February 25, 2013
We packed up to leave and eat breakfast. We were supposed to leave at 8 am but 4 of the young Aussies enjoyed themselves until about 2 am so I heard. On the way back to Kampala we were to have lunch and stop by the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary. We stopped at the restaurant and ordered our food for later and then arrived at the Sanctuary about noon. Not my idea to choose the hottest part of day to walk through the bush in search of rhinos. We signed in and our guide led us to the area where some of the rhinos were located. At present there are 12 white rhinos (though not actually white, has something to do with their mouth). They have a baby rhino who is about 1 year old that I fortunately got a picture of nursing with his mother. To nurse the mother stands up and the baby lays down under her. One young 3 year old rhino is named Obama because its mother was from the US and its father was from Kenya. (Can't make this stuff up) Since it was the middle of the day the rhinos that we visited, 4 of them, were all resting under a big tree. We circled the tree to try and get good pictures and were fortunate enough that one stood to stretch his legs and then laid back down. Then after 30 minutes of whining by the baby, the mother got up so the baby could nurse. Enjoyable 1 hour but pricey for $40 but which was included in my Big 5 Tour price. The money is used to protect the rhinos and they are under 24 hr. surveillance to ensure no poachers get to them. They also use some of the funds for a children's school and for abused women. So while pricey, at least it is being used for good causes. We were only about 15 feet from them and given instructions to climb a tree if they got up quickly.
We packed up to leave and eat breakfast. We were supposed to leave at 8 am but 4 of the young Aussies enjoyed themselves until about 2 am so I heard. On the way back to Kampala we were to have lunch and stop by the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary. We stopped at the restaurant and ordered our food for later and then arrived at the Sanctuary about noon. Not my idea to choose the hottest part of day to walk through the bush in search of rhinos. We signed in and our guide led us to the area where some of the rhinos were located. At present there are 12 white rhinos (though not actually white, has something to do with their mouth). They have a baby rhino who is about 1 year old that I fortunately got a picture of nursing with his mother. To nurse the mother stands up and the baby lays down under her. One young 3 year old rhino is named Obama because its mother was from the US and its father was from Kenya. (Can't make this stuff up) Since it was the middle of the day the rhinos that we visited, 4 of them, were all resting under a big tree. We circled the tree to try and get good pictures and were fortunate enough that one stood to stretch his legs and then laid back down. Then after 30 minutes of whining by the baby, the mother got up so the baby could nurse. Enjoyable 1 hour but pricey for $40 but which was included in my Big 5 Tour price. The money is used to protect the rhinos and they are under 24 hr. surveillance to ensure no poachers get to them. They also use some of the funds for a children's school and for abused women. So while pricey, at least it is being used for good causes. We were only about 15 feet from them and given instructions to climb a tree if they got up quickly.
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