As we approached our third month mark (April 12th), we knew we had to travel out of the country to renew our tourist visa for another 3 months. Nate has been working on registering IEE with the government as an INGO (International Non-Government Organization) for the past month but it is quite a complicated process. Every time he visited the Immigration Office to submit his forms, they would surprise him with more document and signature requirements. Once IEE is a registered INGO, we can apply for a work and dependent visa (for Michelle as a spouse) which is good for one year. Until then, we are only “allowed” to stay in the country for 3 months at a time as tourists. Guess that means we have to take a vacation every three months to "reset" our tourist Visas. Not too shabby!
Meredith happened to be out of town during the week we needed to leave. We were thrilled to have access to her car so we could drive ourselves over the border and not pay for public transportation. It was a fun adventure with beautiful scenery. After only an hour car ride, we arrived at the border!!
Welcome to Burundi!
Here is a picture of the border
This is the road heading into Burundi
Burundi looks similar to Rwanda in that there are lots of farm lands, impoverish communities, and the people dressed in the same clothing. However, the subtleties in the homes were very charming! We noticed large clay pots placed next to many doors of the homes lining the street. One difference that stood out to us was the round homes with thatched roofs. In Rwanda, most homes in rural areas are also made of mud or cement but are mainly built in a rectangle or square shape. We are use to seeing tin roofs so the straw roofs caught our eyes. Michelle tried to capture some of her favorites as we drove by.
Our original plan was to eat lunch in Burundi but after driving an hour into the country and not seeing any restaurants, our stomachs got the best of us so we turned around without stepping out of the car to explore. We will have to come back another time!
One interesting side-note, on our way back to Rwanda, we ran into a military training camp doing a work out on the road.
Overall, it was a delightful drive (except for the distracting hunger pains) with beautiful scenery. Since the hills were not very steep throughout the southern province, we vowed to do it again on our moto for a more au natural experience. We can't wait! It's like driving in "the hidden valley" from "The Land Before Time." Fantasy come to life, just beautiful.
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