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.…

In our language “Kirundi”, aunt is called “Senge” and I like so much how it sounds. In our tradition, Senge is considered to be the most loved relative by its nephews and somehow it really applies in my case. I have so many loving, nice and cool aunties and Marceline is among them. Thereby, I am sharing with you our visit to my Senge during our holidays more than a year ago in Burundi! Although it was a rainy day, we were so excited about our preparations, getting ready while waiting for the car. It took us at least an hour to get everything in place so that we could…

The first day was for unpacking and settling in as we slowly got used to the tropical heat. Everything was fine until I received an email with the results of the COVID tests, the third one we made in three days. Jessica had tested positive. What a start to the holiday! In shock, it took me a while to see clearly what the next step was. I had to call my uncle to tell him the news and all the other people we had met the day before. According to the rules in place at the time, we all had to spend a week in isolation. Indeed, Jessica had not…