Buhoma Village walk is an initiative by the local people around Buhoma village found in the northern region of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. We encourage you to participate in this walk not only for recreation purposes but also to support community development within the area.
Following the foundation of Bwindi Impenetrable forest as a National Park in 1993 to protect the endangered mountain gorillas and other species of wildlife, the locals then lost the direct benefits of the forest which included timber, herbs, honey, fruits and others. To hinder this, the government and other Non Government Organizations encouraged the local people around Bwindi most especially those in Buhoma Village to raise a village trail for tourists to appreciate and showcase what they have to give.
Buhoma Village walk is thus a great opportunity to learn about the day to day activities of the native people in the village of Buhoma, visit the surroundings of the park as you appreciate the culture and way of living of the Bikiga who are the majority people in this area.
The walk begins from Buhoma Community Rest Camp a Campsite which was put aside to be beneficial to the locals in the area. The guide will then move with you to the women’s handicraft shops to show you how the women make crafts from local materials and they will explain to you how this has helped them to address the problem of poverty. You can decide to share your skills with them or buy some crafts to support their cause and in order for the improvement on their standards of living. This will make the camp more beneficial to them as well.
Then you will proceed to the village passing through banana plantations, tea and coffee plantations and following on the time of your walk, you might find the locals in their plantations and you will be able to observe their activities. Most interesting among these is tea picking where men and women carrying baskets on their barks pick leaves and throw them behind without looking there.
You will then have a break at River Munyanga to witness women and young people hand washing their clothes without machines. From there, the walk takes you to several banana plantations where you will meet the local brewers who produce local Jin from bananas. They will take you through the whole process of making crude Uganda Waragi and if you are a fun of Jin, you will be allowed to be given a test of it and if you find it sweet, then you can support them through buying some of it for either your family relatives or even your friends.
Through the same village walk, you will have higher chances of meeting a village Medicinal man who produces local medicine from herbs. He demonstrates to you that before tablets like Panadol and other tablets came to Uganda, Ugandans had a way of protecting and curing themselves from dangerous diseases such as malaria and fever. He will show you some of the most import herbs that are used to cure several illnesses that affect Ugandans.
If it is time for studies, you will visit some local schools in Mukono village to meet children and their teachers in class.
The peak of this walk is a visit to the home of the Batwa people who used to stay in Bwindi Impenetrable forest before it was made a national park. They will narrate to you their experience as it was while still staying in the forest and their life outside the forest now. And after a brief talk with the local people, they will then reward your visit with traditional dances which looks nice and brilliant and there after you will have to return to your lodge for Dinner and Overnight.