IGONGO CULTURAL CENTRE

The Igongo Cultural Centre is located in the same grounds as the Country Hotel. Here you'll find a small but highly instructive museum(Eriijukiro) dealing with the traditions, arts and history of south-western Uganda. The permanent exhibition shows the traditional habitat of the region's herders and farmers, objects from daily life, hunting techniques, the cults, games and ceremonies that punctuate the daily life of the natives, and the food and drink (such asobushera) concocted and consumed by the locals... The team at the cultural center also offers a range of activities (costing between Ush 20,000 and Ush 35,000 for each; prior booking essential) focusing on the history and culture of south-western Uganda in general, and Ankole in particular: Ankole Farm Tour, traditional beer brewing, millet and milk processing, etc. You can, for example, climb Biharwe Hill, at the summit of which a monument (inaugurated in 2014) commemorates a solar eclipse that occurred in 1520. The first scientifically dated event in the history of the Great Lakes region, recounted in the oral traditions of three kingdoms (Buganda, Bunyoro and Ankole), this eclipse is a historical landmark enabling, among other things, the determination of royal genealogies in this region of Africa. The center also boasts a souvenir store that doubles as a bookshop, as well as reconstructed traditional huts. Enriching!