Bigodi community walk

Bigodi community walk is an activity that was started by the locals within the Bigodi area. The activity was started to enable tourists to visit different homesteads within the community where they would explore the African culture and in the end pay some amount of money which would be used to improve different things within the community.

BICOWA which in full means Bigodi community walk is one of the community organizations in the area doing tours of different homesteads within the community. They have local guides who know the different areas and people within the community. Tourists who want to have a community tour will have to visit their offices on the boundaries of Kibale forest national park

At BICOWA there are local guides who are always ready to take you around. You will find drinking water and local bananas to enjoy before or after the community walk and there is a gift shop where you can purchase all kinds of African crafts like shoes, bags, clothes, drums, and wooden combs among others.

Activities to do on Bigodi community walk

Bigodi community walk starts with a local guide briefing you about where you will visit and what you will see. There are three areas you can visit in the community tour and they include the coffee area, the medicine man, and the winemaking area. The whole visit to these areas can take 1-2 hours and you have a right to choose whom you want to visit.

A visit to the coffee processing home in Bigodi

A visit to the coffee processing home in bigodi is done by those that want to see the whole process of making coffee. It’s the closest area to the starting point and t takes about 10-15 minutes to get there. When you get the guide will start explaining to you about the coffee right at the coffee plantation. You will learn that the mature coffee seeds turn read before harvesting.

While on a visit to the coffee processing home in Bigodi, when and after harvesting the coffee red beans, they are dried up for 2 weeks if it’s the dry season or 1 month if it’s the rainy season. After learning about coffee you will move to the house of the coffee maker where you will be welcomed and shown where to seat. The lady or man will tell you how coffee grows up to the last stage of harvesting and then sun drying.

While seating at the home of the coffee maker, you will witness her pick the dry coffee and put it in the mortar. She crushes the seeds in the mortar using a stick until all the outer part gets off. She puts the product on the winnowing plate and blows it in order to remove the coffee husks.

After getting the seeds out of the coffee husks, the beans are put in a saucepan and fried on fire until they become brown. They are put in the mortar again and crushed to make a powder form. The powder is put into a local sieve and strained to separate the powder from solid particles.

After sieving the powder is ready and water is put on the fire to boil. After boiling, they mix the coffee powder with the water to make a coffee drink. You can add in sugar or take it plain. The tea is served with ground nuts and the visit is done. You can buy the coffee powder which is always available for sale or you can give a token of appreciation to the person who did the whole process of coffee making.

A visit to the local medicine man

While carrying out Bigodi community walk one of the areas to visit is the home of the local medicine man. The medicine man is about 85 years and he heals different kinds of diseases within the community. This medicine man got the natural powers from his father who died and currently he is teaching his son to be his successor.

When you reach the home of the medicine man, you will be welcomed into a small grass-thatched house made of made where you will seat on the chairs. He will come and put on his black cloth and start explaining to you his history and how he got the spiritual powers.

At the home of the medicine man, there are different plant species that are used to cure diseases like malaria, bites from dangerous animals, and much more. He has skulls of dead animals which are used as medicine to cure different diseases. The medicine man does not cure diseases like HIV, cancer, goiter, and covid 19 among others. He has medicine that is used to increase sexual desires in bed.

Winemaking in Bigodi community

Winemaking in Bigodi community visit takes you to a home of a good winemaker within the community. He uses bananas to make wines and alcohol of different types. He will show you how he cuts a mature banana, and keeps it in a special place covered with banana leaves until it turns yellow. After turning yellow, he peels off the outer part and puts the banana in a big saucepan where he squeezes it to make juice.

While on winemaking in Bigodi community tour you’ll see Juice made out of banana used to make banana juice or it’s kept to make alcoholic drinks which the locals really love most. A visit to the winemaking in Bigodi community area does give you an opportunity to see how local beer is made and you also get a chance to taste some of it and even carry it back home.

Best time for Bigodi community tour

Are you wondering what would be the Best time for Bigodi community tour: During the dry season which happens from June to September and December to February is the Best time for Bigodi community tour. This period has little or no rainfall and this means that the roads leading to different communities are dry and easily passable. Tourists can still do community visits in the rainy season but there is always plenty of rainfall which makes roads slippery and the activities longer.