Explore the local village and communities on your African Safari, get to sample the local cuisines, take part in the day-to-day local life activities, and discover the way of life of different tribes and people living around. Traveling through Uganda and Rwanda provides a fascinating insight into daily village and community life. Often located in the beautiful countryside surrounding protected areas including national parks and wildlife reserves, a village visit is an absolute highlight where a warm and enthusiastic welcome is guaranteed. It is so exciting meeting the local people across Uganda and being part of their daily life, learning about their lifestyle is a true and authentic experience that you can never leave to take back home.
Traveling far north of Kidepo National Park, you will meet the colorful vibrant tribes of the Karamajongs & Ik living around Kidepo Valley National Park that takes you through to the Karamajong homesteads locally called manyattas and probably kraals to see traditional costumes, stools, spears headdress, knives, bows, and arrows and jewelry. If interested, one can buy some of the Karamojong traditional items from the park tourist office. Immerse yourself in traditional performance dances such as the Emuya of the Naporre and Nyangia, ethnic groups, and Larakaraka and Apiti dances of the Acholi.
Leave your vehicles and explore the villages on foot. In Mbale around Mount Elgon National Park is the richest community group of Bagishu and Sabin with a highly significant value to travelers. The community provides a diverse experience from the Imbalu circumcision to the daily lives of the local residents to guided coffee tours plus local food preparation and sampling.
Visit the local people and villages of Uganda. Around Mgahinga National Park, Volcanoes National Park in Uganda and Rwanda respectively bring in meeting the Batwa Pygmies, hunter-gathers and warriors, who depended on the forest for shelter, food, and medicine, Batwa will guides lead visitors through the lower slopes of the forest, introducing them to their old home and demonstrating the skills they used to survive in it. The highlight of the Batwa trail is the descent into the Garama cave for a subterranean performance of music and dance.
During one of your local village and communities tours, you will up with the Bakonzo people living at the foothills of Rwenzori mountain being polite and calm is their identity. Travelers have to wallow through their daily activities which range from raring their traditional animals and crops to preparing nice delicious Ugandan meals with the freshest ingredients and meeting blacksmiths and traditional healers.
Spend a day or two to learn about their social economic life, visit their local markets or prepare traditional foods. Uganda is indeed a land of diverse cultures and people.
