On Tanda Hill, eight kilometers from the city of Mityana (Uganda), mysterious vertical holes have been drilled. These holes can be seen in other parts of the country, but here there are most of them - 240. They say that animals bypass them. And people who dared to visit the gloomy depths return back with a feeling of overwhelming primal horror. Still, these holes were left by death itself.
Walumbe burrows are flat vertical depressions in the rock with a diameter of 1.5 and a length of 3 to 70 meters. The holes are arranged in a row, the distance between them is 15 meters. Some of them are single, others are connected to each other by a network of tunnels. Scientists have never been able to determine their exact age. Therefore, it is believed that the burrows have existed for several centuries. But who dug them - or rather, drilled them out - in those time immemorial, when a set of working tools consisted of primitive stone tools and the hands of ancient craftsmen?
One of the old legends says that once upon a time there lived the first man named Kinto. He liked the daughter of the god Gulu, the creator of the universe. God agreed to give his daughter in marriage to a man, but warned them to descend from heaven unnoticed, not taking with them the bride's brother Valumba, who brought death and misfortune. The lovers failed to do this. And then after Valumba his brother Kaikuzi was sent. Walumbe decided to confuse the tracks and hide under the ground. In search of his brother, Kaikuzi had to dive underground many times, breaking through cylindrical passages. In the end, he had to return to heaven with nothing. A satisfied Valumba remained on the ground. It is believed that burrows are its habitat.
Some old-timers tell the legend differently: when Quintu married the daughter of a god, they had children. But one day, the wife's brother came down to Earth and began to claim that he was the father of one child. Quintu did not believe his heavenly brother-in-law. And then the vengeful Valumba began to kill one child once a year. And as a consequence - the story of the persecution of Kaikuzi already familiar to you.
In the middle of the last century, inmates of the central prison in the suburbs of Kampala dug trenches for utility rooms and found a ceramic figure of a "Luzira man" with a long nose and a hairstyle reminiscent of a judge's wig. What kind of person is this so different from the local population?
This question can be answered by the second version, which is closer to reality. According to her, in the 13th century (where did the local tribes get such accurate data?), Fair-skinned people with supernatural powers lived on this place. The Bachwezi (as they were called) knew how to fly, climb steep cliffs, heal all diseases. And they also knew the history of all the peoples of the Earth. The Bachwezi hid their women and tried to maintain the purity of their blood, not assimilating with the black population. They ate exclusively their own crops. And they did not act as enslavers - rather, they were mentors, teachers, military leaders. A century later, the bachwezi suddenly disappeared, as if disappearing into the jungle.
Promotional video:
Subsequently, the version was confirmed by archaeologists. They found objects in the vicinity made using technologies unknown to the local tribes. What is noteworthy, until now, it has not been possible to find a single burial of mysterious light-skinned people. Only monuments of architecture and complex irrigation facilities. And holes, for some reason dug by them in hard rock.
Official science believes that the depressions in the ground are nothing more than abandoned mines from which iron ore, chalk and coal were mined. Geologist George Taylor wrote about this in 1920. In his report, he stressed that everything that people cannot explain becomes a miracle.
Ufologists, on the other hand, are of the opinion that it was not without alien intervention, since the traces of minerals on the surface of the holes are very insignificant. So, they concluded, the aliens had removed something valuable to them from here. But what exactly is not yet been established.
There are many other versions. For example, hunters tend to think that "death holes" are traps for wild animals. The farmers saw in the stone niches a kind of cellars for storing food. (But wouldn't it have been easier to dig them in soft soil rather than hammer in hard rock?)
In general, everyone gradually pulls the blanket over himself. In the meantime, many adventurers love to travel to the area, but doing so without a guide is very risky, as the pits are overgrown with thick grass and turned into deadly traps. The role of the guide is also performed by the caretaker of these places - Prince Petero Kimbugwe, dressed in a black tunic, traditional for an admirer of the Valumba cult. He warns that it is better to take off your shoes, as this is sacred ground.
In addition to tourists, schoolchildren are often brought here. Both those and others drink water from healing springs with pleasure, admiring the picturesque landscape. In general, excursions are common here. The standard fee, $ 5, hasn't changed over the years. And scary stories about “places of power” are most likely nothing more than a clever marketing ploy.
It is believed that the spirit of Valumba lives in the holes, but, at the same time, each of them is dedicated to a separate deity. Therefore, Africans often come to the "holes of death", who saw Walumbe in a nightmare. They go to a guide who interprets dreams, instructs the afflicted and guides them to one or another depression, where they should pray or bring something as a gift in order to receive the blessing of harsh spirits.
Thus, some holes promise to married couples the birth of twins, others help with skin diseases, others heal bones, etc. In short, a well-established business is akin to the visits of Europeans to all kinds of fortune-tellers and healers.
Here is such an attraction in Uganda. Mysterious or not - who knows, because each person has his own truth and his own measure of the miraculous.
Elena Muravyova for neveroyatno.info