Nyanza-Lac

Nyanza-Lac is the last substantial town on Burundi's Lake Tanganyika shore before the Tanzanian border, a fishing and farming settlement on the flat strip between the water and the escarpment with palm oil, cassava and rice grown around it. The lake here is wide enough that the far shore is not visible. Boats work the water and the road south runs on to the frontier. The town sits on the last stretch of Burundian shore, and the lake continues south along Tanzania for hundreds of kilometres.

What you actually see

• The lake shore - the flat strip between water and escarpment.
• The fishing boats - the craft working Tanganyika from the town.
• The farmland - palm, cassava and rice on the coastal flat.
• The border road - the route running south toward Tanzania.

When to go

June to September is the dry season. The rains from October make roads slower. Fishing runs year round.

Honest expectations

There is little for a visitor and facilities are basic. Border proximity means checkpoints on the roads south. Bilharzia is a risk in the lake.

Nearby

Rumonge is north, and the Tanzanian border is south.