The Mgahinga Batwa Trail.

Whilst in Uganda and staying at our Mount Gahinga Lodge I was lucky enough to experience a brand new activity opening in Mgahinga National Park.

The Mgahinga Batwa Trail is a fascinating hike through the forest to the Garama Cave, which helps raises awareness and preserve the culture of the local Pygmy Batwa.

The Pygmy Batwa people are a minority hunter-gatherer group, who traditionally lived within the forests and survived off small mammals and plants. When Mgahinga National Park was gazetted in 1991, the Batwa were forced to leave the forest and were no longer able to enter the park to gather food. Given their traditional way of life and their dependency on the forest for food this resulted in various socio-economic problems and the Batwa communities remain largely marginalised and one of the poorest communities in Uganda. This activity enables the Batwa to venture back into the forest, in coordination with the Park Authorities, where they told me they were grateful for the opportunity to "breath fresh air again" for a few hours.

The hike starts at a base camp 30 minutes drive from our Mount Gahinga Lodge, also the starting point for those setting out on the stunning hike up the sides of the Muhavura or Gahinga volcanoes. Four members of the Batwa community and a guide from Uganda Wildlife Authority were there to welcome us and we started out on our hike through the dense forest. I had forgotten how stunning the forest in is Mgahinga National Park and the guides stopped regularly to point out various herbs and other plants that the Batwa people use both for medicinal purposes and as food, which was fascinating.

We rested and ate our lunch in a grassy meadow and were entertained by a demonstration of traditional hunting and honey gathering. After lunch the trail continued until we reached the Garama Cave. The Garama Cave is a lava cave and was the traditional dwelling of the Batwa King. Our guides led us down the steps and through the tunnels till we were in the belly of the cave. It was more than a bit eerie, especially as after a couple of minutes low voices began to echo around the cave, all the hairs on the back of my neck stood up as the voices slowly built to full singing and clapping, and low lights gradually came on to reveal a gathering of Batwa women! It was really an amazing experience!

The activity is well worth a visit, not least as it is also a great example of local communities and park authorities working together to ensure local people earn a livelihood from tourism. Volcanoes Safaris are supporting this project and others like it by including it in the activities offered from our Mount Gahinga Lodge.

For more information on how to visit this project or Volcanoes Mount Gahinga Lodge please contact us on:

salesug@volcanoessafaris.com