Hiking to Nyakahondogoro caves home of the Bacwezi the founders of ancient Kitara Empire

Hiking to Nyakahondogoro Caves Ibanda, home of the Bacwezi, founders of the ancient Kitara Empire.

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Hike to Nyakahondogoro Caves on Mabanga Hill in Ibanda

Reaching to Nyakahondogoro Caves makes a Mega Hike Challenge for adventure travelers who visit this area. Nyakahondogoro caves are located on top of Mabanga Hill in Ibanda district of Western Uganda famously known as Kitara Region.

The hike up Mabanga starts at Nyamirima and takes you through hills, gardens and homesteads right up to Nyakahondogoro caves with a brief but steep ascent to the top of Mabanga hill. From here, you will be able to take in 360-degree views of the surrounding landscape before descending back to the main road. The caves encountered along the way can accommodate more than 100 people and are a spectacle for their sheer size.

Area view of Ibanda as seen from Nyakahondogoro Caves on Mabanga Hill

Located in Nyamirima, Nyabuhikye ward, Ibanda Municipality, they are a huge income-generating site for the local tourism industry. Most importantly for the locals, they are a holy site for believers, and allegedly home to the Bachwezi demigods:

Tracing the spirits of the lost Bachwezi tribe. To the local populations of Ibanda, this cave is a holy site for believers, some of whom are led by a woman called Nyamunyonyi. They come to make sacrifices to and to seek for blessings from their gods. The locals believe this site to be the home of the Bachwezi, the founders of the ancient Empire of Kitara. It’s incredibly difficult to talk to a local for longer than 5 minutes without hearing a word or two about these demigods who it is believed live among them to this day. They are said to announce their presence through night sightings of fires that cover the numerous hills surrounding Ibanda.

Prayer session in the seating room of the Nyakahondogoro Caves on Mabanga Hill in Ibanda

As a visitor to this region, you may win yourself a beating by relaying anthropological studies that show that the Bachwezi have never disappeared in thin air and are indeed still resident among us mere mortals but not as demigods but as black people who, like the Bantu, migrated south from Egypt following the liquidation of the Egyptian kingdom and subsequent amalgamation into the Persian empire around 525 BC when Cambyses, the King of Persia took it upon himself to kill the black natives. Whatever the truth may be is entirely dependent on how much one wants to believe in the existence of people flying on brooms and hills burning with no actual fire insight.

Ibanda Hill Trekkers on the hike to Nyakahondogoro Caves on Mabanga Hill in Ibanda

For this fantastic Hike, contact us on +256292156562 or send an email to kitararcc@gmail.com or kitara.ktcnet@gmail.com

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We are the people of Kitara Foundation for Regional Tourism, we are involved in tourism and hospitality programing in Uganda and neighboring countries. In this site we share our adventures, experiences and our work around the region and give you lessons about travel, tourism and hospitality management, activities you can get involved in. You can visit our gallery, watch videos or join our trekking adventures to the best attractions that mainstream tourism does not bring out- “the hidden Uganda”. We offer training and Support to all participants and entrepreneurs in Tourism and Hospitality. We are involved in Nature Conservation and Culture Preservation through Community empowerement and Capacity Building.