THE "HARROY'S BENCH"

The RN 1, between Bujumbura and Bugarama, is the first road route in Burundi to have been paved, at the end of the colonial era. This road, which was the pride of the last Belgian resident in the Territory, Jean-Paul Harroy, came to replace the old path «Barabara» («road» in Kiswahili), opened in the 1920 s by another famous Resident, Pierre Ryckmans, and left to the invasion of the southernmost ridge by Mugongomanga. The opening of the RN 1 in December 1960 was an opportunity to unveil a memorial stele along with a bench on a panoramic platform to admire the Imbo plain and the capital in the distance. Long abandoned, this old lookout, formerly known as the "Banc bench", was rehabilitated in 2010. The view is definitely very beautiful, but Harroy tells in his memories that he never came to meditate on this bench because he had no time!