The Amabere Ga Nyina Mwiru Caves near Fort Portal
The Amabere Caves and 3 Crater Lakes High make a perfect hiking day.
The Amabere Ga Nyina Mwiru Caves and the three surrounding Explosion Crater Lakes make it a most exciting day adventure and
can be done while staying in Fort Portal or Kibale Forest. A side trip to the Amabere Caves and the three nearby Crater Lakes will be a time of hiking, learning about the local culture and legends, plus a hike around three Crater lakes.
The Amabere Ga Nyina Mwiru Caves is better known as a place of cultural significance than for the visual impact it might have on you depending on the story-telling ability of the guide that is taking you to the cave, which is a large overhang instead of an actual cave. However, locally it is referred to as caves.
The Amabere Ga Nyina Mwiru Caves and the three nearby crater lakes make it a great morning or afternoon activity while you are on safari and have a half-a-day to spare.
If you like to take in this activity, we recommend good hiking boots since the path down to the caves and the waterfall is often slippery. You will need long trousers, a long-sleeved shirt, a light rain jacket, a backpack with one liter of water, a hat and maybe some dried fruit or other snacks.
The Legend about the Amabere Ga Nyina Mwiru Caves
These caves are hidden away in the Toro Kingdom in Western Uganda near Kibale Forest. A local guide will take you down
a thick jungle path – boots are a good idea since the way can be pretty slippery and wet. This short, challenging walk in the jungle leads you to a place where a love ely waterfall greets you, and that tumbles down from the cliff above the caves.
As you enter the caves, it is a good idea to have a flashlight in hand so that you can see. There is not enough light and sunshine, and your guide will assist you in every way possible. He will also tell you about the caves, both facts, and local Legends. The word cave may be a bit exaggerated since most of what you will see is a giant overhang which might be a better definition.
Amabere Ga Nyina Mwiru means “the breasts of Nina Mwiru – and the name in the local tradition and the Toro folklore has it that the caves acquired the name after King Bukuku of Toro chopped off the breasts of his daughter Nina Mwiru and had them thrown inside these caves, following a prophecy that the daughter would one day get married and have a son, Ndahura, who would kill the king and take over his throne. According to the local Legend, the prophecy came true.
The scientific explanation is that the so-called breasts are, in reality, stalactites and are made up of calcium carbonate. When blended with water, drip down and form the stalactites you will find here. The water dripping made to look milky by the calcium carbonate is called “breast milk” by the local people who live near the Amabere Caves.
Once the Amabere Ga Nyina Mwiru Caves guided tour ends, you can continue the guided walk – and visit the explosion crater lakes that, in the light of history, came into being not too long ago.
This means hiking up a hill and making our way around the three crater lakes, including Lake Saka. You can have a picnic lunch on top of the mountain with views of the crater lakes and the surrounding countryside.
Our crater lake hike will also take you through villages and hamlets found in the area, which adds some cultural interaction that you can have.
We can add this hike to any safari with us that takes in Kibale Forest.
Please Note: The Amabere Caves have gotten negative reviews on Lonely Planet and TripAdvisor. The complaint is that the activity is overpriced, and this is a historic site and a place of legends for the local community. Additionally, the activity is overpriced compared to other similar activities in the area after tripling the cost of the activity sometime back.
