Mr. David Sunstrum came with his wife to Burundi in 1980 years ago came with the Bahai faith ministries and for the first 13 years built and run three schools, notably, Ecole International.

This was a school that catered for the expatriate community and Burundians each with and even 50% of the intake. The events of the civil crisis started and the school could not function, many foreigners fled and many Burundians were displaced so the school did not do well. For the next 13 years (1993-2006) David worked with NGOs and international aid agencies eg the UN and WFP as a logistics officer bringing food and medical supplies to refugees and displaced people from Rwanda and Congo. He also did a stint in Darfur in 2004

During this traumatic period, he conceived an idea to create a little spot of paradise in Burundi on the plateau situated between the Congo mountains and Burundi hills overlooking Lake Tanganyika, Africa's most beautiful lake. In 1997 he acquired a 3.5 hectare property from government, long before anyone else had thought of building on the beach front. He later sold of one hectare to another hotel developer. The existing hotel, Club Du Lac, had since become dilapidated and was occupied by the military and almost destroyed and remained closed. The entire beachfront had remained closed and was designated a red (highest risk) zone due to the insurgency around the area.

When he got the property, it was mainly weeds. He cleared the place and was faced with two problems. The exposed sand would get very hot under the sand and, being windward of the lake, there was a constantly strong wind. He planted 6,000 aesthetically presentable and functional trees to be both, windbreakers and shade. He also planted thorny bushes as a form of deterrent. Many battles between government forces and rebels were fought on the property. The investment is about $700,00 and the property is now worth well over 1 million dollars.

Pinnacle 19 is composed of many rustic style functional buildings, completely representative of Africa with an ecological look with the buildings appearing to be in a forest at a lake shore. A combination of materials was used to build the place. Initially, brick, wood and some iron sheeting were used until the influx of the Ugandan builders. These introduced East African thatch, that has become very popular in Burundi. There is now a mix grass thatched, iron sheet and tenting material for the various roofs. There is also a swimming pool, sauna and a spa in development . The Sauna will be the main focus area with aroma therapy, massages, treatments and Jacuzzis divided into two large areas, one for women and one for men. On Fridays and Saturday nights there could be mixed bathing.

The most unique feature is that the 2.5 ha property have been completely solarised. The whole place functions on 95% solar energy and 5% wind. David has found solar energy to be more cost efficient. The swimming pool, for example operates completely on solar power. In the entire property, there is no connection to the main city power grid mains. Nearly 100 solar lamps that light the entire property at night. There is an extensive use of modern four watt LED tubes whose brightness is equivalent to at least 40w. All the equipment is an energy efficient 12watts including the refrigerators.

The pricing for a room is an affordable single at US $50 with a double (shared) going for US $35

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