It wasn't the best start to our Uganda trip. We'd had a very disturbed night. Having got a late flight to Entebbe, we arrived at the guest house at 2am, only to struggle to sleep because of the noise from the busy road right next to it. The sleep deprivation didn't end there, when some genius decided to strim the long grass next door only five hours later. We tried to get some more shut eye which was nearly impossible with the piercing noise, and when we eventually did, someone started banging on the door at 8am to say our guide was waiting for us. It turned out to be a false alarm - the guide had not only got the wrong people but the wrong day! By now we were wide awake.
We had a day (and a gardener and a guide) to kill, so when our actual driver, Henry, arrived at the agreed time, we headed into Kampala to have a look at its highlights. It didn't take long. From there we headed back to Entebbe for lunch on the sandy shore of Lake Victoria, Africa's largest lake and the source of the White Nile.
"Would you like to go to the zoo?" asked Henry. It's not what we'd normally do, but it had good reviews on Trip Advisor, so we decided to give it a go. Many of the animals in the Ugandan Wildlife Education Centre (Entebbe Zoo's very PC official name) have been rescued from animal traders or are orphans, so we didn't mind seeing all the lovely creatures in captivity. There were few cages, except for the big cats and even then they were large. The highlight was probably seeing a baby elephant being taken for a walk by his keeper. Although Keith managed to stroke him, he moved swiftly past us and away before Jan even thought about taking a photo.
The following day, and after a better night's sleep - amazing what a change of room can do, we headed to the north west of the country, to the Murchison Falls National Park. On the way we stopped for lunch at the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary. The Rhino population, in Uganda, was wiped out during the 1980s civil wars, but now the sanctuary has been established to restore a population of White Rhinos. Six animals were donated by zoos and wildlife parks in Africa and the US and those have produced another six young in the seven years since it opened. They need a population of 35 before 20 can be released into the wild, so it may be another 10 years before Rhinos reappear in the National Parks.
Although the animals are in captivity, they're not tagged and can wander freely within the park, so sightings aren't guaranteed on the hour-long walks they conduct. "We may only see one" explained Fred, the Rhino guide "and that may be hiding from the sun in a bush." With luck firmly on our side, within twenty minutes of setting out we saw a family group of mother, baby and, unusually (because they're loners), the father, all of whom were in the open and either dozing or wandering around feeding. The female got so close that we had to back away. "She's very docile but you can never be sure with wild animals" cautioned Fred "If she does charge, climb a tree or hide behind it if you can't manage." Jan had already resigned herself to hiding.
As we left the sanctuary, we realised that in our first 36 hours in Uganda, we had seen the Big Five. They were all in captivity but it still counts. OK, perhaps the baby elephant only counts as a quarter. After such a great start we're pretty confident we'll see more.
We had a day (and a gardener and a guide) to kill, so when our actual driver, Henry, arrived at the agreed time, we headed into Kampala to have a look at its highlights. It didn't take long. From there we headed back to Entebbe for lunch on the sandy shore of Lake Victoria, Africa's largest lake and the source of the White Nile.
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| If only he'd looked our way! |
The following day, and after a better night's sleep - amazing what a change of room can do, we headed to the north west of the country, to the Murchison Falls National Park. On the way we stopped for lunch at the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary. The Rhino population, in Uganda, was wiped out during the 1980s civil wars, but now the sanctuary has been established to restore a population of White Rhinos. Six animals were donated by zoos and wildlife parks in Africa and the US and those have produced another six young in the seven years since it opened. They need a population of 35 before 20 can be released into the wild, so it may be another 10 years before Rhinos reappear in the National Parks.
Although the animals are in captivity, they're not tagged and can wander freely within the park, so sightings aren't guaranteed on the hour-long walks they conduct. "We may only see one" explained Fred, the Rhino guide "and that may be hiding from the sun in a bush." With luck firmly on our side, within twenty minutes of setting out we saw a family group of mother, baby and, unusually (because they're loners), the father, all of whom were in the open and either dozing or wandering around feeding. The female got so close that we had to back away. "She's very docile but you can never be sure with wild animals" cautioned Fred "If she does charge, climb a tree or hide behind it if you can't manage." Jan had already resigned herself to hiding.As we left the sanctuary, we realised that in our first 36 hours in Uganda, we had seen the Big Five. They were all in captivity but it still counts. OK, perhaps the baby elephant only counts as a quarter. After such a great start we're pretty confident we'll see more.
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