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By Jonathan Kamoga
Many of you must have seen it in pictures online, or heard about it from friends while some harbour the desire to visit it. Those who have been able to visit the Ihamba residence, tucked away in the hills besides Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, can attest to its beauty.
The peace, tranquillity and the beautiful scenic views that the residence presents have for a few years now made it one of my favourite destinations around the country that I could never get tired of visiting.
Ihamba residence is more than what just meets the eye. It speaks to your heart and literally places you into a world of its own.
The residence is located atop a hill overlooking the massive Bwindi Impenetrable Forest and to get there, one has to hike uphill for almost 10 minutes on average but the end of this little hike presents wonderful views of nature.
According to Tina Katushabe, the resident’s manager, the hike was deliberately left there as an experience for guests.
“The reason we let people walk from the road to the residence is so they can have that experience. We want to sell more than just a comfortable bed and a good meal. People should just always look at experiences more than just luxury,” she said.
While up here, the residence speaks to your senses too; from the smell of fresh air away from that of polluted Kampala, to sights of winding hills dotted with trees and thick fog together with some of the best sunsets and sunrises I have ever seen.
Katushabe is passionate about the plants and flowers and this explains why the residence’s compound is filled with these and several other local herbs and vegetables most of which are served to guests during meals.
Chirping birds from the forest nearby normally pay a visit too together with gorillas for which the forest is famous, which on some occasions walk close to the residence and this is summed up by the distant gushes of water in the Little steams of the forest.
The residence is a cabin set up with a total accommodation of about 10 people in double or single rooms depending one’s liking. It hosts individuals, groups and family and on friendly weather days, camping here can be ideal. Camping is unto 12 people.
Recently, the residence got a new additional cottage annex specifically for honeymooners and long-term stays.
To ensure that you have a comfortable stay, there is a house manager, a chef, house keepers and other support staff at your disposal.
Most of the food served here is local and organic, grown right from a little garden at the residence and some supplied by the local community.
Activities
Staying at the residence comes with a host of activities like bird watching, sunbathing, reading, badminton and some board games to keep you occupied but the real challenging ones are both interesting and daring.
One of them that the management at the residence can organize is the nature walk that takes you on a trek through hills dotted with tea plantations and onto a trail that snakes through the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. It shows you different species of trees in the forest and other vegetation types.
We did the hike with two Uganda Wildlife Authority rangers as our guides and security who first briefed us about what to expect and how to keep safe.
Armed with our walking sticks, we shot straight into the forest on a small trail in single file and along the way, several on the group fell a few times as we trekked downwards.
We came to a halt at a beautiful stream junction locally known as Imbuganiro or the meeting point where River Mbwa meets with River Ihihizo inside the forest.
I personally would have fancied to swim in it had the water not been freezing cold or had it been a little deeper.
Another activity to do when you visit the residence is the gorilla trekking. It is however advised that you book this prior for better organization.
The other activity here is the community visits with the most prominent being the Batwa cultural experience. This one takes you to the homes of the marginalized Batwa people currently living by the edge of the forest near their cultural centre which is being run by Change A life Bwindi project also operated by Ms Katushabe.
The Batwa are a community of forest people who formerly lived in the Bwindi Impenetrable forest but were pushed out after the government gazetted it as a National Park.
Living outside the park now, they survive on little and their culture is under threat of disappearing as they are adopting that of the local Bakiga and are also intermarrying with them.
These treated us to a cultural experience ranging from traditional dances to lighting a fire using sticks, stories of how they lived in the forests among other things.
One thing for sure is that these people need all the help they can get from clothes to shoes, beddings to books for their children and even food.
Other activities at the residence are tea picking and tree planting. In a bid to contribute to the fight against the climate change menace, the residence has adopted a “one guest one tree” campaign where each visitor here plants a tree to save the environment in future.
The nights
Nights at Ihamba Residence will always vary depending on your company but one thing remains constant, they are beautiful and cold. Remember the sounds from the forest that I earlier talked about? Now, they are spiced up with beautiful views of a starry sky. You could spend the night by a fireplace outside drinking away and telling stories or you could choose to play games around the fireplace in the house.
How to get there
You can either use a tour company or call in to book for yourself.
For budget travellers using public means, taking a bus to Kabale is the better option from where the residence organize a special hire car that can pick you up at you cost.
Jonathan Kamoga is a Writer and Travel Enthusiast