Igongo Cultural Centre – Uganda Safaris 2021
Igongo Cultural Centre is so amazing and it is considered to be one of the most historical Centers in the history of Uganda which entails detailed historical accurate collections of Ugandan artifacts about the agrarian and pastoral Bahima tribal history, their culture, how they lived, and present-day modernization.
Igongo Cultural Centre is located 12km from Mbarara town and 268km from the capital city Kampala. Igongo cultural center is built on the former palace ground of the local Ankole king in western Uganda.
What makes Igongo Cultural Centre the best place to visit on a tour to Uganda?
Igongo Cultural Centre has the best museum displays in Uganda holding everything you need to know about beautiful and unique Banyankore culture. Tourists, history lovers, and students have made Igongo cultural Centre their destination.
Local people continue to come to this place to explore how their grandparents lived with beautiful artifacts made from clay models, calabashes, hides, and skins among others.
The traditional long-horned cattle are something you don’t have to miss when you reach this place. The museum also holds information about the Bahima cattle keepers. There are also milking pots, hides, and skins, stools, the Ankole traditional attire among others.
Igongo Cultural Centre
Hiking the Biharwe eclipse hill
Day trips include visits to the Biharwe eclipse monument. This monument was dated by the astronomers and historians to have taken place in the year 1520 AD and it acknowledged the legends of Bunyoro, Buganda, and Nkole. The three pillars represent the three kings who were contemporaries at the time. The story behind this eclipse monument is one you don’t have to miss.
In the afternoon, visiting local people, mosques, churches, and farms. Here you will be involved in activities like Eshabwe making from Ghee made from Ankole cow milk, millet bread making, milking cow experiences, and millet grinding on stones, traditional Ankole dances, and story hearings.
The Bahima tribe is collaborating with the University of Basel and Switzerland on cheese making and milk productions which the museum has documented as a success story brought about by the new technologies.
- Visiting Itamiro
This is a cultural village which literally means a place where people gather. This place is filled with grass-thatched huts with different unique beautiful designs for the two groups of people living in Ankole (the farmers and the cattle keepers). Locals in this village will tell stories and riddles to visitors about the ancient Ankole tribe while enjoying the warmth of fire set in between.
Places to visit around Igongo Cultural Centre
Lake Mburo national park is located in the Nyabushozi county Kiruhura district 30km east of Mbarara. The park is known for large herds of Zebras, hippopotamuses, impalas, warthogs, common eland, African buffalo, jackal, African leopard, and over 300 bird species.
- Equator line
A tour to Igongo can also be combined with a visit to the equator located in Masaka Kayabwe 72km from Kampala the capital city for the best photography experiences.
- The Bwindi impenetrable national park
Bwindi impenetrable national park home for mountain gorillas is another place you can visit on a trip to Igongo Cultural Centre. It is located in south-western Uganda. Here you will be able to see many primates such as monkeys, chimpanzees, baboons, over 400 endangered gorillas, and a variety of bird species.
Other nearby places which you don’t have to miss visiting on a tour to Igongo Cultural Centre are; Mgahinga gorilla national park, canoeing and birding on Bunyonyi, and many more since Uganda is blessed with a lot of tourist attractions.
For the ultimate cultural experience in western Uganda, you have to visit the Igongo Cultural Centre as it still remains the best historical site in Uganda as its motto says “wisdom is rooted in the past”. Let’s visit Ankole the land of milk and honey with mega wild safaris.
Uganda Safari Trips – Book at a Discount
The 4 days Murchison Falls Safari Uganda Wildlife Tour takes you to Murchison falls National Park which is the largest park in Uganda. Here you find the rushing waters of the Nile forced through a 7-meter narrow gorge forming the Murchison falls, which have fascinated the world for centuries. On the way to Murchison falls national park, we make a stopover at Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary – track Rhinos.
While in the park – gaze in wonder at the herds of giraffes on the game drive, families of Elephants while on the launch trip to the bottom of the falls. Look out for the Nile crocodiles basking in the sun and Schools of Hippos. We end with chimpanzee trekking in Budongo forest which is partly located in Murchison falls national park. Book This Trip
This 6 Days Wildlife Safari in Uganda Gorilla Trekking Safaris Tour combines gorilla trekking in Bwindi Forest with a wildlife safari in Queen Eilzabeth National Park. The 6 Days Wildlife Safari in Uganda Gorilla Trekking Safaris Tour starts with a visit to Queen Eilzabeth National Park, Uganda’s largest protected area home to a wide range of flora and fauna.
Wild animals that can be seen in this park include some of the big five such as elephants, buffaloes and lions; as well as giraffes, antelopes, crocodiles, hippos etc. The 6 Days Wildlife Safari in Uganda Gorilla Trekking Safaris Tour takes you further through the Albertine Rift to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, home to more than half of the remaining total population of the mountain gorillas. Book This Trip
