I had toyed with the idea of going over in Burundi while I was in Kigoma but I had forgotten about COVID restrictions and when I looked at the requirements, it became obvious it would be too expensive, time consuming and difficult, especially with quarantine regulations. I decided to keep that trip for another day.
My former Vice-Chancellor at the Open University of Tanzania had spoken in glowing terms of the Kigoma region. It is his hoe of course, so you expect it. But others had also told me a bout it – how they had gone to see the chimps in Gombe National Park. I am not at all interested in seeing monkeys so was tempted to take an expensive side-trip.
My favourite thing to do is to go where the wind blows me, make no plans ahead of time and see what happens. I looked the map in the afternoon I arrived and could see that the border was only 45 minutes away. Then as it turned out, my old boss’s house was at the border.
I was told that if I turned up at his uncle’s house I would be greeted warmly. That was it then, my mind was fixed on a trip to the border at Munanila. The only options for getting there are a private taxi or a shared taxi. The hotel receptionist kept making the mistake of telling the drivers that I was a foreigner and so the prices were crazy – 100,000/= (£30) one way. In the end I decided to try my luck in the town centre at the taxi rank. (muddy piece of waste ground)
Here the price was 5,000/= (under £2) per person. Solomon’s car already contained three people – a mother and baby in the front and schoolgirl in the back. On enquiring, Solomon told ne that he would need three more people to fill the car – that would mean four of us cramped into the back seat unable to move an inch. I paid him 15,000/= for three seats and we set off with plenty of wriggle room.
The journey to Munanila is spectacular and takes you up away from the lake providing panoramic views of the mountains, lake and DRC beyond. Here there are lots of people walking on the road carrying all manner of items on their hands from garden tools (from working the shamba), fruit and vegetables, rice and other dried goods and lots of bundles of wood.
There were groups of children carrying varying amounts of logs according to their size. All along the road as far as the eye can see, are women dressed in colourful dresses and men on dark clothes and children in ripped clothes, walking and carrying to and from the markets.
On this road are very few cars, in fact almost all cars are shared taxis, all of the same make and model. They ply this route fetching and carrying people from Kigoma into the countryside.
Munanila itself appears to be a very bus market place with houses scattered all around. I navigated my driver Solomon, to the house where Solomon Bisanda lives and found him there with his sons and lots of children. What an oasis of calm, an enclosed garden with rooms around where the extended family lives, children running around and women cooking.
It was decided that I needed to see the Burundi border as it was just down the road so young Solomon, old Solomon and I drove the short distance to what seemed to be the most relaxed border crossing I have ever been too. There is nothing stopping you walking straight on down the road into Burundi. Because neither Solomons spoke English I was not really awar what was goig on until we all entered the tiny empty immigration office, I was pushed forward towards the widow. A bored looking officer asked in English “You want to go to Burundi?”. I said “Yes please”. “OK, Go” he replied and that was it.
The three of us hopped back in the car and drover through the unmanned barriers into Burundi. You can tell you;’re there when the road signs tell you to switch to driving on the right. We stopped at a wooded area a short distance down the road and made our way towards the view. And what a view. Ahead of us was a ridge of mountains separating us from the lake and down i the alley, lots of small homesteads and shambas.
The mountain path was a little tricky to negotiate and we picked our way slowly downhill, sliding on the wet earth left by the overnight storm, until we got a flat area from where we could see one of the most impressive vistas I have encountered. Here is where Tanzania and Burundi meet and where you can see DRC in the distance.
For geography students, here is where the Rift Valley is laid bare. I could imagine Livingstone and Stanley, Speke and Burton being in the same awe as I was right then.
Munanila is not on the tourist trail although many come to Gombe to see the monkeys. However, for those who want to leave the marked trail, Munanila is a real gem of a town. The road there spectacular and delivers breathtaking views around every bend. The fact that you can just drive into Burundi without any papers, to take a look at the view, is an added bonus.