Buhoma community tours are basically community walks around the Buhoma region of the verdant Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. Buhoma gorilla sector is a strikingly beautiful place that has a wonderful culture that tourist would really love to experience, no wonder it is the most asked for the region by travelers who book gorilla trekking permits.
Buhoma community tours usually last about 3 hours involving travelers walking through communities and experiencing the locals’ way of life. Buhoma community tours are a great way for tourists to learn of the local culture of the people, how they live with so little to sustain them and also see the children in these communities who have great aspirations to become great people in the future and yet have barely anything worth to help them achieve their dreams.
Typical tour start at the Buhoma community with a knowledgeable guide who is familiar with the locals and the area. The tour has travelers making their first stop at the craft shop where handmade items like beeswax, candles, jewelry among others are made locally by the women and men from the village.
As you continue with the walk, you will come along River Munyaga where you will see women manually doing their laundry and also see a number of banana plantations where you can join in in the making of the local juice and brew-which you can taste after. During the Buhoma community tours, travelers also get to visit the waterfalls in the area, and also get to watch women as they cultivate the land with a hoe, pick tea leaves (sometimes with a child in the back), activities you can join in if you would want to experience it yourself.
Travelers on Buhoma community tours get to visit a community traditional healer (herbalist), who uses local plants that you couldn’t have thought useful to heal people of different illnesses. You can proceed and visit a local school where you will meet very enthusiastic and vibrant school children with big dreams, studying in a structure you wouldn’t believe would accommodate children more so in big numbers with some seating down on the floor.
The Batwa community is another local community you will come along during your Buhoma community tours. The Batwa are pygmies who were ancient dwellers of the forests that now are referred to as Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park. They largely depended on the forest for food, shelter and medicine. They co-existed with the wild animals in the forests up until they got evicted and became settlers in areas near the forest. When you do visit the Batwa community, they will share with you how they lived in the forest stuck in the stone age era. They will demonstrate how they used different items, how they hunted, collected honey, made fire out of sticks, share their medicinal plants and so much more. They also get to sing of their plight, and then dance to have you entertained.
Buhoma community tours can be done twice a day, with morning or afternoon sessions. The afternoon session can be done after a gorilla trekking activity in the morning. Travelers who find the gorilla trek to have tired them so much can opt to have the tour the next day, provided your schedule allows it.
The funds raised from Buhoma community tours are used to alleviate the lives of the locals through water and sanitation projects, schools and others. when tourists purchase items from the craft shops that are made by the locals, they indirectly are supporting the livelihoods of these people as this is a source of income to many of them.
Buhoma community tours can be done along with other park activities like gorilla trekking in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, gorilla habituation where you can stay with the gorillas for a longer time, nature walks, bird watching in this birders’ haven, mountain biking which is another way of seeing the communities near the park, among so many others. get in touch with a trusted tour operator to help you plan a perfect stay in this UNESCO world heritage site and get to take part in Buhoma community tours and other park activities.