An aerial view of the Musambwa Main Island. PHOTO | MAKERERE UNIVERSITY/ CROSS-CULTURAL FOUNDATION OF UGANDA
Musambwa Island in Uganda is one of the strangest and weirdest places on Earth. Surrounded by the serene waters of Lake Victoria, it’s a gem of mythical wonders. It boasts a cultural mosaic fused with superstitions that have fascinated visitors from around the world for generations.
Musambwa is inhabited only by men and snakes. Women are not allowed to stay there, and when they visit, they cannot spend the night.
Musambwa, which means spirits in the local dialect, is also home to over 150,000 birds.
Here, there's no cutting down of trees, no killing of snakes, no rearing of sheep, and no sexual intercourse. Birds, too, shouldn't be killed, and their eggs must not be eaten. There are more than 30 species of rare birds and reptiles. It’s also the largest breeding area for gray-headed gulls in Africa.
The island, which can be accessed through Malembo or Kasensero landing sites in Kyotera District in central Uganda, has about 120 men.
The ecological and cultural uniqueness of these islets is captured in a new report and documentary film titled Musambwa Islands, Where Snakes and Birds Live with Humans: Lessons for Sustainable Wildlife Management and Tourism.
The research was conducted by Dr Jimmy Spire Ssentongo and Samuel Okok of the Department of Philosophy, Makerere University, and Fredrick Nsibambi (Cross-Cultural Foundation of Uganda).
Manageable population
The study shows how people co-exist with snakes and birds on the island, and lessons for sustainable conservation. The conservation of the island's ecosystem is grounded on cultural beliefs and values ensconced in a range of intricate taboos.
Some residents say the island has a spirit that often manifests in the night as “a beautiful tall woman dressed in white clothes”. They say the spirit is jealous of women and that’s why “it doesn't allow them to reside on the island”.
Many respondents spoke of an incident that happened in the 1990s when a couple visited the island and engaged in sexual intercourse. It is said that the outcome was disastrous, as the waters around the island turned turbulent, with strong winds that killed the couple.
Carol Namujuzi, however, stayed on the island for a while.
She owned a restaurant and every evening she would be locked in her house with a padlock to keep men away.
“Whenever strong winds blew, men would ask, ‘who has touched her?’ … Either inadvertently or by design, the taboos against sex and women’s residence serve the function of regulating the population on the islands. With the possibility of establishing families there, the small islands would have easily become overpopulated,” states the report.
There's also a belief that spirits manifest in the form of rock cobras. To the residents, the rock cobras are not ordinary snakes. First, it is believed that the cobras do not attack, except when disturbed. It is also believed that they are not poisonous.
One of the victims of the two reported snake bites is Mzee Emmanuel Katongole.
“I grabbed it (the rock cobra) in my hands when it entered my house and threw it outside. It returned. I grabbed it again and threw it outside. The third time I held it by the head and it bit me. I spent four days and the situation worsened. This forced me to go to the mainland for treatment.” A resident told researchers: “We don’t hit (rock cobra) snakes. If you hit it, you die.”
Places of worship, mostly for those praying for blessings, are common on the islands.
There’s a huge Mukokoowe tree (Ficus branchypoda), which is the main shrine.
“The Mukokoowe tree has both cultural and natural values,” Nsibambi says. “Culturally, the tree hosts the main shrine at the main Musambwa islet. There is a shrine under this tree where people go and pray for different things – healing and blessings. The tree provides a breeding space for birds which can lay their eggs on the ground. They make their nests in the branches of the Mukokoowe tree, especially during the breeding season.”
Due to its vast congregation of bird species, it was designated as a Ramsar Site in 2001. These include grey-headed gulls, Egyptian geese, black songbirds, great cormorants, talking birds, weaver birds, water crane birds, black herons, little egrets, black crakes, hornbills, sacred ibises, sandpipers, pelicans, among others. “In addition to the birds and humans, the Islands also harbour rock cobras that freely live with humans – a relationship embedded in taboo.
“Whereas in many ecosystems, human nonhuman relationship is exploitative, Musambwa is unique in such a way that humans relate with other species as stewards. They do appreciate the existence of snakes and birds as a vital component of their natural environment. As such, they protect the non-humans from any possible persecution through a system of cultural norms and other rules and regulations created on the island through support from environmental conservation organisations.
According to the report, the story of hope from Musambwa lies in the fact that at some point, human activities had affected the ecosystem.
“Bad environmental practices recorded included eating of birds and their eggs, trapping monitor lizards for food and making of drums, among others. Such practices caused a significant reduction of these species. However, with the blending of modern conservation practices and cultural practices, the population of non-humans, especially of birds, has significantly increased.”
The report notes that the takeaway from the study is the possibility of carrying lessons from Musambwa to other related ecosystems.
The major lessons lie in the need to change the attitude of humans towards other species from an anthropocentric exploitative attitude to a conservational and stewardship-based kind.
The study advances two major normative recommendations including putting in place initiatives that support the growth of knowledge about local ecosystems and carrying out environmental policy advocacy.
“Musambwa islands hold a substantial tourism potential that is capable of contributing significantly to the development of Uganda through tourism-related interventions.
With the vast bird congregation and the presence of snakes, such an ecosystem needs to be supported by promoting and popularising it and putting in place certain facilities- especially sanitary. A concerted effort of state and non-state actors ought to come into play if this place is to be boosted into a vibrant tourism destination,” states the report.
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