Livingston-Stanley Monument

Near Bujumbura, Burundi

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The Livingston‑Stanley Monument, also known as the Livingstone–Stanley Monument or La Pierre de Livingstone et Stanley, is a simple stone monument near Bujumbura, Burundi, about 12 kilometers south of the city on the banks of the Mugere River overlooking Lake Tanganyika. It marks the spot where the Scottish missionary and explorer Dr. David Livingstone and the Welsh‑American journalist and explorer Henry Morton Stanley are said to have visited and stayed for two nights between 25 and 27 November 1871 while exploring the region as part of Stanley’s mission to find the long‑lost Livingstone. The monument consists of a large, reddish granite monolith standing over three meters high, with an inscription naming “Livingstone‑Stanley” and the date 25‑11‑1871, surrounded by a small stone circle, and was erected by Belgian colonial authorities in the 1950s. Some locals believe this site is where the pair’s famous first meeting took place, with Stanley supposedly greeting Livingstone with the line “Dr. Livingstone, I presume?” Today the monument is a quiet, slightly off‑the‑beaten‑path historical landmark offering modest views over the lake and the surrounding hills, rather than a grand tourist complex.