Cultural Tours at Akagera National Park are a great way to explore Rwanda. Your visit to the neighboring local community could spice up your safari and gives you a great chance to have an interaction with the neighboring community which could equip you with a great knowledge of the Banyarwanda’s.
Your tour operator guide or a freelance community guides can also organize for you some interesting safaris as well as cultural adventures for park visitors to participate in.
There are 4 choices; the Heritage which is the culture of cattle, the local production that’s beers and the bees, arts and crafts as well as the celebration which is food and festivities.
Each of these communities will give you quite a different experience upon your visit. The experiences range from milking a cow to making the Imigongo paintings, sampling of honey on the comb, helping in preparing a local meal, engaging in a traditional Rwandan dance.
The Imigongo Art and Craft Centre:
This is one of the most famous cultural sites, run mostly by the majority of women groups, who came up with an idea of using cow dung to create an art which can be used as a house decoration.
Imigongo Art Center is a social business whose mission is to create, innovate Imigongo art-making as a way add to the efforts of creating jobs for the youth and women in rural Rwanda.
Imigongo art is a type of art that is made through patterns that are made of cow dung base. This art is native to Rwanda from the East in an area originally known as Igisaka, now a part of Ngoma and Kirehe districts. Imigongo art is one of the art that is affordable but has all the originality of what art needs to be.
Imigongo Art Center was founded by Charles Ashimwe and Zacharie Ngenzi. Zacharie has been an Imigongo artist for over ten years, which made him love the art.
This made him create a permanent place for it, where the craft of Imigongo will thrive for decades to come.
You tour to this art site, will give you an opportunity to observe and participate in the entire process of making the art piece.
Heritage
This experience takes you through having hands at Milking a cow and then learns about the rituals around milk and how the milk is treated and preserved. You will as well visit the farmer’s home and then see the entire process how milk can be traditionally kept, treated and preserved until it’s turned into ghee. There are special vessels and cans that are sometimes used for storing and drinking of milk and the herbs that are smoked to flavor the milk and gives it a good taste.
Contact us to reserve Cultural Tours at Akagera National Park.