Rainy season in Bujumbura

As I have mentioned before, it is currently the rainy season here in Burundi. This usually means about an hour of rain most days, but not every day. It is the same as the rainy season in Rwanda so although this is my first time experiencing it in Burundi, it isn't really new to me. Even so, there are always differences. For one, it is amazing how clear the air is here after it rains. During the dry season it gets very dusty and hazy. I didn't really notice the impact of that until the other day after it rained I looked up at the horizon as I was driving to work and I noticed the mountains of the DRC in the distance. I have always known that the mountains were there - you can usually see their outline across the lake, but this was the first time that I could clearly see the ridges and valleys, even the trees and houses on the mountains. Things are more crisp and more green and everything seems more clean. Except for the mud of course.

This year it is raining a lot more than normal. Instead of an hour of rain 3 out of 4 days we have had several days in a row where it rained all day. And this isn't a nice spring shower, we're talking serious downpour complete with thunder and wind. Not very pleasant. There are more accidents when it rains, the traffic is worse and I am more dependent on taxis since I can't walk into town or from place to place within town. I wished I had my camera with me on my way to work this morning so I could have pictures with this post. It has rained quite a bit this week so the ground is already very wet and what little drainage systems there are in the city are pretty overwhelmed. On my way to work this morning the roads were literally flooded with a foot of swirling red water dyed by the dark red mud.  Vehicles inched along spraying up waves of muddy water. Most of the water was low enough that it did little more than slow everyone down, but in a few low lying areas the water was deep enough to go over the hoods of small cars and I saw one stall and get stuck because of the water. Soon after the rain stops most of the streets go back to normal with only a few maintaining large puddles. It is raining again now and I think the road to my apartment will be washed out by the time I get back there tonight. I live on a hill and the road is only paved part way. Where the pavement stops the rain water pools and washes away the road so there is now a large drop off from the pavement to the dirt road.

The rain is normally good for the people of Burundi - as much as it is inconvenient it is necessary for this country that depends heavily on subsistence agriculture. However, this much rain has the potential to cause problems. Burundi is a very hilly country with people cultivating steep inclines as well as low laying valleys. Too much rain is potentially a threat to both. The low laying marshes are especially at risk of flooding with the potential for whole crops to be destroyed. With families farming only an average of 0.3 hectares of land loosing that land to flood is devastating. Hopefully the rains calm down and we get some nice sunny weather to dry things out. Not only do the crops desperately need this, but so do I. I only have one month left here in Burundi before I head back to December in Canada - the land of ice and snow. I want to soak up as much of the African sun as I can while I have the chance!