Parks & Protected Areas
Kibira National Park
Perched at an altitude between 1,500 and 2,660 m at the top of the Congo-Nile range is Kibira Park, a majestic primeval rain forest spread over 40,000 ha. Formerly a sacred hunting preserve for the kings of Burundi, it is now a protected area and home to some 98 mammal species, a dozen primates (numerous families of chimpanzees, baboons, tailed monkeys, black colobus) as well as some 200 species of birds.
Many streams and rivers that irrigate the country in the East as well as the West have their sources in this park.
This rain forest plays a major role in the formation of the Congo and Nile River Basin and constitutes the watershed line.
While rarely visited in the recent past, Kibira National Park has become a place tourists want to visit. On your way there you pass through the impressive tea plantations of Teza and Rwegura. Once in the park, guards lead you deep into the dark undergrowth to discover the charms of this primeval forest including mesmerizing birds’ songs.
Currently there are two access points for the park: the tourist pygmies’ village of Busekera and the hydroelectric dam of Rwegura. The dam is another interesting attraction providing magnificent vistas and a charming spot for rest or an outdoor picnic
You can choose a short walk or a whole day excursion with experienced guides to visit the savannah and its extraordinary beauty.
National Park of Ruvubu
The National Park of Ruvubu in north-east Burundi is the biggest protected ecosystem in the country with more than 50,000 hectares.
In the heart of a still wild environment, this unique park is populated with diverse wildlife. Among others, you will find: buffaloes, antelopes, monkeys and hippopotamuses.
Experienced guides will lead you for a short walk for a few hours or a whole day excursion throughout the park to visit the savannah and its extraordinary beauty.
National Park of Rusizi
You do not want to miss the Natural Preserve of the Ruzizi which is only fifteen minutes from the center of Bujumbura.
You will be charmed by the richness of the wildlife and the flora. Nineteen species of mammals live there including the hippopotamus, which is the most popular animal of the preserve.
The Ruzizi delta hippopotamuses live in the company of thousands of colorful birds. The Ruzizi Preserve has the honor of hosting the legendary hyphaene, a palm tree that cannot be found anywhere else in the world.
Protected area of Kigwena
Created in 1954, the forest preserve of Kigwena extends over 3,300 hectares and ranges between 773 and 820 m in altitude. It stretches out over the western piedmont of the Congo-Nile range ending in a gentle slope down to the plain of Lake Tanganyika and straddles the Route 3 national highway.
The hot springs of Mugara are found in this preserve. This is a unique picturesque forest and the only natural equatorial reserve of its kind in the country.