My Uganda safari Experience
Tanzania Safari Blog
31st Dec 2021
28 Dec 2021
was the first day of activities of my trip to Uganda. I arrived early here on the 26th of Dec, the reason being to relax before the trip where I had the opportunity to visit Kampala and enjoy local lunch there. Thank you Isolde Nowak for such an experience. Yesterday 28 Dec was the first day of real activities in Uganda.
After breakfast, Jones took me to Entebbe botanical garden where I had the opportunity to walk there for two hours. It is a great place to calm down, you will see a variety of monkeys including monkeys with red tails and those with whitetails. Various birds were seen everywhere.
Native trees that I have never seen anywhere also adorned this garden. The walk ended at the shores of Lake Victoria where I enjoyed the breeze and the waves. At noon our friendly driver Maverick who is very fun drove us back to the Secrets Guest House to meet our fellow group members for an afternoon activity which was to see the Shoebill stork birds.
A little about Shoebill Stork birds
The shoebill stork can be sighted in different areas in Uganda including Mabamba swamp along lake Victoria close to Entebbe or Kampala where we visited and in this area ig believed to be a home of only 12 shoebill storks. Also you can see them in other places in Uganda like Murchison falls national park along the banks of the Nile River in the Delta area, Ishasha sector in the southern end of Lake Edward in Queen Elizabeth national park, Lugogo swamp in Ziwa Rhino sanctuary and close to Lake Albert in Semliki National Park. Also they can be found in Lake Mburo National Park and in Nabajuzi swamps in Masaka district. Uganda is the best destination in Africa for shoebill sightseeing.
Apart from seeing these beautiful and unique birds in Uganda, you can have a chance to see them as well in Kenya, South-Western Ethiopia, the upper Congo River, Cameroon, Sudan, and Zambia. In Western Tanzania as well you can spot the shoebill stork.
The Journey to see the Shoebill Stork birds.
Shoebill storks lives in freshwater swamps, so it was necessary to use the small local boats to reach them. We started a short walk to the lake victoria from Secrets guest house. Upon arrival we took a wooden local boats and after 45 minutes of boat safari on the lake we stopped and changed the boats and took smaller boats that are easier to penetrate into the swamps. The beautiful water lily flowers on the swamp made our journey even more beautiful without forgetting other beautiful birds like pied King fisher, yellow billed ducks, African jacana, Purple swamp hen, yellow heron, malachite kingfisher and many more.
The young captains were careful to make sure we went everywhere looking for Shoebill stork. It was not easy and after three hours we met the first shoebill who made our trip complete. We returned to Secrets for dinner and overnight. This was the end of day one safari in Uganda. Keep on reading, travel with me.
29th Dec 2021
Drive from Entebbe to Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary
Easy breakfast then departed to Ziwa Rhino sanctuary via Kampala. From entebe to Kampala it is 50km but we used express bypass to avoid traffic.
We stopped at Luwero in Central region where we bought fruits for our picnic. George our safari guide is the best pineapple cutter.
Uganda is blessed with a very fertile land and agriculture is everything here. Name it all Banana, maize, beans potatoes and soo many are all cultivated in here. The country is all green and I can 100% compare it with Bukoba region in Tanzania.
Schools are still closed for 2 years now since Covid started. It is sad to see the children being home for such a long time. When I think of girls I am more worried as some of them might have become mothers then the chance to proceed with their studies is minimal.
So far the government has announced to open all schools in January. Since Museveni is a great president, I hope he will have special arrangements for those girls who are now mothers or soon they will be. Leaving a girl behind is leaving the whole nation without hopes.
Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary
Uganda’s Only Home Of Rhinos In The Wild
Ziwa Rhino sanctuary is located in Nakasongola district and it is the proud home of the only wild white rhinos in Uganda. The Rhino re-introduction project was a project of Rhino Fund Uganda and Uganda Wildlife Authority. After all the Rhinos in Uganda were finished due to poaching, the re introduction of Rhino started around 20 years ago. The first 2 Rhino for this project came from Kenya, then United States of America donated other 2. At the moment the sanctuary has 32 white rhinos. The youngest is 5 months.
The area is located 176km (100 miles) north of Kampala on the Gulu highway towards Murchison Falls.
Ziwa is the only place where you will be able to see rhinos in the wild. Trekking the Rhino is the best activity here. Imagine that experience. It is not only the home of rhinos, other animals as well, we saw common waterback while in Tanzania we have defassa waterback. Shoebill tracking is also possible at Ziwa sanctuary.
Ziwa rhino sanctuary offers peace and tranquility in beautiful surroundings. There are variety of accommodation options, camping, less expensive bandas, and Lodges. Amuka and Ziwa are among the lodges in the area.
As I have said this day was just driving day. No activities. We arrived at Ziwa around 1730hrs in the evening. And immediately after entering the gate, we saw the first 2 rhinos. Our night happened to be at Amuka Lodge inside the sanctuary, and after check in we had dinner and overnight. Keep reading as Rhino trekking is next…
Nature Responsible Safari is able to book your safari to the amazing Uganda for an unforgettable experience. For bookings, please check our website @www.natureresponsiblesafari.com
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