The Sukuma are Tanzania's largest ethnic group, and Bujora — about 15 km east of Mwanza along the Musoma road — is the centre of their cultural heritage work. The museum sits on a hilltop within a sprawling Catholic mission, the buildings designed as enlarged versions of traditional Sukuma round houses, with thatched roofs and clay-painted walls.
The collection is divided across several pavilions, each devoted to one aspect of Sukuma life: the royal pavilion with the carved stools of the chiefs; the medicine pavilion with the equipment of traditional healers; the music pavilion full of the giant drums used in ceremonial dance; and the dance pavilion with the elaborate masks of the rival snake-dance and porcupine-dance societies. A short cathedral nearby has its altar and stations of the cross painted in a Sukuma style. Performances of traditional dance can usually be arranged with advance notice.
Reach Bujora by dala-dala from Mwanza's main bus stand or by hire taxi. Allow two hours; combine with lunch in Kisesa village just down the hill.