Kayanza to Bujumbura - Day 324

Date: July 8th, 2010
Distance: 98km
Country: Burundi
Song of the Day: Love and Memories - O.A.R.

I knew it was going to be a long day, and I was mostly right. The morning started with a nice down-hill. From there it was up and over a couple of ridge-lines. I don't know that Burundi is less hilly than Rwanda. It does seem to have more smaller hills though. I am not sure if that is better.

I did grab onto a couple more trucks today to get a pull up some steep hills. I haven't seen that anywhere else I can think of, but it is common here. So much so that some of the trucks tie thorny sticks to the back to prevent people from grabbing on. There must be dissent among the drivers on that point though. The drivers for trucks I was holding onto always seemed to encourage me.

After Bugarama, it was all downhill though. Over 30 kilometers of screaming down the roads. I saw a couple of kids wipe out. It pays to have good breaks. I stopped, but they actually looked okay. No broken bones. Still, crashing when going really fast is the thing that scares me the most. Not bandits. Not lions. Not rebels. Not trucks. It is the hills. Going over 50kph, if something goes wrong it can be all over in an instant. Maybe that is why I keep hearing "courage" from people as I pass.

Once in Bujumbura, I found a place to stay. The city itself looks like most of the other ones I have been to. As in, not much to get excited about. There aren't really any attractions to see or places to visit. Still, I am in Bujumbura. I couldn't have found it on a map six months ago. I am so glad to have gotten the chance to travel like this.

-Dravis