR Congo that time was not a realistic option.

We chose to get back to Rwanda after applying visas online and got ready to get in, went crawling down the hills and mountains in a small van, and got in.

There was a bridge at the border, between Rwanda and Burundi, which was running with muddy stream. It was a bit emotive that this brown river has been separating these two countries; twin-like countries.

(A bridge over the twins / border town)

Indeed, they have been twins for years.

Burundi basically consists of the Tutsi and the Hutu(and a percent of Twa pigmy minority) just like Rwanda. Burundi has been sharing history of colonization of Belgium, experiencing fierce conflict between the Tutsi and the Hutu. Burundi went through the civil war at almost the same time as the Rwanda Genocide, even longer.

The size of the country is also the same. Population, a bit less than Rwanda, still has a problem of too-densely populated. Food is also very similar, Ugali, cassava, potatoes, tomato sauce, green sauce, bean sauce, and barbeque brochettes. Boasting green hilly land, still having difficulties of distinction with Rwanda in terms of climate.

One of the few obvious differences was that Burundi has Tanganyika Lake, a long and narrow lake stretching down south to Zambia(Difference No.1).

(Breeze, the lake / Tanganyika)

And the mess on the street as well. (Difference No.2)

Once we got to the capital Bujumbura and left our luggage in the random hotel, which turned out to be a nice familial one(I felt like I was visiting my grandma’s in the country side), we went out for the town and had similar lunch as we had in Rwanda. Town was very much crowded with the street venders and beggars, which we haven’t seen in Rwanda. Probably Rwanda was getting too much artificial and neat, and it’s hard to compare, but the sloppy street corners in Bujumbura with cluttered locals was far beyond natural. It was messier than any other parts of Africa I have visited then, and it looked much more dangerous than any other parts of Africa.

(A beggar, the town / Bujumbura)

Yes Burundi is counted as one of the poorest in east Africa. Very sharp contrast with Rwanda, which is called ‘a wonder of Africa’ pointing the reconstruction it underwent after the genocide.

Then I got to know the other difference Burundi had from Rwanda. It was the political system with regard to ethnicity. (Difference No.3)

Unlike Rwanda which tried to cease the wordsto stand for tribes; the Tutsi and the Hutu from the official documents(so that there is no distinction between the Tutsi and the Hutu any more in Rwanda), Burundi stated in its constitution after the civil war the shared possession of power according to the ethnicity; in the Cabinet, Lower Parliament and Public enterprises, maximum of 60% for the Hutu, 40% for the Tutsi. Two vice-presidents should be a different ethnicity. Ethnicity of personnel in national defense should not excess half of the position.

Seems like Burundi’s system is more democratic. Rwanda has been developing itself owing to its dictatorship but it is fragile in terms of ethnicity, as with the good and smart dictator the Tutsi is at the helm of the nation and it looks the same as the history it’s been through.

Burundi has not been developed yet because there has not been a powerful dictator who could promote the country to be developed, but it doesn’t mean the conflict between ethnicity was not solved. Burundi might be far ahead than Rwanda in terms of the settlement of ethnic problems. However, there was another conflict between political parties, government party and opposition party, retarding the progress of the politics.

So many factors to think about. The history and politics in this region is too complicated. Even for the eyes of a random traveler like me.

(A mess, the town / Bujumbura)

The next day we went on with motor bikes to Tanganyika Lake. City was hot and humid, and dusty, but once we went a bit outside, it felt totally like resort. Breeze blowing the lake side was cool and mild, unlike the sticky salt air on the beachside.

I have always been for the beach when you compare the beach with the lakeside plateau for spending vacations, because the plateau sounded too old fashioned. But this time I had to admit that spending holidays on the lakeside was by no means refreshing.

This is something I didn’t really enjoy in Rwanda. They have the lakeside resort just next to the messiest part of Africa, and many Europeans come for vacation. (Getting back to Difference No.1)

(A resort, the lakeside / Tanganyika)

And the beer it has. It has brewery of Amstel, and this Amstel is called the ‘national beer’. Rwanda has many original brands such as Skol, Mutzig, Gatanu, Turbo King and Primus. (Difference No.4)

I wanted to ask ‘Don’t you have any identity with regard to your original beer?’ to those who were drinking this dark beer heavily in the bars and the pot holes, but I didn’t. This Burundi-type Amstel was after all, quite tasty. Original or franchise, beer in this region tastes luscious, not just because of their history as Belgium colonies, but also because their way of enjoying their lives in the closed, insular environment in the mountains (Commonness, Important).

(Daintiness, the Beer / Bujumbura)