Buhoma Cultural Tour

Buhoma cultural tour is one of the most exciting community tours in the Buboma sector that gives you an opportunity to experience the unique culture and lifestyle of the locals in the Buhoma sector, Bwindi National Park.

Buhoma sector in Uganda‘s Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is famously known for its numerous mountain gorilla families with each family receiving over 200 visitors in a month. Which means hundreds of tourists are always visiting Buhoma sector for the mountain gorilla trekking experience, but there is much more to this sector than just the mountain gorilla trekking experience; there are cultural encounter experiences in the surrounding communities that will not only amaze you but inspire you.

The Buhoma cultural tour takes you on this inspiring journey to visit the different monumental locations in the community to see, interact and take part in several cultural and community practices of the Bakiga and Batwa people that live around the Buhoma sector.

The Buhoma cultural tour begins at the main office in Nkwenda and goes through a 2 to 4-hour walk through the local African homes, farmlands, village centers, and many more places. On this walk, you will sight the several ancient households in the local community sites for the bakiga and batwa culture which exposes you to the past life experience of how Bakiga and Batwa used to live.

This walk is normally done in the morning starting at 9 am and in the afternoons starting at 2 pm; you choose a time that is comfortable for you or that can fit in your predetermined schedule. You can ask to have a private buhoma cultural tour outside the scheduled morning or afternoon times; this will be organized for you at a time of your choice.

The Buhoma cultural tour costs 40 USD per person per tour and the proceeds from this tour help support the local community and the youth in the community through funding the school program for the teenagers.

What you need for this Buhoma cultural tour will be good walking shoes, long sleeved clothing, long pants, rain jackets especially during rain seasons, snacks and water for the walk.

Activities you get to do on the Buhoma cultural tour

Visiting the ancient Bakiga traditional households which also act as local museums with lots of tools for history, cultural remembrance and significances.
The local Herbs Clinic where you will meet the local medicine man who uses local herbs in curing diseases among the community members.
The prehistoric granaries where the Bakiga people used to keep their food after seasonal harvests.
Batwa experience: The Batwa people were originally forest dwellers, who lived in the Bwindi impenetrable forest and survived on hunting and fruit gathering in the forest up to 1992. However, they were relocated to the Bakiga communities near the forest. The Batwa experience in the community, gives you an opportunity to witness how these unique forest people are adjusting to life outside the forest and how they adopting to new lifestyles
Coffee and tea processing in the community. Here you get to participate in coffee and tea harvesting (especially during the harvesting seasons) witness the grinding and roasting of the coffee beans. You witness the drying of tea leaves. Then for both the tea and coffee you will see the packing before it’s transported to processing factories in the region. You get to consume some of the already processed coffee or tea that is available in the communities
African traditional kitchen; a visit to this kitchen gives you a chance to witness and participate in traditional food preparation especially the staple meal in the region which is millet bread and roasted meat. After the preparation, you get to join the locals to enjoy this meal.
The local brewery: You get to see how local juice, gin and wine is produced from bananas and distilled locally.
Singing and dancing experience: The local community generally uses music and dance to celebrate life, sacrifices, marriages, rituals, worshiping, petition, to celebrate work, welcome visitors. So you get to watch the locals dance and sing and you can also take part in the dancing and singing.
Storytelling: you get to hear ancient stories of the Bakiga and Batwa told by the elderly in a local camp setting, these stories will make you appreciate the bakiga and batwa cultures even more.
You get to visit the local art and craft villages where especially locally made baskets are made and you can purchase one at 10USD or more

This Buhoma cultural tour is the best top-up to your mountain gorilla trekking experience in the Buhoma sector and you shouldn’t miss it on your visit to this sector.