Cultural tours in Uganda are one of the most amazing and enjoyable experiences for whoever wishes to experience African cultures. Uganda will give you the best of its traditional dances, music, storytelling and also their unique musical instruments such as drums, calabashes, and many more. Uganda is a culturally diverse country which counts about 65 tribal groups. On your cultural tours in Uganda, your tour operator will let you know about to some of these tribes. Uganda is a welcoming country for every race in the world. Uganda is a nation that is diverse with at least 40 languages in that different tribes communicate in. Not forgetting that English and Swahili language are among the most used languages.
Some of the places in Uganda that give of an amazing cultural experience includes Ndere Cultural Centre. Ndere cultural center is located in Ntinda in the capital city -Kampala. It is popularly known as a home of cultures which were found in 1986 by Stephen Rwandyezi a Ugandan cultural activist and his aim was to promote universal unity through dance, music, and drama. Ndere headquarters is built on 9 acres of the land beautifully surrounded with flowers, well-maintained green, mature fruits, and other local trees. All these will give you great sightseeing of birds as you walk along. It has a unique architecture which is smoothly combined with artistic creativity that takes on the African shapes, colors, and materials. It comprises of 700 seaters. When you visit this cultural museum, be welcomed with traditional performances from different cultural backgrounds. When the moon and stars shine brightly in the sky, visitors will be served with wine, snacks and some traditional food. Be sure to enjoy different cuisines from different tribes like kalo, matooke, malakwang, and much more food types.
Cultural tours in Uganda will have you visit different local communities where you will encounter different way cultures such as Batwa pygmies, Karamojong people, Banyankole, Bagishu people and many other communities. The Batwa people are historically known as hunter-gathers who used to live in Uganda’s forest before national parks were gazette and they used to feed on fruits within these thick forest. Now they live close to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and Mgahinga national park which are habitats for mountain gorillas. Thousands of tourists have visited these national parks for gorilla trekking and most of the time they can’t go back without visiting these Batwa pygmies who are good at storytelling, dance, and music. Their traditional entertainment leaves many with memorable smiles on their faces.
Banyankole communities: Banyankole are one of the oldest traditional dynasties in Uganda and are found in the southwestern part of Uganda. Exploring the Banyankole culture gives you a wonderful experience while you relax in the chair at Igongo cultural village. You will be entertained by the Ankole dancer groups, with musical instruments such as drums, calabashes, small unique pots decorated on their heads and putting on traditional wear which makes them look so attractive to the tourists. You can as well adventure their Ankole cattle since they are the known to be cattle keepers. While you’re here you can get time to adventure their beautiful Ankole cattle with long-horned. You will not wonder why Uganda is called the pearl of Africa.
Karamojong community: Karamojong people are situated in the northeastern region of Uganda, closest to Kidepo national park which is a home of wildlife. When tourists visit this game reserve the tour operator gives them a great opportunity to visit the Karamojong community who are good at singing, dancing, and their cultural practices.
Bagishu people: Bagishu people live in the Eastern Region of Uganda. You will never forget about the cultural tours in Uganda. They have amazing traditional dances and their practices like the Imbalu of circumcising a boy to make him a man, attract a lot of tourists.
Uganda also boasts with historical cultural sites in the kingdom of Buganda such as Kasubi tombs, Kabaka palace, Uganda museum, Kabaka’s lake and many more. While you’re in these mentioned areas you will be able to explore and learn about the Buganda culture, history related to the kings of Buganda, their traditional dances, the way they respect their king and the traditional dressing code. However, while you’re on the cultural tours in Uganda expect to find souvenir shops with crafted materials like bags, bangles, neckless and many more.
When on cultural tours in Uganda, tourists can sleep in hotels or lodges ranging between luxury, midrange, budgets accommodation. Some of them include; Grand imperial hotel, Serena hotels, Pearl Of Africa hotels and many more located in Kampala. There are also other lodges in Karamojong like Apoka safaris lodge, Kidepo savannah lodge, and many more.
