Hiking in my hometown’s natural forest reserve – Bururi

In my home town, just above our neighborhood, there are beautiful hills with abundant forest. Behind these hills are different villages, among them the one called “Ku Mpinga”. The landscape is beautiful, but I went there just once with Stefan when he visited my mom for the first time in 2011. We went by car as he had a 4-wheel drive car, good for field trips. It was a nice ride but somehow something was missing: we did not feel the grandeur of this dense green forest nor did we hear birds singing. Anyway, we enjoyed that trip and were grateful to Stefan who introduced us to something new which was exploring and discovering the very local surroundings. This felt so special at that time as in our habits, it is not frequent to visit a village just to admire nature and especially if it is about climbing the hills.

During our 2022 vacation in Burundi, I promised myself that I would take my kids to see places that I have never visited in the 24 years that I had lived in Burundi. After arriving in my home village Bururi, I had planned to go for a hike until ku Mpinga. However, I heard that the park ranger’s office offers guided tours as there are chimpanzees living in that same forest. So, the first thing I did was to go to the office to ask for a guide hoping that he could offer us a tour to see the chimps.

Once there, the director told me that tours are by appointment, depending on where the chimps are. Sometimes they are very far away and in a hard-to-reach place. Also, their rules say that children under 12 are not allowed to go on these tours. Although I insisted on getting a guide and explained that Jessica and Vanessa were prepared and fit, it was made clear that we were not going to get a guide to do the tour. But the director assured me that he will contact me soon to agree on when they could provide us with a guide.

In 3 days, I haven’t received any news from the forest ranger’s office so we went on a simple hike with Simon as our guide, the man who takes care of our property. This time there was no expectation of seeing chimps.

The rainforest we passed through is part of the protected reserve of Bururi. With green big tall trees, the forest was full of life. We could feel the fresh tropical air gently sweeping over our faces. I was a little embarrassed by the fact that during my childhood, I have never had the initiative to go and discover the beauty of this forest. At the same time, I was so proud that I had the courage to take Jessica, Vanessa and William with me and go to the village. Experiencing this with my children has filled my heart with gratitude and joy. Surrounded by the tall trees and dense greenery, Jessica and Vanessa felt like they were in a movie as they wanted to swing with vines like Tarzan.

Once out of the forest, the view opens up onto a huge plateau where the village is located. The place was superb, we could see the Tanganyika Lake on the horizon as well as the Ubwari peninsula which is in front of Baraka where Stefan lived for 3 years. In the meantime, the rain could be seen from far away. We chose to go to the center of the village to get some shelter, in case the rain came. We took the opportunity to get into the small shops and talk a little with the people. But above all, we attracted attention where people wondered what the muzungu children (who were Jessica, Vanessa and William) had come to look for, especially on foot in their village.

Fortunately, just a few drops of rain fell and we were able to go back home in time. On the way back, the forest was even more interesting because of the fog and the distance back seemed to be short.