Living Museum (Bujumbura Zoo) — Attraction in Bujumbura Mairie

The Living Museum in Bujumbura (Musee Vivant) It is one of the only two Museums in Burundi, the other one being at the Capital City (Gitega). It is more of a zoo with a number of animals here. However most of the animals are crocodiles. There is a total of 11 of them. There is the Nile Crocodile and the Rusizi River Crocodile. You can see the difference by the shape of the mouth. There are two friendly crocs that have no problem with people sitting on them to take a photo. I was so scared to go next to it. The guide said to take a pic with the crocodile was 3000fbu per person.

At the museum there are 6 chips. Flora a6 year old female chimp is the most friendly. Each of the chimps has different personality. You can take a photo holding Flora. You can tip the chimps handler. We each gave him 3000fbu.

There is one other pretty monkey, a couple of snakes, one female kudu(they need to find it a male partner. It looked so lonely.

There is a tree that is 177 years old. Our guide Fabian, he was a great guide, he showed us some mango trees that symbolize presence of human existence in the former years. Mostly it was the congolese, when their kin died they would plant a mango tree. The trees are still there.

There is a number of curio shops where you can get a souvenir to take back home. I bought a Fridge magnet at 5000fbu.

Entry Fees Burundian-5000fbu East African Citizen-10,000fbu Non East African-20,000fbu

Guide: 5000fbu

State of the Museum The Museum Management needs to revamp the place and make it more appealing since it is only of the few things to do while in Bujumbura.

There is a kids play area with a merry go round and swings.

Great place. I would visit it again.

Follow me on Instagram: @eddiemors1 for more travel...

Have been visiting since 2012. Now, we take our children when we are in town. In general, it is an interest and good experience and you can get quite close to the animals, even pay to touch the leopard, crocodiles and snakes. No more touching the apes, as they attacked people. Not sure about the chimps. Can also walk in the pen of a type of deer/antelope.

For a separate fee, you can walk into the “traditional village”, has large traditional huts. Burundian Drummers used to practice there, and would highly recommend checking into seeing that performance.

A couple very large old trees that are great for taking photos in front of.

There are also artisans and shops selling handmade crafts and goods.

The rating is low because it is quite run down, but I don’t see any signs of animal abuse. Would be awesome to see it remodeled and improved. Could be a very nice place to spend the day if it was fixed up.

The staff genuinely seemed to care for the leopard and apes. We have seen them interact and feed the animals and it felt very natural and genuine. In fact, at least one of the newer chimps was a domestic pet that was destructive at home, and wouldn’t survive back in the wild. So while any animal in a cage is sad, only other option would be to put the animal down. Will ask next time the back stories of the other animals.

You can pay to feed the Leopard and crocs live Guinea pigs… I didn’t enjoy seeing it, but it was interesting. You can also pay to hold the boa-constrictor. Have held the banana...

Though the place shows signs of neglect and some places look a bit run down, it is part of the must go places while you are in Bujumbura, Burundi. Animals in the place include a leopard, chimps, 2 species of Crocs, several snake species (python, spitting cobra, Gabon viper, mamba just to name a few), an antelope and a few bird species. The staff are very helpful and more than willing to go out of their way to give you more background on most of the animals and stuff in there. Some staff are conversant in Swahili and French and of course the local dialect Kirundi. Though you would be out of luck if English is your only language. For a small fee you get to see the Crocs feeding and also get to touch and hold some of the snakes. The python was a big treat for me! The place is easily accessible from town either on foot(about 20 minutes walk) or by car (5 mins drive). It's proximity to lake Tanganyika is also a plus as you can enjoy the spectacular views and if in luck, you'll get to see a few hippos basking in the shores...