Cibitoke Province is located in the Northwestern corner and sees much cross border movement of people with Rwanda and the DRC. While a fertile area it is extremely poor, especially in the remote mountainous areas.
Cibitoke town is an easy 60 minute drive north of Bujumbura on a paved and relatively flat, straight road. In town, there are two recommended guesthouses: Guesthouse Peace and a little further down the road Guesthouse Colombe. UN staff occupied these residences in recent months and put in great plumbing systems. Some of the rooms are self-contained. The place is quite peaceful right now but there was an odd recent squirmish along a town on the road where you can see the river separating DRC from Burundi. Apparently the DRC soldiers hunted a hippopotamus who managed to cross the river into Burundi before sub combing to its wounds. Lured by their taste buds for illegality, the DRC soldiers approached the border and fell into gunfire with their peers in Burundi. A total of three are reported to have died. In the midst of it all the soldiers all lost as the locals in Burundi managed to carve up and take away their share by the time the brawl ended. The story made the local radio but didn't seem to go beyond that. Poaching hippo is banned but apparently military are exempt from this regulation. See Planet Ark for more information: http://www.planetark.com/avantgo/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=21892
Where I stayed:
Colombe Guesthouse
Peace Guesthouse
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