Saturday, April 18, 2015

This is a Mama Rhino with her baby.

Today we had a real treat- a trip to the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary.  Uganda used to have Rhinos in Murchison Falls Park quite a long time ago but they were poached and became extinct from Uganda.  Since early the early 2000’s, the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary has been harboring Rhinos and trying to grow a new herd that can eventually be released back into the wild.  The sanctuary is quite large- 70 km squared- and the Rhinos have the full run of the area.  Today we really had to trek into to see them but the 30min hike was richly rewarded was great – we got to see 2 different families and a total of 8 Rhinos. Also, usually they are quiet and lying around in the shade during the heat of the day but today, they were pretty active. Even the Ranger Guide said it was unusual to see them moving around and grazing during the day.  We also saw the famous baby born on site called, Obama. Named because his Mom is from the USA and the Father is from Kenya.

The group and our Ranger Guides. Notice Sam, our driver in the far left corner. He is always afraid of the Rhinos and although he loves to come along and see them, he is really cautious and always stands near a tree. I think he has heard of the Rhinos attacking people in the past.

This is a real cowboy herding the Ankole Cattle along the road. He was very happy to pose for this picture.