This is the third in a series of nine posts covering our 13-day tour around Uganda with Mountain Gorilla Coffee Tours (“MGCT”).

On the morning of the third day of our tour with MGCT, we left Jinga to head up to Murchison Falls National Park in northwestern Uganda. Along the way we stopped at the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary. Both black and white rhinoceroses are indigenous to Uganda, but a combination of poaching and loss of habitat made all rhinos extinct in the country by the early 1980’s. In 2005, Ziwa was established with the goal of rebuilding the rhino population in Uganda and eventually reintroducing them into the wild.¹

At this point, Ziwa is home to fifteen semi-wild white rhinos, who roam freely across the sanctuary’s 70-square kilometers of enclosed bush and grasslands.

To raise funds for and awareness about their organization, Ziwa organizes rhino trekking. Along with a ranger, we set off for an area of the sanctuary where a group of rhinos was believed to be resting. Soon, we encountered a group of three sleeping rhinos. We stood there quietly, our mouths agape at being so close to these huge creatures, watching them lay quietly in the grass.

Watching them sleep was amazing in and of itself, but then the rhinos got up and began grazing! They seemed more intimidating when they were moving around, and I was a little nervous at being so close to them – but these rhinos are used to human visitors and barely glanced at us.² It was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience!

¹ A moment of unforgettable hilarity occurred just outside of Ziwa’s outermost fence. As our driver/guide Robert was filling out the registration paperwork for our vehicle to enter the sanctuary, one of the guards strode up the passenger side of the vehicle and asked Marco, one of our Italian traveling companions who was sitting in the front seat, whether he was “ready to see the rhinos?” Not speaking more than a few words of English (and being the lone smoker amongst our group), Marco replied back, emphatically stating, “Yes, cigarettes!” As we all erupted into laughter, the guard looked on disgusted, stating, “No, I was asking you if you were ready to see the rhinos.” Eventfully one of the other Italians translated this for Marco, who then showed the appropriate level of enthusiasm for getting out to see the rhinos … and smoking a few cigarettes.
² Moreover, as part of an anti-poaching effort, a rotating group of armed guards stay with the rhinos 24 hours per day.