TRIP TO ZIWA RHINO SANCTUARY

The Woods'

The Grundy's

The locals are allowed to graze their cattle during the day because the grass is so plentiful.

On Monday, our preparation day, we went to the ZIWA Rhino Sanctuary with the Grundy's, the other missionary couple in Northern Uganda.  They are in Lira, which is 2 1/2 hours away from Gulu.

We had seen the signs for the Rhino Sanctuary on our way to and from Kampala and decided to check it out.

Due to the civil unrest in the 1970's, rhinos were poached to extinction.  Rhino horns fetch a high price on world markets where they are sold to be made mostly into Chinese medicines.  The latest rhino in Uganda was seen in 1983.  Rhino's were reintroduced back into Uganda in 2001.  In 2004, the ZIWA sanctuary was established.  Four white rhino's were translocated from Kenya in 2005.  Two more were brought from Disney Animal Kingdom in Orlando, Florida and arrived in 2006.  With the successful breeding program, the sanctuary now has 10 free roaming white rhino's.

Armed Rangers visually observe the rhinos every hour of every day and night to protect them from poachers.

ZIWA is the home to the White Rhino which lives entirely on grass, of which there is an abundance in the sanctuary.  There is one other species of rhino in Africa--the Black Rhino but these live by browsing on trees and bushes, and this species is not found in ZIWA.  The white rhino differs from the Black rhino in a number of physical ways.  The white rhino has a square mouth, as opposed to the Black's hooked-lipped mouth.  The name White is derived from the Dutch word "wijd" meaning wide, referring to the White Rhino's wide mouth.  The White rhino is larger and heavier than the Black and has a pronounced muscular hump at the top of its neck in order that it can raise it's massive head.

The white rhino is not aggressive by nature.  They would rather run away than have an encounter.  Humans are their main predator.  Black rhino's are less tolerant of humans.  They will charge if their personal space is invaded.  White rhino's are nonetheless capable of aggression when they feel threatened.  We were given instructions on how to climb a tree or stand behind a large tree if they were threatened by our presence.

It was a beautiful hike of about 30 minutes through the bush from where we had to park our vehicle to find them and was an amazing and exciting experience to be right there with them.

Opio was our guide

 

This one is named OBAMA because his father is from Kenya and his mother is from America.
He is 17 months old.

Which way did they go?

This one got about 15 feet from us.  We were about to scatter when we realized he wasn't paying any attention to us.

This one weights 3000 kilos .
He looks red because he's been rolling in the mud and dirt.

The north end of a southbound rhino.

One of the armed rangers who follow the rhino's

The other ranger

This hole in the ground is an Aardvark (Anteater) den.  The opening is about 16 inches in diameter.
 They are very seldom seen because they are nocturnal .  We saw a lot of dens while we were looking for rhino.

We had lunch while we were here.  It was one of the best meals we've had.  It was a great day!

We took some interesting pictures on the way home.  Here they are.

We saw more baboons.

A roadside acrobat.  We dropped a coin out the window for him and it went down his shorts.

There were a lot of well kept beautiful gardens near the sanctuary.

A truck being repaired in the middle of the road.  We passed it on our way to the Sanctuary
and it was still there on our way home.

This one had a more serious problem.  It may still be there the next time we travel that way.


Why says life isn't exciting in Uganda?!!!