Burundi

Last Friday I packed my backpack, jumped on a bus and took the 6 hours trip from Kigali to Burundian capital, Bujumbura. I had heard so many people saying that Bujumbura is boring, so I didn't expect much. Arrived Buju in heavy rain on Friday afternoon and even though it was raining, it wasn't that disappointing.

There are quite a few places where to stay in Bujmbura, however most of them are way too expensive (starting from 60$) despite that Burundi is a third world country. Fortunately I found cheap accommodation in downtown that didn't eat all my budget. No luxury, nice staff, relatively safe, no internet and good location. I didn't go there to spend time in my room, I went there to explore the city. Once there I quickly changed into a try outfit and off to town I went.

Shortly after, just around the corner, I found a nice and probably the best cafe in Buja- Cafe Gourmand. Despite that I spent just 2 days in town, I went there 4 times. Delicious pastries, cakes and good coffee. No wonder this cafe is popular among expats and locals.

Next morning I got up early and set out for a morning run. The funny thing is that the government has banned running on the streets of Bujumbura. What an adrenaline rush! Well, that's not completely true, because you are allowed to run, but not in groups. According to the government group jogging leads to uprisings. Much to my surprise, running is very popular among Burundians and I have never seen so many runners on streets just sharing the passion for sport and not competing against each other. Want to popularize running? Ban it!

No doubt, there are number of nice beaches around Buju. After morning run and late breakfast at Cafe Aroma (another great cafe in Buju), I hoped on a moto-taxi to go to the Bora-Bora Beach, where all the young and beautiful (and rich) meet. I have been recommended by many friends about this beach club. Spent quite a few hours by the pool and at the bar. Nice place? Yes! Nice people? Yes! Great view to the lake Tanganyika? Yes! Good food? There are better places! Budget-friendly? No!

Even though Burundi is not as developed as Rwanda, I would definitely recommend to visit and experience the natural beauty that exists there.

Thank you for reading and have a great week ahead!

Kigali runaround

Its kinda funny how I have turned more into resistance training over the past months. Basically my time for outdoor sports (running, biking, skiing, hiking etc) has transferred to the gym. It's probably because my office is a gym. Anyway that doesn't mean that I have become a total gym rat ...or I have retired my running shoes. I do believe that long runs and heavy lifting can go together. Lifting heavy can be beneficial for a distance runner, however hours of cardio will never make you bulked up. So basically you need to decide what you want to be- big and strong lifter or slim and fast distance runner. I enjoy both and try to be all over fit. After some very hard lifting sessions this week, I found myself missing my running routine and the joy of running.
It was Sunday morning that I thought will be the best time to run here in Kigali as all streets will be almost empty. I was right! So around 9 am, after GPS signal was recieved, I began my run. Soon I found myself running along quiet and some of the most beautiful streets in town.

Then there was one of many beautiful roundabouts.

A short later I passed the Parliament house (on left, top of the hill). The Parliament building is visible from a distance and often helps me to orientate myself while running. 

About 200 meters later I passed the RDB (Rwandan Development Board) and turned left into a small street.

Shortly I found myself in the neighborhood where all the rich people live and several embassies are located. 

Usually you have to get out of town to make running more fun, however sometimes running around a new neighborhood will be enough to forget that you are running.

Yep, even in Kigali, the rich people live in large homes. Not surprisingly the only golf course is located in this neighborhood as well.

Then it was time to leave the golf course behind and continue my way to home. I followed the road until I was back on the main street...

..and a short bit later the Parliament caught my eye from a distance.

Along the way back home, I passed some more modern buildings... 

...and soon after I was back home. It will be interesting what Kigali will look like in 10 years if the rich get richer and poor poorer. 

Uganda and white water rafting on the Nile

Truth is that it has been a few weeks since we last escaped the city of Kigali. So after busy weeks of work we decided to leave our work at work and travel to Uganda. Our trip started on thursday afternoon when we went to Kigali bus station to catch the 6PM bus to Kampala. There have been some 3-4 hours bus rides on my trip here in Rwanda, however this one was a little bit different. First of all, the distance between Kigali and Kampala is around 500 km and estimated driving time ca 9 hours. Furthermore, at the bus station we found out that our ancient bus is over-booked. Fortunately next bus arrived ca 45 min later and we left ca 8PM from Kigali. A further 2 hours later we had to go through the border between Rwanda and Uganda. Exiting Rwanda wasn't simple- it took ca 2 hour to get all passport stamps and then back to the bus. The road was extremely bad in Uganda and no toilet on the bus didn't make the trip easier.

We got to the sin city of East Africa next morning at 9 AM and shortly set off for one of the biggest shopping mall in Kampala to take a free shuttle to our hostel, located near the lake of Victoria.

There is nothing better than relaxing in the pool after brutal bus ride.

Saturday morning we woke up early to do the full day grade 5 rafting on the Nile. The company offered a free transportation from Kampala to Jinja and furthermore a small breakfast was provided on arrival. After short introduction they transported us to river.

We joined with another group of 3, really nice Americans for our adventure. And then the adventure began!

After 4 rapids, it was time for lunch.

Some of the rapids were challenging and we did flip several times, however the experienced staff made us feel safe. We covered total of 27 km on Nile and I had just an amazing time! I'm even considering buying the video with all our rafting highlights (all flips included) if I can negotiate the price down a little bit.

One night free accommodation was also included in the price ($ 125) and they dropped us off at our hotel after long day of rafting. We really were exhausted and simply didn't have the energy to party. Even snoring in our mixed dorm couldn't keep us awake ...or at least most of us.

I started my Sunday in our hotel pool.

...then went for a stroll and grabbed a quick breakfast- rolled omelette (or Rolex).

Afternoon we took a taxi back to Kampala where we spent an hour or two with our friends before we jumped on boda-bodas (moto-taxies) and headed to downtown. After the brutal bus ride from Kigali to Kampala, we decided to travel back home in the first class. Despite the fact that there were two seats on one side and three seats on the other side, making stretching impossible, the bus was fast, relatively modern and we crossed the border within less than an hour. Another downside was really loud and shit music for almost the entire ride. Fortunately I turned my headphones into earplugs.

Here are some random photos I took over the weekend. Uganda is truly worth a visit!

Thanks for reading!

Getaway to lake Kivu

After realizing that we have spent our past 4 weekends in Kigali, my fellow interns and myself decided to escape the city for a much needed weekend break. The original plan was a long weekend getaway to Burundi, however our plan to take friday off from work simply didn't work. Instead, on friday we booked up a hotel room by lake Kivu. After leaving home on Saturday morning, we headed to the Nyabugogog bus station to take the bus to Gisenyi.

Unfortunately it was totally disgusting bus ride. Not because of the fact that the bus was completely full, but rather because of a 15-year old mom who decided to sit between us with her 2 year old baby boy. She didnt only smell bad, but she started breastfeeding immediately. ...and then things got worse. It took 30min or so, until the baby vomited in the bus. Lovely! ...And so did his mom. ...and then the baby. Again and again!

Anyway, after 3 hours in the bus we arrived in Gisenyi and motos dropped us at our hotel. Time to get our must needed getaway started! We stayed at the Paladise Malahide, an excellent hotel on Lake Kivu. They treated us like kings. Once there, we ate lunch by the water.

And then spent some time relaxing (and swimming) at the hotel's private beach, located just 15 meters from our Bungalow.

In the afternoon we took a boat to a tiny island, with nobody on it.

A quick selfie...

...and back!

Next morning, the breakfast was delicious!

When checked out, we hiked all the way to Gisenyi...

...and back to Kigali we went.

Thanks for reading!