Nkuringo Community Conservation and Development Foundation (NCCDF), located in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park on a hillside with an extended view of the Congo, is one of the many different community based tourism sites in the park. The NCCDF is in the Nkuringo gorilla sector of Bwindi forest gorilla trekking Park in the south.
The NCCDF plays a role in the conservation of the gorillas in the Nkuringo gorilla sector of Bwindi forest gorilla trekking and in turn also benefits from gorilla tourism through the development of community tourism activities in Nkuringo such as the NCCDF. The guides and staff that work with NCCDF are all locals, thus providing not only employment to the locals but also helping in the improvement of the standards of living from the income they earn.
Nkuringo Community Conservation and Development Foundation conducts community tourism experiences where travelers have Sesilia welcoming you into her home where there are a series of traditional huts, grinding stones, waragi (Local brew) distilling apparatus, cooking pots and so much more. You can watch, examine and take part in the activities that she might be doing. You can go ahead and taste on whatever you cook and brew, especially the waragi. Travelers then get to visit Pena, the village traditional healer who will show you how native plants can be used to make tea, ointments, and powder to cure all manner of illnesses.
Travelers also get an opportunity to visit the local school in the community where they can see and experience the different form of education and see how the children learn and remain enthusiastic and dream of a better life in the future in the midst of so little to make use of.
While on a community tour with NCCDF, travelers also get to visit Nicholas, a blacksmith who takes you back to the stone age era as he beats knives and machetes into shape. Travelers also have an opportunity to visit the local people in the community of Nkuringo as they work through their day-to-day life say doing their laundry mostly by streams and water places, grind food like millet and sorghum for food, cooking and the like.
NCCDF supports the women in the community of Nkuringo by giving them an opportunity to show case and sell their handmade crafts in craft shops to visitors. The NCCDF also trains orphans to sing and dance who then go ahead to perform in lodges found in Nkuringo gorilla region say Clouds Lodge consequently making money that sustains them and their education.
Travelers on a community tour with the Nkuringo Community Conservation Foundation have local guides who are very knowledgeable of the local area and the people thereby giving travelers a very memorable experience.
Nkuringo Community Conservation and Development Foundation is a community based organization that has the interests of the locals at heart. With travelers taking part in community tours organized by NCCDF, they contribute to the livelihood of the locals whilst experiencing a totally different culture. Take time to book a tour with us and we will take you to Nkuringo and get to experience and contribute towards the NCCDF efforts.
