Grey shapes become visible in the swamp, but when nearing them they turn out to be termite hills. We tiptoe on, not easy with our rubber boots in the sticky mud, but we try. Our ranger guide seems very purposeful, so we reckon it can’t be far now.. So Now and then he whispers in his walkie-talkie and someone invisible to us whispers back. He stops and points out a mud wallow where the rhinos apparently spent the last couple of hours.

They must just have left, because the trail disappearing into the bush is still fresh. Suddenly our guide stops, turns towards us and puts a finger to his lips. Yes, we’ll be silent. Have been so ever since we left the car! And then we see them. Four prehistoric-looking giants, dreamily standing in the shade of a tree. So much bigger than I thought they would be! Still we continue moving towards them, but now I make sure I move from tree to tree, as we were told to do, ‘because you never know’! At a safe distance (or so our guide says!) we stop, hiding ourselves behind a bush. The animals don’t have a clue we’re there, or at least they pretend not to. They actually look quite cute. The two males are flanking one female. The other female seems less popular, and later we hear this has been the case for the last two days, with regular fights

between the males about who gets to mount the one female. The animals are still a bit young to be sexually active, but who knows what’s going on. Two armed rangers stand a bit further in the bush and wave at us. We were told the rhinos are monitored 24 hours per day. Not only for protection, but also to learn which areas they like to graze in the 7,000 ha sanctuary. Still they have managed to disappear from under the rangers’ watchful eyes a few times, but due to the transmitters that are implanted in their horns it wasn’t too difficult to find them again.

There is not too much action, only the second female moves a few metres away and now lies down in the grass. The males seem quite content to continue their platonic love affair. After a while, our guide asks us if we have taken enough photos, and when we nod “yes” we slowly retreat in the direction from which we came. I glance back one more time and see four pair of eyes watching us, as in a silent goodbye. Maybe they WERE just pretending not to notice us! Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary is a two-hour drive from Kampala, along the road to Gulu (on the way to Murchison Falls National Park). Rhinos roam freely in an area of 7,000 ha (about twice the size of Mgahinga National Park) of dry combretum savannah, laced with swamps and the cactus-like euphorbia candelabrum trees.

You can track the rhinos, walk and even camp in the bush, visit the information centre and craft shop, enjoy the prize-winning cattle, look out for bush buck, leopard, Uganda kob, oribi, crocodiles, hippo and other wildlife present on the ranch. The bird life is abundant, with even the rare shoebill stork present in the Lugogo Swamps. Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary offers peace and tranquility in beautiful surroundings.

Rhino reintroduction programme

Uganda ’s rhinos became extinct in the early 1980s, after a period of civil unrest and heavy poaching. A sanctuary has now been established to breed black and white rhino, and restore rhino populations in Uganda’s protected areas in a later stage. Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary can house about 50 rhinos. It will take a while before those numbers are reached. Rhinos will have to be imported from other countries so they can take part in Uganda’s breeding programme - a slow process, as rhinos only start breeding between 5 and 7 years of age, and have one calf every 2-3 years on average.

The first four (southern white) rhinos were brought to the sanctuary in July 2005. More rhinos – white and black – are expected later this year. The original plan to restore a population of indigenous Northern White rhino, had to be abolished. The most recent aerial count in Garamba National Park in DRC, home to the last wild population of Northern Whites, counted only two rhinos remaining! Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary is surrounded by a two metre high electric fence – construction took almost one year and brought a lot of employment to local communities. The fence is solar powered and was designed to keep the rhinos inside and poachers outside the sanctuary. Other safety measures are put in place as well to protect the rhinos. A security force – 40 rangers and askaris - patrols the fence, guards the gates and monitors the rhinos 24 hours per day.

All rhinos have a transmitter implanted, so they can be tracked in case they manage to ‘escape’ from the attention of their monitoring rangers!

Kafu River Basin – the area where Ziwa is situated – has suffered a lot from uncontrolled hunting in the last few decades. Herds of buffalo used to graze the swamps and have now disappeared, together with the lion, hyena, hartebeest and other wildlife species. Elephants used to migrate through the area but were translocated to Murchison Falls a few years ago. Now, a year after completion of the electric fence, wildlife numbers within the sanctuary are already rising.

Visitors to Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary can track the rhinos in the company of a ranger-guide. The rhinos spend most of their day in one of the swamps so the last bit will have to be done on foot. Waterproof shoes are recommended! And don’t forget binoculars and a camera. The rhinos are habituated and used to having people around them, but a safe distance will always be kept. Lion, Leopard, Buffalo, Elephant… and now Rhino. After more than two decades, Uganda’s Big Five has been restored! Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary is a not-for-profit project. All income from visitors helps to keep the project running. Sanctuary fees are:

East African residents $10 (children $5), non-residents $20 (children $10), Ugandan citizens Ushs 10,000 (children 5,000/=). Hiring a guide costs $15.

School groups can arrange an educational visit to the sanctuary – free of charge - through Ziwa’s education officer. The sanctuary also runs an outreach education program. Schools all over the country are visited, and students are taught about how to help protect Uganda’s unique biodiversity.

For information on Rhino Fund Uganda, visit www.rhinofund.org or email info@rhinofund.org.