Visit to the thermal springs of Muyange, a trip that brought back many fond memories – Burundi

I’ve never been to thermal waters in Burundi and last year thanks to Mum’s insistence, I went to visit Muyange hot spring. I wasn’t that excited about the trip because I’ve always considered hot springs to be a bit boring, as I can’t spend more than an hour bathing. However, my mom’s stories about the hot springs at Muyange convinced me to go. She repeated many times how pleasant and relaxing it was every time she went with her colleagues, and she never missed the therapeutic touch. Jessica and Vanessa were thrilled as it was like a swimming pool for them, and William and Nelson couldn’t wait for the ride.

I have to admit that it was good to pass through different places that brought back memories. Those few kilometers of paved road to Taba reminded me of our athletic afternoons when I was a high school student at Lycée Bururi. Once a week we had an afternoon dedicated to sports and sometimes we used to jog to Taba. I loved this activity because it had an energy like no other. There were always a few keen joggers who went ahead and set the pace for the rest as they sang songs, which the rest of us would sing along to and together we formed a perfect choir!  But most times these songs had a sexual connotation, the boys were having lots of fun singing while the majority of the girls were embarrassed but nonetheless motivated to keep up the pace.

After Taba comes the village of Kiremba, where my older sister went to university. It was one of the first universities in Burundi to be established in the countryside, in a small town. Université des Grands Lacs-Kiremba was a sensation. The first cohorts were made up of young people from the capital, Bujumbura as well as those from the chief towns of the provinces. In short, urban kids! During the rare visits I made to my sister, I was fascinated by these young students, walking across their little meeting points they called “irigara”, watching the way they dressed the way they dressed, everything seemed cool to me! But the best part was popping into Kwa Mushize for a cup of tea with milk served with the best bread in the whole of Kiremba, It was life at its best!

Before arriving in Muyange, we passed through Buta, a village 12 km from Bururi! My memories of Buta are rather emotional and date back to 1997, in the context of Burundi’s civil war (1993-2005). Buta was known for its school which was considered to be an elite Catholic school, called the “Petit Séminaire de Buta”. It was appreciated by many parents not only for its quality of education but also for its disciplinary standards.  In 1997, my older brother was one of the lucky ones to enter the Buta seminary for his first year of high school. At that time there was armed conflict in Burundi and fear reigned in every corner of the country, caused by the murderous attacks carried out by rebel groups. On the morning of 30 April 1997, we received devastating news that the rebels had attacked Petit Séminaire in Buta and killed many students. I was 9 years old at the time and I’m not sure if I was aware of how tragic the situation was. I remember seeing my mum running around and staying on the phone all the time while my dad went to Buta by car, looking for Bertrand. That day no one went to school or to work, everyone was scared and no one knew what to do, nor did we yet know the names of the victims.

Around midday, Dad came home with Bertrand! All wet and dirty,he went straight in to take a shower. Afterwards, he told us briefly how he managed to hide in a water drainage while the heavy sounds of Kalashnikovs were thundering through the place. He stayed there for several hours until the morning when help arrived!  At the age of 14, he had just survived a deadly attack in which 40 school mates were killed. According to the evidence, the rebels had targeted the dormitories of the oldest students, those in grades 12/13! This killing attack marked not only Bururi but the whole country, and Buta remains for many, including me, an emotional place where 40 graves are laid to rest the 40 young “Martyrs of Fraternity” as we call them. After Buta, there were only a few kilometers left to Muyange, but it felt like we had spent hours and hours getting there. Some stretches of road were better for walking than driving. By the time we arrived, we were exhausted.

After an hour in the pool, I was fine and wondered what I was going to do for the rest of the time. Suddenly my mom told me that there are waterfalls 15 minutes’ walk. While I was asking among kids who is going to joined me, I quickly found Fabian the ranger and guide of the Muyange touristic site and I was ready to go with William and Vanessa!

The trail was exciting with big trees, rocks and surrounded with hills. The smell of pure nature mixed with the sound of the slight wind makes me feel like I arrived in the promise land. After crossing the river, we could already hear the heavy sound of the waterfall and see it a little bit. We couldn’t help but go faster to see it in its complete splendor. The scenery was so beautiful and highlighted that feeling of nature’s power. Vanessa kept jumping around and was wondering if she can swim in the pool foot from the waterfall. As much I would’ve loved to take a dip swim too: coming from the hot spring, I wasn’t ready for the cold dive-in.

While we were enjoying the scenery for the last time and preparing to go back to the hot spring, I started to feel sorry for Jessica because she did not want to come with us. She preferred to stay in the pool to relax. As I know her, she would,ve loved the whole thing, from the trail, crossing the river and maybe she could’ve been the one that would’ve took a fresh dive-in taking into consideration her ambitious personality.

Discovering all these beauties on my visits back home, I feel lucky and at the same time a little embarrassed by the fact that a when I was still live there, I didn’t leave just to go exploring. But, the good news is that it’s better late than never!