Cultural tours in Semuliki national park
Cultural tours in Semuliki national park allow you to explore the history and origin of the locals living around the park. Every national park in Uganda including Semuliki national park has local people living around it. In Semuliki national park there are so many tribes around the park but the famous ones are the Batwa pygmies.
Batwa pygmies and been staying inside Semuliki national park not until the government decided to gazette the area as a national park. Semuliki national park was at first gazetted as a forest reserve however later in 1993 the area had to be gazetted as a national park to protect the different attractions inside there.
When the government was gazetting Semuliki national park, they asked all the people who were inside the forest to move out. The Batwa were forced out of the forest to create space and freedom for animals. When the Batwa left the forest of Semiliki, they looked for areas that were around the park and that is where they settled. Tourists can always find the Batwa on the boundaries of Semuliki national park.
Cultural tours in Semuliki national park
The Batwa cultural tour in Semuliki national park
Batwa pygmies are some of the people tourists can see in Semuliki national park on a cultural tour. These short people are found around the park boundaries where they have built their homes and trying to get used to life outside the jungle. The activity is called the batwa cultural experience since it takes tourists to the homes of the batwa to see how they live their day to day life.
In the beginning, the Batwa people used to live inside Semuliki national park but when the government decided to gazette the area as national park they were evicted. They were asked to settle around the park boundaries where tourists could meet them. It’s only in Semuliki national park where the batwa are allowed to access the park for herbs, firewood, and food.
Batwa cultural tour in Semuliki is always led by a local guide. In most cases, the guide is a member of the community so he or she knows about what is happening in their areas. A few minutes walk will take you to the homes of the batwa and there you will be welcomed by traditional dancers who will entertain you through dance and drama.
At the homes of the Batwa, the local guide will help in translation for easy communication. Here you can talk with the elder people in the community to tell you the history and way of life of the batwa. You can as well go around the community and meet different people living there, see how they live their day-to-day lives. At the end of the visit, you will again be entertained through dance and drama by the local people.
Other activities tourists can do in Semuliki national park
Birding in Semuliki national park
Semuliki national park is one of the best birding destinations that we have in western Uganda. The national park is home to over 435 bird species 23 of which are said to be Albertine endemics. Bird watching is one of the main activities tourists do carry out in Semuliki national park. This is because of the high population of bird species within this park.
On a Birding safari in Semuliki national park, tourists are taken around the park by armed ranger guides and in most cases a local birding guide. The role of the armed ranger guide is to protect tourists from animals that could be dangerous and also prevent them from getting lost in the park. Then the local birders are used because they know very well where the different birds of the park are found.
Bird watching in Semuliki national park using different bird watching trails gives you an opportunity to see bird species such as Shoe bill stork, Blue-billed malimbe, Black-Dwarf hornbill, Swamp palm bulbul, Grauer’s cuckoo-shrike, Ross’s Turaco, White-crested hornbill, Grant’s bluebill, Black-dwarf hornbill, Lyre-tailed Honeyguide, Fire-crested Alethe, Great blue Turaco, Eastern-bearded Greenbuls, Crested Malimbe, Leaf-love, Yellow-throated Nicator, Black Dwarf Hornbill, Piping Hornbill, Maxwell’s black weaver, Spotted honeyguide, Long tailed hawk, Black-casqued Wattled Hornbill, Yellow-throated nicator, White-throated Blue Swallow, Hartlaub’s duck, Eastern-bearded greenbul, and Congo serpent eagle among others.
Chimpanzee trekking in Semuliki
Tourists on a cultural tour in Semuliki national park can also participate in chimpanzee trekking to get an opportunity to be close to chimpanzees in their natural habitats. A few chimpanzees have been habituated in Semuliki national park and they are open for trekking activities. Chimpanzee trekking in this park takes you around the different areas of the park to look for habituated chimpanzees.
Chimpanzee trekking within Semuliki national park starts with a briefing at the park headquarters where trekkers are taught about the rules and regulations of the activity. Armed ranger guides later lead the trekkers in the lowland tropical forest to search for where the chimpanzees could be.
Chimpanzee trekking in Semuliki starts in the morning at like 8 am and it goes for 3 hours and even more. During the search, tourists are able to meet different wildlife, vegetation, and water sources. After hours of searching, tourists do get to see the chimpanzees and they are given 1 hour to be around them which helps in learning about their habits, watching them do daily activities and you get opportunities of taking photos and recording videos.
Visiting hot springs
Cultural tours in Semuliki national park guarantees a visit to the two hot springs are found inside this park and tourists can visit them at any time they visit the park. There is the female hot spring which is more famous and then the male hot spring. It’s the local people who named the hot springs male and female because of stories that happened long ago.
A visit to any of the hot springs within Semuliki national park is led by armed ranger guides and these people have knowledge about the hot springs and other attractions within the park. The female hot spring is the most visited within Semuliki national park and this is because of the way water is ejected from underground and also because of the hotness of the water.
At the hot spring, armed ranger guides tell tourists different information about them. How they were formed scientifically and what locals say about their formation. Tourists who have tome can boil eggs because the water is 100 degrees Celsius. Visiting hot springs in Semuliki national park is one of the activities tourists really need to be part of while in the park.
Nature walks
To get so close to nature in Semuliki national park, you must take part in nature walk activities. Nature walks in Semuliki national park are organized for tourists to access different areas of the park and see the hidden attractions. Nature walks are done using different walking trails among which include Kirumia trails, Sempaya nature trail, and red tailed monkey trail among others.
Nature walks in Semuliki national park give tourists an opportunity to get close to the different attractions that have been recorded within the park. During the nature walks, tourists are able to get close to the hot springs, meet different animals and birds, water sources, and also different vegetation cover.