Overview

National Park is the most popular and sought after Burundi tourist attraction. Rusizi National Park in Burundi is commonly known as Parc National de la Rusizi and is situated in the north-west of Bujumbura. The park is divided into two parts; the larger part lies on the eastern bank of Rusizi River whereas the smaller part forms the delta of Rusizi at the entrance point of Lake Tanganyika.

Tourists will enjoy a lot in this park as they can explore various unique species of flora and fauna and the environment also supports the existence of these unique species. Wildlife species in Rusizi National Park include hippopotamus, antelopes and monkeys along with numerous species of colorful birds.

Various species of trees namely the Acacia albida and Euphorbia candelabrum are found in the northern part of the reserve. Ponds of different sizes are present in the northern section of the region. Various species of unique birds form an integral part of the Rusizi National Park.

Fifty percent of Rusizi National Park comprises of forest followed by artificial landscapes covering (23%), shrub land (18%) and grassland (7%).Thus the Rusizi National Park is the home of numerous wildlife species which make the park a wonderful Burundi tourist destination.

RUSIZI NATIONAL PARK, Burundi — There is a large empty enclosure set up by the edge of the Rusizi River here, one that the Burundian authorities hope will one day lure tourists to this part of central Africa.

It is ringed by a fence topped with barbed wire and has a giant pool inside. If all goes according to plan, it will someday become the home of Gustave, an enormous man-eating crocodile that has for decades haunted the Rusizi and the northern shores of Lake Tanganyika, where the river flows.

While shrouded in myth, Gustave is no Loch Ness monster. He lives and breathes and, most of all, devours. But as might be expected with such an oversize beast, some of the tales about him are rather tall.

While the largest Nile crocodiles typically measure something over 20 feet, Gustave supposedly reaches 30 feet; some people who have seen him claim he is 40 feet, teeth to tail. Locals describe how he has devoured fisherman after fisherman, swimmer after swimmer. During one raid, legend has it, he chomped up more than a dozen people and still seemed hungry at the end of it all.