With over 56 unique tribes within a small country like Uganda, a tourist interested in experiencing culture has a wide range of options to choose from. The most interesting thing is that each of these tribes has different cultural traditions, dances, traditional foods/dishes, marriage rites, traditional songs, local building architectures and lifestyles, handcrafts and musical instruments (such as drums) that make them stand out from the crowd. Uganda takes pride in more than 650 designated cultural sites and monuments recognized as important and has two (2) UNESCO World Heritage Sites and other 8 sites that are still pending approval.
One of the most interesting cultural experiences in Uganda is the Entanda Traditional Hinting and cultural experience. This Cultural experience is possible within Kijjude Village within Mityana District. From a distance, tourists who visit Uganda for Cultural Safari hear the interesting sounds of the Traditional dances, which sound louder as you go closer to the fascinating Kijjude (Entanda Village). The traditional songs with the local community members dancing with the songs providing an exhilarating and fascinating welcome to the tourists who visit the Village. The Local People of Entanda Village provide buffets of their best quality sorted fresh and Organic fruits such as pawpaw, jack fruits, guavas, mangoes, yellow bananas, oranges, watermelons, harvested direct from their gardens as a way of welcoming their visitors. You can also pack these fruits when leaving the Village.
Tourists who visit this Village can participate in some of the local games such as “omweso”, bow and arrow shooting competitions, and also learn how to play the interesting “Sekitulege”-a local musical instrument that has existed for over 600 years.
You-especially men will also be taken to the Hills, swamps, homesteads and some of the forests to learn how to hunt some of the animals. These locals display how most of the activities are done right from carrying the hunting tools (bows, arrows, spears, horns and Pangas). Throughout the hunt, some of the animals will be identified by the locals but you will not be allowed to kill them mainly to allow the animals’ numbers tom increase. As the male tourists go hunting, the female ones remain behind with some of the village women, where they will be taken to the gardens to harvest organic food. These women demonstrate how some of the traditional food especially matooke is prepared as they wait for their husbands to return from hunting.
As the food is put on fire, the female visitors are led by the aunties (Sengas in Luganda) to the bush to be taught about marriage and home management issues. The Sengas teach tourists some of the traditional ways of taking care of their husbands, how to utilize some traditional herbs to treats most of the common ailments and how to handle a home in a real “Kiganda” way. This is where serious bedroom affairs will be discussed ton detail, and will make you understand why these women stay married until old age without divorcing. By the time the men return from hunting, the mouth-watering food is ready and served hot.
After the delicious meal, tourists can be led to the gardens to learn about some of the local herbs or to the local winery to process and taste the local wine, you can also choose to join some of the herdsmen to graze cattle or participate in milking of the cows using hands. The highlight of the Entanda cultural experience is a football match between the locals and tourists and that will be the end of your exciting cultural experience
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