The Ultimate Tour To Nakapelimoru Village In Karamoja (Jie), Kotido District Uganda, East Africa's Largest Traditional Village
Travel to Nakapelimoru village in Northeastern Uganda, immerse yourself and experience African culture in its raw form. It's the Largest Traditional Settlement in Uganda and East Africa at large. Nakapelimoru is a great example of a rural African village setting in the modern world.
Nakapelimoru village is found in Kotido district in North Eastern Uganda and is home to the Jie-clan of the Karamojong people. They are one of the Nilotic-speaking Karamojong clusters of several semi-nomadic ethnic groups which also include other Karamajong tribes like the dodoth, tempeh, Ik, Pain, Upe, mathaniko,bokora in Uganda, Toposa in South Sudan, and Dodoth in Uganda. The Jie people are traditional pastoralists who keep cattle mostly for pride and marriage. They own many herds of cattle but live in semi-permanent huts surrounded by thickets that act as fences.
By contrast, Karamoja is a semiarid area that has one rainy season in a year, and drought conditions have increasingly become severe due to climate change, making the lives of pastoral communities rather difficult. The Jie and other groups live traditionally in temporary grass thatch shelters practicing seasonal migration looking for water and green pastures. However, they have a base camp at which they live permanently and cultivate some crops such as maize, sorghum, and cassava.
In Nakapelimoru village, people live in several small villages arranged in clusters comprising their community, and each village is surrounded by an outer wall, then portioned into family neighborhoods called Odoks, each surrounded by a wall as well.
The community still holds tight to their traditions of living in grass thatched huts, having multiple wives and often bearing body and facial scarification.
Tourists will get a chance to meet the Karamojong (Jie ) in their homes and learn about their traditional customs, tales, and art forms, including body scarification.
Tourists visiting the village can also enjoy a hike to Mount Moroto, and also enjoy wildlife viewing in Kidepo Valley National Park. Nakapelimoru village is 13 km east of Kotido town, 106 km (2-hour drive) north of Moroto town, and 133 km south of Kidepo Valley National Park.
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