The Batwa Experience Is an amazing experience highly recommended for travellers visiting Bwindi Forest National Park.
The enchanting Batwa pygmies of Bwindi Forest National Park also known as the “Keepers of the Forest” are a hunter-gatherer tribe that lived side-by-side with mountain gorillas in Bwindi Forest years before it was gazetted as a National Park. Living in harmony with the forest and surviving by hunting small game using bows and arrows, the Batwa foraged on the lush undergrowth of the forest, and also gathered plants for both food and medicinal purposes – they enjoyed a symbiotic relationship with nature. Unfortunately (to the Batwa), in the year 1991, Bwindi Forest was gazetted as a National park and later in 1994 it was declared as a Natural world heritage site under United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization – UNESCO. This saw the Batwa get evicted from their long known home and they currently live on the edge of the forest they once called home. There are few Batwa people still living today.
What to expect while on the Batwa Experience Tour
Your day starts with you strapping on your hiking boots firm enough for a 3-hour hike. Listen to a briefing from your local guide and kindly take note of the do’s and don’ts and other behavioural tips he is about to mention – its the only form of respect you can afford these already marginalised Batwa people.
On this Batwa Experience tour, observe how the women prepare, cook and serve a meal. Interact and engage with a medicine man to learn about the medicinal plants found in the lush forest of Bwindi. Listen to ancient legends and take part in traditional singing and dancing with the Batwa people.
In an effort to reveal their amazing heritage and traditions with the world, this is a magnificent opportunity to experience the forest through their eyes. Once acknowledged as the owners of the high mountain forest, there are very few Batwa in existence today.