Burundi

If you look at a map of Africa, you might be surprised that it takes five hours to drive across the small country of Burundi. But Burundi is all hills and valleys, dirt roads and steep escarpments.

Kirundi word of the day: Murakozi (thank you)

This snapshot of rural Burundi does not do it justice

The rural town of Gisuru is across Burundi from Bujumbura, the big city with the country’s international airport. Ben’s brother Danny and his family made the drive to Bujumbura to pick us up and then brought us to Gisuru the next day. They did ten hours of driving between the two days!

For me, the five-hour trip was easy—everything I could see was interesting and new to me, so there was a lot to take in.

We stopped for lunch at a place the president frequents during his travels and even saw his motorcade.

Then we bumped along winding dirt roads for a couple of hours, the appearance of a rare car causing people to pause mid-hoe in the middle of their fields to watch us rumble by in a cloud of dust.

Finally, we arrived at Danny’s home, where my nieces and nephew gave us a tour of their various pets: guinea pigs, a rabbit, some lovebirds, a talking African grey parrot, and a pair of monkeys.

I couldn’t stop staring at the view. So much green! So much land! The house where we stayed overlooked not only the valley but also Gisuru School for the Deaf, which Danny established so the large population of Deaf kids in the area can learn sign language and have an education.

Read my post about Gisuru School for the Deaf on World Footprints.

Africa Day 1: 30 Hours in Transit

Africa Day 3: A Dowry Ceremony

Africa Day 4: A Burundian Wedding

Africa Day 5: Gisuru School for the Deaf

We’re in Africa! We’ve been looking forward to this trip for nine years, and we’re finally here.

Kirundi word of the day: Amahoro (hello)

Fun fact: It takes 30 hours to get from Glendale, Arizona to Bujumbura, Burundi.

Actually, it should take longer than that if you schedule long enough layovers– I don’t recommend sprinting across Chicago O’Hare Airport toting six carryon bags and an angry preschooler to catch a connecting flight.

Little Man was happy for most of the trip 🙂

If you’ve been following for a while, you might remember a previous post announcing that we’d be in Kenya for six weeks last spring. Well, that didn’t work out. But the Africa vacation to Burundi and Tanzania that we’re taking now is turning out to be much better than trip to work in the hospital would have been!

Ben was born in Burundi and lived here until he was four, when his family was displaced to Tanzania during the war. In fact, he lived in the house where I’m writing this– his father built it on the family’s mission station 30 years ago and now his oldest brother lives here. But being born in Burundi gives Ben more than just a passport that makes border agents do a double-take. It’s also given him a lifelong connection to a place that will always feel like home.

It took three hours to get through the Bujumbura airport

After our long trip to Bujumbura, Burundi, we finally managed to extricate ourselves from the airport to find the people who would pick us up. To my joy, I saw eight family members waiting for us in the parking lot, where they had spent hours so they could be sure to greet us! We haven’t seen some of the nephews in six years, so our drive to their home a few miles away was a happy reunion.