NATURAL AND CULTURAL SITES IN THE ALBERTINE RIFT
By Mwesiga Elly
The Albertine rift has sites that are categorized as natural, historical, colonial, traditional, and archaeological and palaeontological.
1.1 Natural sites
Sempaya hot springs
These hot springs are found in the Semliki river valley in the area occupied by the national park below the escarpments on the road from Fort portal to Bundibugyo town. The hot springs are located at 2 areas where one is referred to as “the male” and the other “the female”. The hot springs attract people from different areas because of their healing powers.
The Bamba who are the occupants of Bundibugyo area carryout cultural ceremonies at the hotsprings. Apart from the cultural importance, they are good tourist attraction in Semliki National park.
Amabere ga Nyinamwiru
It is located about 9 km west of Fort portal town in Kabarole district. As the stalactites drop the calcium carbonate to form the stalagmites below, they form these features that look like the hanging breasts. They are locally referred ton as Breasts of Nyinamwiru who was the mother of Ndahura, the first Muchwezi king of Empire of Kitara. In the caves are also the Nyakasura falls.
The Batooro believe that the place still has the powers of the Bachwezi and has to be protected as the scared place. It also attracts the tourists from different areas to listen to the legendary stories of the place and the hanging features in the caves. The surrounding people have benefited from the tourists that go there in form of market and employment.
Semwana rock shelter
It is found about 2 km west of Kakumiro trading center and I km east of Munsa earthworks in Kibale district. The rock shelter acts as an active shrine of the Bachwezi cult apart from being the tourist attraction. The shrine is found underneath the rock shelter which can accommodate about 200 people. The numeral 9 within Bachwezi cult is observed at the shrine for example the cylindrical offertory objects are 9, feasting period among Bachwezi is 9 days and the mourning period is 9 days.
As a healing place, the divine worshipers to the shrine place their offering on top or at the bottom of the platform. Therefore the tourists can also be encouraged to visit the cave by including it on the travel itineraries and producing the brochures about the site. More research can also be carried out on the area discovering how the rock shelters can into existence.
Rwenzori Mountain national park
The national park is located in Uganda-DRC border in the western part of Uganda. Kasese is 433 km (7 hours) northwest of Kampala via Mbarara on the main tarmac road. The left turn to Nyakalengija is 10 km north of Kasese on the Fort Portal road. An airstrip is located at Kasese. It is famous for the mountaineering activities.
Semliki game reserve
It is also found in the border with DRC in Bundibugyo district. The park can be reached from Kampala via Mubende and Fort Portal. A longer route goes through Masaka, Mbarara, Kasese and Fort Portal. The drive from Fort Portal towards Bundibugyo takes from two to three hours on a rough road. Among other activities in the park include nature walks and hiking.
Kibale forest national park
This is another forest national park in Uganda lying at the foot of the Rwenzori Mountains in western Uganda. It is 35 km from Fort portal; this park is linked to Queen Elizabeth National Park, but contains a unique moist-forest habitat with an extremely high diversity of animals and plants. Kibale is predominantly mature tropical rainforest, where some trees attain heights of 55 meters.
1.2 Historical sites
Fort Gerry (Portal)
It is found in the Golf Club course in Fort portal town. It was originally called Fort Gerry until it was renamed Fort portal in 1890 after Sir Gerald Portal, the British Commissioner who declared Uganda a British protectorate. The fort is of great historic importance as it portrays the period when the colonialists occupied the place. It also has the education importance as it can be researched about by many schools and the people around the place can make the place protected and charge the tourists for visiting the fort.
Katasiha fort and cave
It is found 3 km from Hoima on the Hoima-Butaiba road. It is surrounded by a ditch that was established by Colonel Colvile in 1894 when he led an expedition against Omukama Kabalega. The cave near the fort was used by Kabalega’s forces to fight off Colonial invasion and is used for recreation and picnic facilities. The historical importance is that more people can learn more about it and history and it brings the memories of Omukama as well as the pride to the kingdom itself.
Kitana Fort
This is the site of a British fort that was constructed in 1894. It was also around this time that Kibiro fort was being constructed. It is situated on the Kigorobya-Kibiro track at a distance of about 2.4 km north wet to the junction of the track with the Hoima-Butiaba road in the centre of Kigorobya. The fort can be used as the tourist attraction to the place when it is protected and also more research can be carried out from there by different scholars as a memorial site.
1.3 Traditional sites
Kibiro salt processing village
It is an Iron Age site that is situated along the eastern shore of lake Albert 1 km down the escarpments, 9 km from Kigorobya town council which is also 22 km from Hoima town. It is the mixed site of natural and archaeological site. There is the fishing village that has depended on the salt mining in the area using the traditional means and knowledge.
There are different roles that are distributed to different groups where the women are for salt production and the men for fishing. This therefore means that the whole community around Kibiro has depended on the area for the living. The salt itself has curative properties and is preferred to industrial salt that gives the area a lot of respect and importance among the Banyoro.
Besides the salt deposits at Kibiro, there is the oldest grinding groove on the large boulder above the hot springs at Mukihanga that are very important both to the surrounding areas and also to the tourists for healthy purposes. There are rituals that are performed at the place on scared pools at Mukamira and Mutebere where even human sacrifices used to be performed.
The process of salt production itself can act as a tourist attraction where the people use the traditional means in salt production that starts with the preparation of the area on the surface (Embuga) or salt gardens on to which the loosened soil vicinity can be displayed.
Kibiro area is an important place for its archaeology as a lot of things have been discovered that date millions years ago like fragments of grinding stones, beads, smoking pipe fragments, cowry shells among others. All these have contributed to the research activities about the area.
The evidence of trade in Kibiro by the pieces of glass, beads and copper bracelets which were obtained help to indicate the redistribution of the trade goods that were carried out the rulers in form of barter trade. This is important in determining the economic activities that used to take place in the Kibiro area.
Munsa za Kateboha
It is found about 3km north of Kakumiro trading center inn Kibale district. The site derives its name from a legendary king called Kateboha who, traditions state was the Bachwezi ruler of the region. The significant feature at the site is the rock that measures 2 meters deep that is known as Kateboha’s beer pot.
It is very important because Munsa earthworks have been turned into an active shrine by the Bachwezi cult and most people go there for healing and divine worshiping. It can also be developed as a tourist attraction which would benefit the surrounding local communities.
Mparo Tombs
Located 2 km from Hoima town on Hoima-Masindi road is the Mparo Tombs that house the burial grounds of Omukama Chwa II Kabalega, Sir Tito Winyi, princes and princesses of Bunyoro Kitara kingdom. This was also the former palace of Omukama Kabalega. Within the grounds of the site is the Emin Pasha-Kabalega memorial, a cone-shaped monument that marks the meeting place between Emin Pasha and Omukama Kabalega on September 22 1877.
Mparo Tombs has been an important place among the Banyoro for a long period of time for being the burial ground of the kings of Bunyoro and has been very important for research purposes to different scholars.
Karambi Tombs
They are located 6km to the south west of Fort portal town on Fort portal-Kasese road. It is a burial ground of the three kings (Abakama) of Tooro kingdom and these are Kyebambe Kamurasi, Rukidi III and Olumi Kaboyo II found in the three separate tomb houses. Outside the houses are the tombs of the princes and princesses of the kingdom.
Like the other tombs in most of the kingdoms in Uganda, Karambi tombs are also very important element in Tooro kingdom for being the burial grounds of the Kings of the Kingdom. Cultural and heritage tourism has been there and research carried out on the site.
Kabarole palace
This newly renovated house is the palace of Omukama of Tooro and is located on Kabarole hill near Fort portal town. The name Kabarole which means “Let them see” was given to that place as it has the good view of the sorrounding areas of the kingdom. Outside the house are other temporary grass thatched structures in which the king performs the annual anniversary coronation ceremonies known as Empango
The place is very important to the whole kingdom mainly because it is where the coronation ceremonies (Empango) take place and the palace for the king. As the palace has the caretaker and the guide who takes people around and telling the stories about the kingship and the whole kingdom that makes it a good tourist site for the people from outside Tooro.
The Hoima palace
The palace known as Karuzika is the place for the king of Bunyoro Kitara kingdom and it is situated within Hoima town. Apart from the palace itself, there are other temporary structures in which the king (Omukama) performs Empango in the compound of the palace. It is also important as the official home of the Omukama and used for coronation purposes.
1.4 Palaeontological sites
Nkondo site
The site is found 12 km south of Kaiso on the Eastern shore of Lake Albert. It is important as the palaeontological site for the mammalian fossils.
The site has been very important for most of the palaeontological research has taken place there for example the fossil plants that revealed the state of the environment about 5-4 million years ago (M.a) and fossils of Hippopotamus imagunculus of about 6M.a
Kaiso site
It is also found on the Eastern Lake shores of Albert and is found in the South eastern side of Ndondo. It has been very important for palaeontological research where plant fossils have been discovered of about 2.5 million years ago and fossilized horns of the extinct long-horned Buffalo of about 2.6 M.a.
There are other sites near the Kibiro salt processing areas like Kyamwana, Nyangi, Hoimao, Nana, Kiryamboga, Tonya, Kigorobya and Kitana. All these areas are very important for their fauna fossils. There are other areas in the Lake George and Edward like Bukoma, Rwamato, Hamukungu, Irangara Island, Rubona, Kasenyi, lake Bunyampaka, Katwe and Mweya peninsular.
References:
Graham. C (1996): Kibiro; The salt of Bunyoro, past and Present, The British Institute in Eastern Africa, Queensberry place, London.
Kamuhangire. R E (1993): The Pre-colonial History of salt lakes Region of South Western Uganda c. 1000-1900 A.D (Thesis)
MTTI (2007): Uganda gifted by nature
Robertshaw. P (2001): The age and function of the Ancient earthworks of western Uganda, Uganda journal Volume 47
Robertshaw. P (2002): The Ancient earthworks of western Uganda: capital sites of a Chwezi Empire?, Uganda journal Volume 48
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