Best Travel Guide To Batwa People/Tribe In Lake Bunyonyi, Mgahinga, and Bwindi Impenetrable National Park Uganda

Best Travel Guide To Batwa People/Tribe In Lake Bunyonyi, Mgahinga, and Bwindi Impenetrable National Park Uganda 

Have you heard about the “people of the forest”?, the Batwa people, Uganda. When you meet them, you will see the forest in their eyes and lives. With the cultural trail in Mgahinga National Park, you will be able to experience the ancient ways of the Batwa people who once lived within the forest and also explore their ancient cultures.

The Batwa were the original inhabitants of the forests before Mgahinga and Bwindi Impenetrable National Park were gazetted into National Parks in 1991. The dense forests on the foothills of Virunga Volcanoes used to be their comfortable homes where they lived as hunter-gatherers and fierce warriors depending on the forest for food, herbal medicine, and food.

The Batwa Trail leads from the base of Muhuvura Cave. The walk is a living museum where you can learn about the Batwa People, a pygmoid tribe that used to live in the Mgahinga National Park.

During the eviction, these people were not evicted and were forced into dropping their nomadic and bushmen lifestyle. The Batwa Trail was developed to teach visitors about the lifestyle of these people – You will learn about how these people survived in the forest.

The walk is conducted by Batwa guides who provide insights into their traditional forest life and culture. The Batwa demonstrate their past hunting techniques; ways of gathering honey. The women of the community perform a cultural dance and you can participate in their dance.

During this invigorating trail, tourists are taken through the original Batwa grass-thatched huts, hunting skills, demonstrations of how water is fetched using bamboo cups/mugs, skills of gathering honey, and how to make fire by friction using sticks.

This incredible trail runs across the dense forest of Mgahinga National Park and passes by the foothills of Mount Gahinga and Mount Muhavura in Mgahinga National Park. The Batwa trail starts with the guide stopping and kneeling at a certain hut to pray to the gods to bless the walk.

It is only during this trail that the Batwa people are allowed to return to the forest (as guides) to demonstrate to tourists how they used to live in the forests. The climax of this wonderful cultural trail is the descent to the sacred Ngarama Cave underground cave located beneath Mount Mgahinga and about 200m long. Ngarama Cave was once a royal residence for the former Batwa King, the court of law, the food store, the consecrated heart of the forest, the store for looted treasures, the meeting place, and their shelter/hiding place during battles.

This tour always takes 4 hours. Part of the money that you pay is kept by Uganda Wildlife Authority to support Batwa Development projects like constructing schools while the other percentage is paid to the guides so that they can be able to support their families.

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