Iby’iwacu Cultural Village, The Gorilla Guardians Village
Iby’iwacu Cultural Village – The Gorilla Guardians Village is one of the best places in Rwanda to visit to experience Rwanda’s cultural traditions, people, personal experience and history which is on a display in one place.
Rwanda is a beautiful country coined the lands of a thousand hills in reference to thousands of beautiful hills dominating the landscape, this beautiful country has hospitable and very welcoming people who are worth visiting while on a Rwanda Safari and the Gorillas Guardians Cultural Village is a great site to visit.
Location of Iby’iwacu Cultural Village
The name of the village “Ib’iwacu” is a local Rwanda word meaning “Treasure of our home and heritage”, the village is located in Musanze district and it is mostly added on a Rwanda safari itinerary to Volcanoes National Park for a face – to-face encounter with the rare and endangered mountain gorillas in their natural environment.
The Iby’iwacu cultural village is located close to Volcanoes National Park (National des Volcans), in Nyabigoma unit in the sector of Kinigi in Musaze district, Northern Province.
The Ib’iwacu Village is not like any other ordinary village, it is a uniquely organized community and extraordinary purposes and features. This village is regards as a special place in Rwanda as it possesses a combination of Rwanda’s history, people and cultural traditions which provides visitors with a real adventure and an insight in Rwanda’s culture and traditions.
The Ib’iwacu Village enables one to understand and appreciate the uniqueness of the Kinyarwanda culture and heritage, the village offers foreign visitors a chance to see what life was like in a typical village setting through food, dress code, houses, traditional dances and how traditional kingdoms used to be organized.
What to Expect at the Iby’iwacu Cultural Village
The Iby’wacu cultural village is designed to offers visitors many interesting activities which offers an opportunity to immerse themselves in the culture and traditions of the local people. Visitors are always welcomed by dances and drumming at the main gate which is an indication that there are better things awaiting.
The following the activities to do at the Iby’iwacu cultural village
Home visit and community walks
Visiting the homes and communities in the best way to understand the way of living of the local Rwandese people by interacting, sharing and getting immersed into their different communities.
Home visits at the Ib’iwacu village gives visitors better opportunities to know more about the culture and uniqueness of the Kinyarwanda culture and heritage, visitors get a chance to sit with local people in their homes.
The elders of the community will share with you information and stories about Rwanda and her rich heritage, also visit the banana and vegetable plantations, learn how to prepare traditional foods and how to use a special grinding stone to make millet flour.
Home visits and community walks in the Ib’Iwacu Village is a great learn experience, there are guides who will take you for a visit to the local schools where you will understand Rwanda’s education system in the area as you interact with the teachers and students.
During these walks, you will find a number of local shops selling local paintings, beautiful pots and woven clothes among others which you will purchase at a reasonable price.
Be entertained by traditional music and drama
Through music, dance and drama offers visitors a clear picture of the African tradition and culture giving one a sense of belonging, for tourists interested in tradition music and drama, the Iby’iwacu cultural center gives you a grand opportunity to listen to unique local music sounds including igoma, umuduri, amakondera, inanga, iningiri, ibyivugo and agekenke.
Every local instrument gives a different sound with dancing styles, a good example is Intore which is a famous warrior dance performed by men with grass clothing and bells wrapped around their legs while holding out spears as a way of celebrating victory over an enemy.
The welcoming youthful men and women will welcome you with smiling faces inviting you take part in the dance or learn how to drum.
Visiting the King’s Palace
Visiting the King’s Palace is one of the most engaging activities to participate in during your visit to the Ib’iwacu cultural village, the king’s palace is an area showcasing how the earliest kings who ruled Rwanda managed their courts.
The earliest kings in Rwanda were feared and given much rest, these kings had the highest authority and they were in position to make decisions that are taken with no any further questions.
All the kingdom activities and ceremonies were hosted within the King’s Palace under the watch of the King together with his queens, princes, princess, clean leaders and high-level visitors.
The King’s Palace in the Iby’iwacu gives you a true picture of the early kingdom setting in Rwanda with all symbols to represent power which includes information about each clan in Rwanda. Your guide will help you through the visit and answer all your questions as you go through each symbol.
Meet The Traditional Healers
From the ancient times and up to today, traditional healers are very important and play a great role in the local communities, the traditional healers use herbs, tree branches, roots and shrubs to cure several illnesses such as malaria and cough among others.
These healers have studied how to use various plants / herbs and known how to apply them while building on knowledge and ideas that have been taught for many years. The local healers are very pleased to narrate how traditional medicine has survived through colonial times to remain powerful in the modern times.
During your visit to the tradition healers of the Ib’iwacu village, they will demonstrate to you how the herbs work to heal diseases. How they get to natural remedies and you are free to try out local herbs and you might find a remedy for a relief from an illness you had struggled with for so many years.
Taking local brew
Alcohol brings happiness and relaxation and in the African traditional social setting, it unifies the locals. Taking the local brew was normally done in celebration during numerous ceremonies like welcoming new babies, new harvest and wedding among others.
During the visit to the Iby’iwacu cultural village, you will learn how to make banana brew and get to taste it also.
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