Uganda Travel
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Thank you for your interest in the Abayudaya Jewish Community of Uganda, also please visit www.Kulanu.org Here is information on our exciting Jewish eco-tourism project, now in our 5th year! Space is limited, so please book early. Please forward to all interested parties!
Our travelers rave it is one of the best experiences of their lives!
Adventure Travel with
the Abayudaya Jews of Uganda
Jewish Life in Uganda
Mitzvah Tour & Wildlife Safari
Join the Jewish Life in Uganda Mitzvah Tour and visit with the Abayudaya Jewish community, spend two shabbatot in rural African village synagogues. Experience an exciting safari adventure and wildlife cruise. Enjoy the Abayudaya Music and Dance Festival exclusive to this tour, and meet the famous Mirembe Kawomera coffee cooperative. Accommodations are in friendly hotels & beautiful safari lodges. There are hearty meals and vegetarian meals are available. Visit Kampala, the Nile River, Lake Victoria, Jinja, Mt. Elgon National Park, Sipi Falls, Mbale town. Extended Stay Options: Take a mountain gorilla or chimpanzee tracking excursion (additional fee) and/or be community volunteer!
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The Jewish Life in Uganda Tour is led by experienced Abayudaya and Shoebill Safari tour guides. We travel in air-conditioned vans.
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Meet the Abayudaya Jewish Community! Visit the Abayudaya synagogues and the many Kulanu supported mitzvah projects. Learn the history of this amazing community and enjoy the hospitality of Ugandan Jewish families.
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Volunteer during free time, if you wish, sharing skills with the Abayudaya Community.
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Enjoy an authentic worldbeat African Jewish Music and Dance Festival.
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Share Ugandan Jewish culture, history and music through talks, celebrations, concerts, and arts and crafts demonstrations. Learn about the ethnic groups, languages, agriculture, economy, as well as unique flora, birds, and wildlife of Uganda. Visit mysterious Nwero cave paintings.
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Thrill to a fantastic national park safari adventure, featuring hippos, lions, herds of elephants, monkeys, warthogs, kob, crocodiles, 500 species of birds, and more, all living freely! Cruise on a lovely riverboat trip.
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Tour the famous Mirembe Kawomera fair trade organic coffee project
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See the mysterious Nyero rock and cave paintings
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Tour the colorful eastern Ugandan countryside and explore Mt. Elgon National Park, a huge extinct volcano that is one of the most beautiful mountains in Africa.
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Visit beautiful mountain top Sipi Falls. Explore Sabinyi Cave, and the market town of Kapchowra.
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Tour the source of the magnificent Nile River. An optional white water rafting trip on the Nile is available.
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Visit colorful, bargain-filled arts & crafts markets in Jewish villages, the bustling capital, Kampala, and Mbale town..
(Suggested itinerary subject to change.)
Extended stay pre or post trip excursion options include:
Rare Mountain Gorilla Safari in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, Chimp tracking in Kibale Forrest bird watching on beautiful Lake Bunyonyi
(Abayudaya earn a commission on every excursion trip booked!)
Or become an extended stay volunteer.
Contact laura@laurawetzler.com for details.
BOOK NOW!
What to expect on this trip?
This is adventure travel, perhaps unlike any you have experienced before!
This trip is a project to empower economic development in the Abayudaya Jewish community through the sharing of their beautiful country and the education of visitors from abroad. You may be changed forever. You will be inspired by Africa and her people and moved by the survival of Jewish communal life there.
Everything has been done to help us be as comfortable as possible, given that we will be traveling by air-conditioned van on dirt roads into agricultural villages with no electricity and no running water. Uganda is a developing country. The pace is much slower there. Bring your camera, binoculars and patience. Expect occasional delays.
Look up our hotels on the internet. Hotels are friendly, modest and clean, with running water and electricity. TV is occasional, as is air-conditioning. No credit cards. Remember that hotels, meals, and ground tour as outlined are all included. Shopping is great! Note: Ugandan banks will only exchange spending money in $50. bills issued after the year 2002; places to cash traveler’s checks are very rare.
Please leave expensive jewelry at home.
Food may be different from what you are accustomed to, influenced by East Indian cuisine. Vegetarian meals are available. Great fish (tilapia, nile perch) is generally available fresh from Lake Victoria. Kosher Shabbat meals in the Abayudaya community. Bring dry protein snacks to keep with you on road trips.
If you join us, you must be in good health, flexible and ready to deal with changing circumstances with a sense of humor. You may walk as much or as little as you wish. We are traveling in the dry season. Expect occasionally dusty air quality. Remember to drink constantly and enjoy!
What to bring:
Bring a sense of humor. Bring a willingness to learn from our hosts.
Important: Bring spending money in US $50 bills issued after 2002. Uganda will not cash US bills issued earlier than this date. No kidding. No credit cards. Uganda is on the equator. Pack lightly for a very hot climate with a light jacket for mountainous regions. Due to space restrictions on the safari van, you are permitted:
One checked bag, leave plenty of room for purchases! African clothing and crafts are beautiful and reasonably priced.
One carry on bag including prescription meds, an extra set of clothes, underwear and sundries, in the event of lost baggage.
Items worthwhile to bring for your own comfort and safety:
Cash in $50 bills post 2004
Passport and visa
Plane tickets
Proof of vaccinations
Travel belt wallet that fits under your clothes
Lightweight slacks, shorts and tops
Comfortable walking shoes
Refillable water bottle with shoulder
or belt holder
flashlight or headlamp a must for reading
at night.
Latrine tissue
Hand-wipes and anti-bacterial hand sanitizer
Sunscreen and sunhat
Insect repellent
A duplicate pair of glasses |
Camera and batteries
Prescribed meds in your carry-on
Medicines, including malaria prophylaxis.
Our doctor also recommended bringing antibiotics for diarrhea, if needed, headache medicine, and a cream for bug bites; small first aid kit.
Emergency food rations such as granola bars, trail mix and peanut butter crackers
Daypack: Shoulder bag or small backpack to always have with you, containing water bottle, tissue, notebook and pen, camera, gifts, granola bar, medicines you might need, insect repellant, sunscreen
Bathing suit
Travel binoculars, if you are a birdwatcher. |
Suggested Reading List:
Abayudaya Jews of Uganda, Photos and Text by Richard Sobol; CD Music Annotation by Jeffrey Summit,Abbeville Press.
Jews in Places You Never Thought Of, by Karen Primack, Ktav Publishing
CD Shalom, Everybody, Everywhere! Music by the Abayudaya Jews of Uganda, Kulanu.org
CD Music of the Jews of Uganda Smithsonian Institution
The Spectrum Guide to Uganda, Interlink Books
National Audubon Society Field Guide to African Wildlife
Lonely Planet Guide to East Africa, Lonely Planet
Field Guide to the Birds of East Africa, Terry Stevenson and John Fanshawe, T& AD Poyser, London (THE African birders guide but this is a very heavy hard cover!)
Birds of Africa Chris & Tilde Stuart, The MIT Press Cambridge, Massachusetts
Jonathan Scott’s Safari Guide to East African Birds, Kensta, PO Box 46309, Nairobi, Kenya
Support Kulanu’s all-volunteer mitzvah work!
Select books, hand-made Judaica crafts and the Abayudaya music CD are available on-line at www.kulanuboutique.com.
All proceeds and tax-deductible donations help communities around the world. www.kulanu.org More Questions? Contact: Laura Wetzler laura@laurawetzler.com 413-634-5617
Laura in Uganda | Uganda Photos | Uganda News
Coffee from Uganda | Uganda Travel | Kulanu Postcard PDF
To read newsletters, make a donation and get involved visit www.kulanu.org
To Order Mirembe Kawomera “Delicious Peace” Coffee
visit www.mirembekawomera.com
