To Gitega and Back!

Over the past few days we traveled upcountry to visit a friend's orphanage in Gitega. Gitega is in the heart of Burundi and is about three hours east of Bujumbura by car. The countryside was fantastically beautiful and is amazingly varied - in those three hours we drove past tropical scenery with palms and banana trees, rich farmlands with vibrant green tea and coffee plants, and evergreen forests (no kidding...I'm not sure what I would have done if someone had told me three weeks ago that there were evergreen forests in east Africa, but there it was). The whole country of Burundi is hilly so the panoramic views were postcard worthy.

The orphanage itself was amazing. The children are healthy and robust, and were very, very excited to see white people up close. They kept rubbing our skin to see if the white would come off, and they loved touching our hair. So many of them have terribly tragic stories and came to the orphanage malnourished and sick. To see them chubby and healthy and playing is a beautiful thing! We connected with some of the kids and really look forward to going back later this summer to visit again!

On the way home Freddie took us by the south road, where we got to visit the fabled source of the Nile. We even drank some of the water, thereby extending our natural lives by at least five years each (or so we heard). The source of the Nile, however, was a bit overrated. It looked like a drainage pipe sticking out of a concrete basin, and there was probably a tank of water behind it. They probably only call it the "source du Nil" to have a joke on unsuspecting white people.