Boomu Women’s Group Community Experience
Just past the Kichumbanyobo Gate at the southern edge of Murchison Falls National Park, a cluster of grass-thatched bandas sits among tropical gardens loud with weaver birds. This is the Boomu Women’s Group — one of Uganda’s oldest and most respected community tourism projects, run by women who turned a run of failed harvests into a livelihood that now sends their children to school.
This guide focuses on the women themselves: how the group began, who keeps it running, the hands-on experiences they lead, the accommodation they built with their own basket money, and how you can book a visit as part of your safari.
How the Group Began
The story starts in the early 1990s in the neighbouring villages of Kigaragara and Kihaguzi, roughly 13 miles from Masindi in Kihaguzi parish. These were subsistence farmers, and a severe drought had left them with barely enough produce to feed their families, let alone sell. Rather than wait for the rains, a handful of women began weaving baskets from whatever materials remained and selling them to travellers heading for the park gate.
In 1999 they formally organised as the Boomu Women’s Group. The name is telling — boomu means “together” in the local language — and the founding aims were plainly stated: reduce poverty and malnutrition, and earn enough to pay their children’s school fees. The group grew to around forty members and, though the name honours the women who started it, men from the villages are now active participants too.
Craft sales alone were unpredictable, so the members set aside roughly 15% of their basket income and bought land in Kigaragara. With support from the Uganda Community Tourism Association (UCOTA), they built their first traditional guest accommodation in 2004 and received further seed funding in 2006 to furnish the bandas. A craft stall had quietly become a full tourism enterprise.
The Women Behind the Work
What makes a visit worthwhile is that the people you meet are the owners, not hired staff performing for tips. The women who cook your dinner, guide your walk or thread papyrus into a bowl are members whose families depend directly on the project’s success.
Because the enterprise is community-run, the income spreads widely. Proceeds are shared among members and reinvested — into the gardens and restaurant, into schooling for the children the group was founded to support, and into steadying households through the lean months between harvests. Sitting with a member while she explains her share of the work, and where the money goes, is part of what separates Boomu from a staged cultural show.
The Guided Village Walk
The village walk is the heart of a Boomu visit and usually runs about two hours, though it flexes to your pace. A member of the group leads you through Kigaragara, showing the crops that sustain the community — cassava, millet, beans, bananas — and explaining traditional farming methods alongside the real hardships of rural life: no running water, no mains electricity, and the pressure a fast-growing population places on the land.
Along the way you might meet the village blacksmith shaping tools over a charcoal fire, visit a beekeeper’s hives, or stop at the plant nursery. Storytellers share tales of local customs, marriage and birth celebrations, giving you the kind of firsthand context no game drive can. It is an honest walk — the group is candid about the challenges as well as the beauty of village life.
Cooking, Grinding and Tasting
The cooking experience is deliberately hands-on. Rather than watch, you take part: harvesting food from the gardens, then preparing it with traditional means over a firewood or charcoal stove. You will grind millet by hand, learn to peel and mash matoke, and help cook staples such as posho, groundnut sauce, beans and greens.
Everything moves from the garden to the fire to your plate, and you sit down to eat what you have made — Ugandan food prepared the way village families actually eat it. It is a slow, sociable few hours, and one of the most memorable meals you will have on a safari precisely because you helped make it.
Basket Weaving, Crafts and Storytelling
Basket weaving is where the whole project began, and a lesson lets you attempt the intricate art yourself. The women work with natural materials — banana fibre, papyrus and sorghum husks — dyed with colours drawn from plants around the village. Expect to come away with a new respect for how long a single finished basket takes.
The on-site craft shop sells baskets, woven mats and other handmade pieces directly, so your money reaches the maker rather than a middleman. In the warm evenings the group often lays on music, dance and storytelling, and you can relax at the open-air bar under the stars once the day’s activities are done.
Staying in the Bandas
You do not have to visit only by day. Boomu operates its own budget accommodation: seven twin bandas, one double banda and a building with two triple rooms, all built in traditional Ugandan style and set among gardens full of butterflies and birdsong. Rooms have mosquito nets, electric lights from a generator and shared bathroom facilities, with warm water supplied in jerrycans for bathing and clean, eco-friendly toilets. Camping is also available for those with their own tent.
The site has a restaurant serving food prepared by the local women and that open-air bar for the evenings. It is a genuinely authentic setting — quiet, simple and close to nature — and staying overnight lets you experience village rhythm rather than just passing through. As a base it is well placed for the park’s southern gate and for birding in the gardens or nearby Budongo Forest.
Respectful Visitor Etiquette
A few small courtesies go a long way here. Always ask before photographing people, dress modestly, and follow your guide’s lead. Bring cash in Ugandan shillings for craft purchases and tips, as there is no card payment in the village. Buying directly from the craft shop and choosing the community-run activities keeps your money local — exactly what the group was created to achieve.
Practical items for the walk include a hat and sun cream, insect repellent, light long-sleeved clothing and your own drinking water. Come curious and unhurried; the women are generous with their time, and the more you engage, the richer the visit.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Where exactly is the Boomu Women’s Group?
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It sits in Kigaragara village, Kihaguzi parish, about 13 miles from Masindi and just past the Kichumbanyobo Gate at the southern entrance to Murchison Falls National Park, between the park and Budongo Forest Reserve.
- How much do the activities cost?
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Individual activities such as the village walk, cooking demonstration and basket-weaving lesson each cost in the region of 10,000–20,000 Ugandan shillings per person. Bed, breakfast and dinner in a banda is roughly 55,000 shillings, with camping around 10,000 shillings per person per night. Prices are modest and paid in cash.
- Do I need to book in advance?
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A day visit can often be arranged on arrival, but booking ahead — through your safari operator — is wise if you want an overnight stay or a specific experience like the cooking tour, so the women can prepare the food and guides.
- Is it suitable for families?
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Yes. The walk, cooking and weaving are hands-on and welcoming for children, and meeting village families is a gentle, memorable introduction to rural Ugandan life.
- Can I combine it with a game drive or boat cruise?
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Absolutely. Boomu sits at the park’s southern gate, so it slots neatly around your Murchison activities — a village morning before an afternoon game drive, or a peaceful overnight stay either side of the boat cruise to the falls.
Plan Your Safari
A morning with the Boomu Women’s Group turns a wildlife holiday into something more human — and puts your money straight into the hands of the families who look after this land. We can fold a village walk, cooking session or overnight banda stay into any of our Murchison Falls safari itineraries, or pair it with wider cultural experiences near the park. Get in touch and we’ll balance game drives, the Nile boat cruise and genuine time with the women of Boomu.