Kisoro district is found in the corner of southwestern Uganda bordering Rwanda and DR-Congo, Kisoro area is a mountainous terrain at an average elevation of about 1,890 meters above sea level, from Kabale to Kisoro is an about and half hour’s drive, and it’s only 78 kilometers away while from Kampala to Kisoro is 485 kilometers which are about 8 to 9 hours drive depending on how many stopovers you stop along the way.
Talking about Culture and people in Kisoro, like any other part of the Country the people of Kisoro are one of the most friendly people in Uganda, Kisoro is one of the districts in Uganda with rich culture if one gets an opportunity to interact with the local communities, at Kisoro tours Uganda we organize visits to the local communities where you will have a chance to have a meal, spend a night at a home of some local community members.
Kisoro tours Uganda also organizes volunteering opportunities in the Kisoro area for tourists and other visitors where one gets a chance to work with different local community projects like agriculture projects like framing, teaching in different local community schools, working with conservation projects in the communities living on the borders of both Bwindi impenetrable forest national park and Mgahinga gorilla national park, volunteering in health centers and hospitals, visit and volunteer with local church among other activities that you can volunteer in Kisoro as you enjoy Culture and people in Kisoro area.
The main tribe in Kisoro is Bafumbira and they speak Rufumbira which is more similar to Runyadwanda which is spoken in Rwanda they also share the same culture, they are another tribe in Kisoro called Batwa people but they are very few in number it is believed to 0.2% population of Kisoro, Batwa people have no traditions of early migration from anywhere. They are believed to have been the earliest inhabitants of the Bwindi forest and Mgahinga, Batwa people can also be found in other Districts and also in Rwanda, Burundi, and DR-Congo.
Culture and people in Kisoro district resides a tribe that is immigrants of Rwandese immigrants, the Rwandese emerged into the Rufumbira a language which is 90% similar to Kinyarwanda a national language of Rwanda, the confusion of Rufumbira and Runyarwanda dialect was brought by their mixed cultures and tradition of the Bafumbira in Kisoro and Banyarunda in Rwanda.
Uganda government constitutionally and originally considered s Bafumbira Banyarwanda until 1995 when Uganda Constitution recognized Bafumbira as an independent tribe in Ugandan, Bafumbira has always lived in Uganda Kisoro area on the border of Rwanda and DR-Congo, “Many of the Bafumbira people came as a result of intermarriages between Bafumbira and Rwandese.
Kisoro has very rich volcanic soils on the slopes of the Bwindi forest and Muhavura/Mufumbiro Mountains, the staple food for Bafumbira in Kisoro is potatoes beans, sorghum that they use dynamically to get different drinks and dishes, and posho from maize flour.
As the Kisoro population grows, there is pressure on the land which is being repeatedly segmented, rendering the land infertile, in addition to land shortage many people from Kisoro have migrated to other districts which have better soils for cultivation, and population growth with the land shortage in Kisoro has however over the time has gone down.
Many years ago children in Kisoro would look up to their parents to give them hand but not all the parents had enough land to divide amongst their children which is a big problem for most people in Kisoro who have not got the opportunity to go to school and they depend only on farming.
You can reach us at info@kisorotoursuganda.com or call or Whatsapp us at +256785790925 for information or a free safari quote