Getting to Burundi wasn’t supposed to be that hard.

In fact, it seems to be quite easy. Get to Kigali in Rwanda, get your visa and off you go exploring.

But it turned out to be a mission.

But first, let’s put Burundi on a map

Burundi is a small country in the East/Central Africa region. Here is where Burundi is on a map of Africa.

When you look at Burundi on a map you can see it is landlocked and it is bordered by Lake Tanganyika and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, Tanzania to the east and Rwanda to the north.

We were planning to travel to Burundi from Rwanda overland. Getting to Burundi overland seemed to be the cheapest and easiest option as you can get there by public transport.

Applying for Burundi Visa in Kigali

We arrived in Kigali, Rwanda and went to the embassy of Burundi the next morning.

The application process seemed to be easy, it was Wednesday and we were told to come back in a week. Getting to Burundi at this stage felt like an easy task.

If we only knew…

Our next week was full of adventures! We crossed the border to Uganda to finally see the gorillas. what an epic adventure.

We came back to the embassy of Burundi a week later, on Wednesday, only to be told that our visa wasn’t processed.

You see, each Tuesday the ministry that approves all tourist visas has a meeting where they sign off on visas. Our applications have for some reason not been processed. Hmm… Ok.

We started on the map of Burundi at the embassy and even considered getting to Burundi another time, but this would just cost us money in flights.

So another week spent in Rwanda.

Tuesday came around again and we were told, that although the meeting had already taken place, there was no way of knowing if we received the visa.

We were told to just wait.

Nothing happened on Wednesday either. Well, we met two guys at the embassy, GG and Snake – suddenly getting to Burundi as a group of four became the new way to do it. They were in the same situation as us. A plan was quickly hatched.

In short, we made the decision to travel to the border to see if a visa on arrival would be granted.

Getting to Burundi – Our first run to the Burundi border

The next morning, the four of us were at the bus station ready for Burundi.

3.5 hours later, an hour was spent at the border and we were on our way back to Kigali. Sadly without an official letter, there was no way to get our visa at the border. We knew this would be the most likely outcome but we were willing to try it. Especially since GG and Snake had to fly out in two days.

So it was now or never for them.

Not long after leaving the border, we received a call from the embassy. Most importantly, our visa was approved!

We swiftly paid and collected our visa the next morning and were immediately on our way to Burundi. Again!

Getting to Burundi, finally!

The station in Kigali is very organised compared to other bus stations in Africa. And, the buses leave on time. We took the Volcano bus that leaves every hour. Three hours later we were at the border of Burundi.

The cost of the bus is $2.80. Immigration at each side was super quick and as soon as we crossed the border, we found shared taxis departing for the capital, Bujumbura.

The cost per seat is 15,000 Burundi Francs ($8.00). The journey to the capital was very picturesque. We had enjoyed such beautiful landscapes in Rwanda, and as we drove through Burundi, we could see that this is also a beautiful part of Africa.

However, as Burundi remains unstable, the economy has been hit hard. In fact, in 2019 Burundi was one of the poorest countries in Africa.

The man sitting next to us in the shared taxi is impressed that we don’t have a car and a driver. When we explained that we would not travel like that at home, that in fact, we ride a bicycle to work, he seemed to be puzzled.

This has happened to us a lot in Africa.

The least developed countries and ones that are considered unsafe see only one type of foreigner. For example, they only see UN workers, diplomats, NGO workers or an older adventure traveller with a private package.

We arrive at night and check in to Urban Lodge. This hotel feels like an oasis within the city.

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Exploring Bujumbura in Burundi

Bujumbura is not too different from other main cities we have visited in the region. There are tuk-tuks to get you from A to B and a few main monuments to check out. But the main attraction is the lake Tanganyika.

Our morning was spent on the beach of this large lake. It was very chilled with small boats and kids playing in the water.

But we also came here to taste a Burundi speciality – Mukeke. 

RELATED POST – Ultimate Food Map of AFRICA – All 54 Nations!

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The Lake Tanganyika

The lake is huge. To clarify, other countries that border the lake are the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Tanzania and Zambia.

Looking across the lake you could see the dramatic mountains of DRC. And while further down south on the lake shores in Tanzania is an area quite popular with tourists, yet, we were the only ones here.

Our local friend had recommended the Bora Bora Club restaurant on the beach to try grilled mukeke, so we went there.

It was a win! Our fish was served with salad and chips, and a fantastic view of the lake.

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Bujumbura Downtown

Our taxi driver Cliff, on our way back from the lake, turned out to be a great guy. So we asked him to take us to a few places worth seeing in Bujumbura downtown.

While some of the monuments are pretty cool to see (photos are not always easy to take), we mostly enjoyed just chatting to our driver about Burundi as a whole and its future.

To clarify, it was just after the election and as he said, everyone was keen to see some stability and growth for this tiny country. With its tea and coffee plantations alone, Burundi has a lot of potential to be a little power nation.

Our time in Burundi was brief due to our delay with our visa, but we certainly enjoyed it.

It would be great to see the famous Burundi drummers, Livingston and Stanley stone outside of Bujumbura, a memorial to commemorate the journey of the two British explorers.

Our stay at Urban Lodge in Bujumbura was so clean and comfortable. It’s worth making a reservation on Booking.com in advance as this property is very popular.

And that’s our story about getting to Burundi and putting Burundi on a map – literally, as we are on a mission to visit every country in the world.

Travel Tips for Africa

We have many travel guides and tips for Africa – what a massive continent!

Have you ever wondered how many countries in Africa there are? 54 or 55? We cover them in depth in our ultimate Africa bucket list.

There is some delicious cuisine to be enjoyed across Africa, and these ten best African countries for food will inspire your food journey.

Check out how many of these 15 most popular foods you can taste.

If you’re wondering what they eat for breakfast in Africa, check out these 20 popular breakfast foods.

For food lovers, our Food Map of AFRICA lists the quintessential dish you need to eat in every nation!

It’s worth reading these 17 ESSENTIAL Things to know before travelling to West Africa, and our packing list for Africa may be helpful to you.

Don’t miss our recap of our travels across West Africa for even more helpful tips, and try these popular West African dishes; they’re fantastic!

You’ll need to stay connected while travelling in Africa. We recommend eSIM. It’s easy, reliable and affordable. View eSIMs for individual countries in Africa, or consider a regional eSIM for Africa (which covers 36 countries)

If your travels in Africa are part of a much larger global adventure, then a Global eSIM may be the answer. It connects you in 124 countries, offering data-only eSIM and data/call/text Global eSIM. This eSIM has been a game-changer for us, and we couldn’t imagine travelling without it now.

If you want to travel with like-minded travellers, consider joining a group tour. Check out our Group Tours first for any upcoming departures in Africa, or view Tourradar for deals on group tours in Africa.

Check out our best-ever travel tips compiled from more than twenty years of experience.