Situated on the dividing line of the Congo and Nile river basins, Burundi is rich in natural attractions, such as the Rusizi park, the Kerara waterfalls and the White Nile springs.
The Rusizi National Park, not far from Bujumbura and the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo, consists of a lowland ecosystem with temporary lagoons and ponds, and an area with palms and semi-arid savannahs in the north (called Rukoko). The proximity to the expanding capital has been one of the reasons, along with poaching, for the drastic reduction in fauna over the last seventy years (in 1950 there was a group of about 200 elephants, but today they have completely disappeared). However, the park remains rich in avifauna, with the presence of more than 350 different species, numerous hippos, crocodiles and Nile monitor lizards, and rare jackals and sitatunga antelopes.
The Kerara Falls, in the south of the country, is an impressive waterfall system consisting of three main falls, which can be visited along a rough (often muddy) path, but where one can be rewarded not only by the beautiful view, but also by encounters with guenons and numerous birds.
Not far from the waterfalls are the sources of the White Nile, much sought after over the centuries and finally discovered in 1938 by Waldecker, more than 6,000 kilometres from the delta of the river that flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The site is marked by the presence of a large grey commemorative pyramid, on which is the Latin inscription Caput Nili.
