Visiting the Abayudaya community and Gorilla Safari in Uganda

Are you interested in Visiting the Abayudaya community and Gorilla Safari in Uganda, Abayudaya is a Luganda word meaning the “People of Judah”, these are a community in eastern Uganda, near the town of Mbale, who practice Judaism. They are devout in their practice, keeping kashrut and observing Shabbat. There are several different villages where the Abayudaya live. Most of these are recognized by the Reform and Conservative movements of Judaism. In June 2016, Rabbi Shlomo Riskin led a Beit Din that performed an Orthodox conversion for the Putti community of Abayudaya.

The Abayudaya’s population is estimated to number between 2,000 and 3,000 like their neighbors, they are subsistence farmers. Most Abayudaya are of Bagwere origin. Some, from Namutumba, are Basoga. They speak Luganda, Lusoga, or Lugwere, and some have learned Hebrew as well.

Other things to do after Visiting the Abayudaya Jewish community in Mbale

Mountain Climbing

Hiking Mount Elgon provides an exciting alternative for strenuous climbs on East Africa’s mountains. Sasa Trail is the most used route to hike up to the summit of Mount Elgon, this will take you up to 4321m to Wagagai Peak from a small town of Budadiri in the Sironko Valley. The Sipi Trail follows a longer but gentler route starting 800m higher than Budadiri at Uganda Wildlife Authority Forest Exploration Centre at Kapkwai.

Sipi Falls Adventure

Sipi falls hike is another great activity to do on your visit to Murchison Falls National Park, at Sipi falls you will have an opportunity to see the river as it plunges over three sets of basalt cliffs during its decent to the plains beneath. 

Coffee Tour

Mountain Elgon is one of the areas in Uganda where finest coffee is grown and produced the major type of coffee grown here is Arabica coffee. On this coffee tour you will take a guided tour of a coffee garden to see how coffee is grown up to when it is harvest at the end of the tour you will also taste the locally grown coffee with a cup of coffee and have options to buy as well.

Cultural Encounters

Mountain Elgon has various cultures for cultural encounters including the local Bagisu, Masaba among others. The great event here is the Embalu which includes circumcising men using local means this attracts any tourists to see this historical cultural event every year.

Best route to use when Visiting the Abayudaya Jewish community in Mbale.

Visiting the Abayudaya Jewish community in Uganda, these are found near Mbale town, 235km East of Kampala. You will drive through Jinja and proceed along Jinja-Mbale high way the drive time is approximately 3-4 hours. Mountain Elgon can also be accessed from Kidepo National Park in the north Eastern Uganda, having stops via Pian Upe Wildlife Reserve is also recommended for those driving from Kidepo National Park to Mountain Elgon National Park.

Where to stay during Visiting the Abayudaya Jewish community in Uganda

Lodge options can stay in range from budget, mid-range to luxury. Budget options include Sipi River Lodge Camp Site among others fares range from 90-100 dollars a night per person, mid-range options include Sipi River Lodge among others fares range from 100-200 dollars a night per person and then Luxury options Mbale Resort Hotel among others fares range from 200-400 dollars a night per person.

Visiting the Abayudaya community and Gorilla Safari in Uganda

Gorilla trekking in Uganda

Gorilla Trekking in Uganda on a low budget camping safari in Uganda is done in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park, for you to be allowed to go for the gorilla trek you will need to have a gorilla permit which costs USD700 for the foreign non residents, USD600 for the East African Residents and USD70 for the East African Citizens, this gives you an opportunity to spend one hour encounter with the mountain gorillas. You can as well opt for a 4 hour encounter experience that is Gorilla Habituation which costs USD1500 per person per trek, this is gives an opportunity to spend more time with the Mountain Gorillas in Bwindi Forest National Park

Chimpanzee Trekking in Uganda

Chimpanzee tracking in Uganda is done in Kibale Forest National Park, Kyambura Gorge in Queen Elizabeth National Park, Kalinzu Forest and Budongo Forest close to Murchison Falls National Park. The chimpanzee tracking is done in the morning and afternoon and we can book for you the permits and organize this trek for you depending on the itinerary and timing of the activities. For the normal chimpanzee tracking, a Chimpanzee permit costs USD200 for the foreign non residents, USD150 for the residents and USD30 for the citizens this gives you one hour encounter with the chimpanzees. You can as well do the chimpanzee habituation experience which gives you a half day encounter with the chimpanzees; this is only done in Kibale Forest National Park

Golden Monkey Trekking

Golden Monkey tracking is only done in Mgahinga Gorilla National Park, Golden monkey tracking permit costs USD100 giving you an opportunity to spend one hour encounter with the Golden monkeys, then a Golden monkey habituation permit costs USD140 giving you 4 hour encounter with the Golden monkeys.

Gorilla Habituation Experience

Gorilla Habituation Experience is a gorilla activity done in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park that involves trekking/walking and hiking through the forest to search for semi-habituated mountain gorillas which leave together in a given gorilla family group but are not used to human presence, once you find them you will participate in activities geared to making these mountain gorillas get used to human presence. Gorilla Habituation Experience gives you an opportunity to spend much time with the mountain gorillas that is four hours encounter different from the one hour encounter during the normal gorilla tracking. This experience is unique given the fact it gives you an opportunity to learn more about mountain gorillas. It is done is a group of 4 visitors tracking a given semi-habituated gorilla group.

Wildlife viewing

You will be able to do various game drives in savannah national parks of Kidepo Valley National Park, Murchison Falls National Park, Lake Mburo National Park and Uganda’s most popular National park Queen Elizabeth National Park, wildlife to see includes tree climbing lions, Buffaloes, Elephants, warthogs, Giraffes, Zebras, Leopard, among others.

What is the best time to Visit Uganda

The best time for visiting Uganda is during the months of December to February and then June to October which is relatively drier than March to May and November. Uganda is crossed by the equator making it experience a modified equatorial type of climate with two rainy seasons and because of this people tend to associate drier seasons to be the best time to visit Uganda. This is true because when it is raining, it becomes hard to drive through the park for wildlife viewing because of the heavy rains that make the trails too slippery.

Why book with us Visiting the Abayudaya community and Gorilla Safari in Uganda

Eco Adventure Safaris is experienced in organizing amazing primate and safari experiences to Uganda and Rwanda but has now expanded to offer safaris to Tanzania, Kenya, and D R Congo. For the last ten years, we have over time assembled a team mixed with young and energetic staff guided by well-experienced mature managers and directors who are Ugandans and passionate about what they do. If contacted, one of our staff will assist in providing accurate and timely information that you can rely on within the Five Minutes. Eco Adventure Safaris is highly rated and reviewed on Trip Advisor.