Explore Kampala and its Culture..
Explore what Kampala has in a mixed culture of people living and working in the city,geographically Kampala belongs to Buganda Kingdom but politically its Uganda’s Capital where you will find different cultures,different languages but smiling together.the cultural sites you will see here during your tour are related and belong to the Buganda Kingdom(the Baganda people)
Highlights of the tour
This package is purely culture,White Head Adventure Africa will get to show show you yet another fascinating style of how Buganda Kings lived with there people,what happened later to these sites after they had died,why they choose to live on these hill and the importance and use of these hills in a modern today Uganda’s
This Tour Package Includes.
- Transportation van/car
- Fuel expenses
- Site entrance fees
- Guides Tips and allowances
- Lunch.
Itinerary
- Kibuli Royal hill
- Uganda museum
- Bagalayazze/Kanyaya Tomb
- Kawempe Royal Tombs
- Wamala Royal Tombs
- Kasubi Royal Toimbs
- Lunch at 2K restaurant
- Naggalabi Buddo
- Katereke Ditch Prison
KIBULI HILL.
Kibuli is regarded as the home for Muslims in both Uganda and Buganda Kingdom.A Buganda Prince Badru Kakungulu owned most of the hill.he donated the land atop the 3,973 feet hill where the Kibuli Mosque and the hospital stand today.these are the main landmarks of the hill.
other notable features on this hill are the police headquarters and the training school,historical/memorial primary and secondary schools and a teachers training college.At the base of the hill is the old industrial Area and the oil depots of the major oil Companies Shell,Total etc.
Kibuli is boarderd with Kololo hill to the north,Mbuya to the north East,Namuwongo to the East,Muyenga to the south East ,Kabalagala to the south,Nsambya to the South West,the Queen’s historical Clock tower to the East now formed into a big modern motorized rounded about funded by the Japanese International Cooperation JICA and Nakasero to the north East.Kibuli hill is approximately located only 4 kilometers (2 mi) East of Kampala’s Central Business District (CBD) and lies on the coordinates of 0’18’36.0N,32degree 35’42.0”E,Latitude 0.3100;Longitude 32.5950 and rises.3,973 feet (1,211m),above sea level.
Uganda Museum.
Uganda Museum-call it a display of the Country’s virgin culture and heritage where you will see ethnological and natural-historical exhibitions,this is a vivid reminder of Uganda’s colorful past.one of its greatest interesting features is the collection of musical traditional instruments,you are allowed to play any instruments,the museum is located in the heart of the Country’s Capital City(Kampala) just next to the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA),the British High Commission,the Rwandan Embassy,Save the Children head offices and the famous Mulago Hospital
Bagalayazze/Kanyanya Tomb
Bagalayaze Heritage Site. This is one of Buganda’s heritage sites, where Namasole Abisagi Nakatya, the mother of Kabaka Mwanga II, was laid to rest
Hidden in Sekati, along the Namere-Kiteezi route, one kilometre off Gayaza Road at Mpererwe is this forgotten yet richly historical cultural ground, the Bagalayaze Heritage Site. It dates back to as early as 1816, when the palace was constructed. Originally occupying about 640 acres of land, the palace now sits on only three acres, as much of the land has been donated to churches, mosques, schools and a local hospital, by the queen mothers (Namasoles).
Bagalayaze is the name that the then Namasole Abisagi Nakatya, the mother of one of Buganda’s greatest kings, Ssekabaka Basamula Ekere Mwanga II, who ordered the massacre of the Uganda Martyrs, acquired after she helped her husband, Kabaka Mutesa I, to write the letter inviting the missionaries to Buganda, according to Ritah Nalubula, the palace caretaker.
At this place, one can be treated to cultural Buganda dances like Nankasa, Bakisiimba and Muwogola on request. Traditional foods are also prepared including luwombo and interested visitors can be taught how to prepare them, as well as make crafts out of banana fibre and bark cloth. The place does not receive many visitors nowadays. On average, they get about 30 visitors a month, most of whom are school children.
Accessing the main house
There are two entrances to the palace grounds. The main entrance, buja bukula, is neatly designed with a dome-shaped, grass thatched roof, supported by reeds and wooden posts. It is used by the Namasole (queen mother) and others living in the area. According to Ritah Nalubula, the palace caretaker, the entrance cannot be used by women and girls who are on their periods. These, instead, use the other entrance called kiryango kibi, which looks more of a gaping hole in the fence, as they are considered unclean to use the main entrance. Kiryango kibi is also the entrance through which the dead are brought into the palace.
Fact file
Who is Namasole? In Buganda, the widow of a deceased King (Kabaka) who gives birth to the throne’s successor is called a Namasole. In the picture above is the current Namasole, Manjeri Lunkuse Bagalayaze, who is 87 years old.
Place of abode. Namasole does not share a palace with the prevailing king, because both have the same powers.
Title. According to Buganda tradition, a Namasole is addressed as ‘Ssebo’ (sir) and its her who marries, but is not married.
The palace compound
The palace compound is kept neat by Mzee Jim Baker Lubowa, who is also the in charge of the medicinal tree species which include the moringa tree, the fig tree (omutuba), whose bark is used to make bark cloth and other tree species like the kinuula ngombe, mulilira and amalwa g’empungu’, which are used to make dyes and treat diseases like diabetes. The herbal garden nearby also has a range of herbs like the “male and female” aloe vera species, the famous kitafeeli, bombo (mormudia foetida), mululuza (vermonia amygdacina), as well as other medicinal plants like the kiwankulata, for dysentery.
The compound also has an open hut-like structure with a dilapidated roof, a sign of neglect, which Ritah Nalubula, the palace caretaker, says used to be the “conference centre” of the Namasole, where she held meetings with her subjects.
Ahead of it is a brick-walled house with iron sheets (see main picture on the left), unlike the previous structures that have grass -thatched roofs. “This was Abisagi’s house, and it is where she was laid to rest,” says the caretaker. The house was originally a mud and wattle structure, but was renovated to a brick structure because termites had started to destroy it. It contains four rooms; three bedrooms and a living room. Still women and girls who are in their periods, are also forbidden from entering into this house as well as those wearing trousers and short skirts.
Inside the main house
The floor is covered with mats, a welcome sign in Kiganda culture and two baskets lie in the centre, where visitors may put their offerings in form of money as a sign of respect for the deceased Namasoles. On one of the walls, all of which are covered in bark cloth, is a framed photograph of Kabaka Daudi Chwa, Mwanga’s son, with his grandmother, Namasole Abisagi.
Behind the bark cloth-covered walls is the ekibira (forest), where the three bedrooms, with the first two rooms having the tombs of Namasole Abisagi, Mwanga’s mother, who passed on in 1886, and her successor, Namasole Tezitendwa Juliana Bagalayaze, who passed on in 1932.
The third room is kept for the current Namasole, Manjeri Lunkuse Bagalayaze, who is currently 87. No visitor or male worker is allowed into the ekibira.
Ritah Nalubula, the palace caretaker, also shows us the knife, which Namasole Abisagi used for her daily activities.