Warrior Nomad Trail
East-Africa’s cross-border wilderness destination for an authentic cultural experience & untamed outdoor adventure
The Warrior Nomad Trail is a community tourism initiative of Ugandan tour operator Kara-Tunga, aimed at preservation of cultural heritage, fostering a peaceful coexistence and conservation of biodiversity by creating economical opportunities among neighbouring tribes of Uganda, South-Sudan, Kenya and Ethiopia.
The People of the Warrior Nomad Trail
The diverse people of the Warrior Nomad Trail share a common origin where they migrated from present-day Ethiopia and settled in the most remote corners of South-Sudan, Kenya, Ethiopia and Uganda.
They are (semi) nomadic cattle keepers and hunters gatherers by tradition belonging to three major language groups being Kuliak, Ateker/Karimojong and Kalenjin. The cattle keepers have great similarities with the cow or camel as common most highly valued asset. They all believe that they are sole owner of all cattle and have fought traditional battles to increase their wealth.
During the final days of Amin’s reign, the people in Karamoja Uganda and neighbouring tribes obtained a fast amount of guns that ignited decades of civil unrest. The government of Uganda disarmed the people successfully in 2011.
Where the once isolated people of Karamoja, managed to protect their culture from the trappings of modern life, they are now on the verge of change.
The Warrior Nomad Trail aims at protecting the cultural heritage, creating opportunities for the local community at home and thereby reducing poverty and migration.
The project
Research & Development
Matching supply with demand
Scoping the demand of the travel market and match with available attractions and development programs into a marketable trail and training curriculum.
Pilot program
Final stage
Piloting of the trail with tour operators and journalists to collect feedback, fine-tune the trail and develop marketing material to launch.
Capacity building
Skilling for sustainability
Building capacity of stakeholders and guides on the trail and partners off the trail to ensure product knowledge and quality of service.
Marketing & Sales
Continuity
Continuous quality control by scheduled monitoring and evaluation of the performance, sustainability and growth with a dedicated team.
Less travelled East Africa
The trail starts from the archeological findings indicating the ‘cradle of mankind’ in Northern Kenya. Over the waters and along the crater islands of world’s largest desert Lake Turkana, northwards upstream to the Lower Omo, inhabited by numerous traditional living tribes (Ethiopia). Crossing the Omo River eastwards into world’s youngest country (South Sudan) and southwards through East Africa’s most applauded Kidepo Valley National Park into Uganda’s Karamojaland.
Our inspiration
Karamoja, Uganda’s Land of Warrior Nomads (2007)
This publication was a major inspiration for the development of the Warrior Nomad Trail. The National Geographic Photographer ‘David Pluth’ and then journalist ‘Sylvester Onyang’ traveled through Karamoja over a span of 10 years and shared a pure and honest observation of that time. The book takes your on an intriguing journey through the wilds of Karmaojaland from 1996 to 2006. As interesting for the Karimojong community as for others.
Development partners
The Warrior Nomad Trail is an initiative of Kara-Tunga Arts & Tours Ltd and part of a national trail development project ‘Tourism Trails in the Pearl of Africa‘.
Photo credits: Marcus Westberg, Henk van Hoek, Gabriel Gersch, Wilchard Cuijpers and Dave Forney.
