Ntandi pygmies in Semuliki national park

Ntandi pygmies in Semuliki national park are some of the pygmies that were evicted from Semuliki national park. Semuliki national park is found in the western part of Uganda in Bundibugyo near the DR Congo and Uganda borders. Semuliki national park is one of the national parks found in Uganda and protected by the Uganda Wildlife Authority.  This national park was gazetted in 1993 as a national park and all the people that were staying in the forest had to be evicted to give animals their freedom.

Batwa pygmies are some of the people that were living inside Semuliki national park. While gazetting the area, the Uganda Wildlife Authority asked the people who were living in the forest including the Batwa people to move out so that animals were given their freedom inside the jungle. When the Batwa left the jungle, they had to look for areas near the park for settlement.

The Batwa pygmies in Ntandi village used to stay inside Semuliki national park not until 1993 when the government was gazetting the area to make a national park. The batwa pygmies used to live in the jungle along with wild animals but these days the story is different. Yes, they are allowed to access the forest for medicine, fire wood, and food but they are not allowed to stay in the forest which is a habitat for so many wild animals.

Evicting the Batwa pygmies out of the forest was the best way animals could freely move around the forest for food, water, and shelter.  Ever since they were evicted out of the jungle, the population of animals has increased and this is because these animals are no longer hunted for meat and skin. Batwa pygmies were good hunters that could use bows and arrows to kill animals for meat and others for skin.

In Ntandi village a few kilometers from Semuliki national park, is where tourists can meet the Ntandi pygmies. These pygmies were used to the life in the jungle but when they settled around the park boundaries, they learned new ways of living. The batwa pygmies stay in huts which are grass thatched and built using mad. The village of Ntandi is comprised of small communities that tourists can visit any time they do cultural tours on a safari to Semuliki national park.

Visiting the Batwa community in Ntandi village

On a safari in Semuliki national park, you can visit the batwa pygmies of Ntandi village accompanied by a local English speaking guide who lives there himself. A short drive from Semuliki national park will land you into any of the communities of the Ntandi pygmies in Ntandi village. Here you will be welcomed by traditional dancers who entertain you through traditional dances and songs.

In the community of the Ntandi pygmies, you will visit different homes and this is done to enable you to know as much information as you can while on a short visit. You can never learn all about their culture and this is because tell you a little information about them and love to preserve their culture and not teach it to anyone else.

A local English speaking guide will take you to any of the homes with elders that have seen life outside the jungle as well as inside the jungle. The guide here is the translator because he knows both languages and his role is to ease communication by making both parties understand.

The elder batwa will tell stories of how life used to be in the forest of Semuliki national park. They will tell you how they used to survive while in the forest, how they got food, the animals they killed using bows and arrows, the plants that were used as herbs, and how they made fire using firewood.

When you visit the Batwa today, you will realize that their way of living totally changed. The Batwa pygmies still practice hunting but on a small scale and outside the national park. What they do for a living now is crop farming and rare a few animals. Lack of formal education is a major factor that has kept the Batwa of Ntandi village poor because of lack of employment.

The Batwa pygmies in Nandi village get money from the different projects they have created amongst themselves. Most of the locals were trained on how to make handcrafts which they could sell to tourists visiting Semuliki national park. Some Batwa are good at making handcrafts and some of the items they make include baskets, gorillas, masks, mortars, round bags, local forks, table mats, and bangles among others.