What to expect when you go rhino trekking at Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary

Getting to Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary

One of the first steps of getting to Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary is to plan and book your rhino trekking safari with a licensed tour operator. Once this is out of the way, you then start the actual journey to Ziwa for the rhino trek.

Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary is one of the best places to go rhino trekking in Uganda and some visitors choose to combine it with a visit to Murchison Falls National Park on a 3-day Murchison tour.

The journey usually starts in Kampala, the capital city of Uganda but if you are in another area in Uganda, your tour operator can still arrange pick up based on location. T

The journey to Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary is usually by road, the road journey gives you an experience of a road trip in Uganda. Of course, a road trip makes for an engaging journey as you drive through the small towns and trading centres of Uganda. The journey from Kampala to Ziwa can take you about 3-4 hours depending on your stop overs along the way. Being an active route, you will have views of Uganda’s countryside which is quite different from Kampala, here you will see the local’s gardens, farms and the small trading centres with shops selling household items, groceries and so much more.

Arrival at Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary

If you leave Kampala in the morning, you will most likely arrive at Ziwa in the mid-morning or early afternoon hours. On arrival at the main gate, you are welcomed by the team at Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary who then leads you to the office where they capture your bio-data details for records. Your guide then drives you to the main starting point for the rhino trek at Ziwa where you meet your ranger guide for the day.

Briefing from your ranger guide

Your ranger guide will introduce themselves to you and then start the briefing. Briefing is such an important step of any wildlife trek because it gives you guidelines on how to behave around the wildlife and in this case that’s the rhinos, the briefing will also give you an overview of the place that you are visiting.

The ranger guide at Ziwa will give you a brief history of Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary, how it started, the population of the rhinos over the years, when it was founded and the conservation work that happens at the sanctuary. The ranger guide will then go ahead to explain the guidelines to follow while on the rhino trek. After the briefing, you start the trek towards the rhinos.

Face to face with the rhinos at Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary

The rhino trek is not as strenuous as other wildlife adventures in Uganda like gorilla trekking and the chimpanzee trekking. This means the walk towards the rhinos takes a shorter time and the vegetation at the sanctuary is not thick  rain forest so you walk through a bushy area that is not as thick. The land at the sanctuary is also relatively flat land so you do not have to hike up a mountainous area as opposed to areas like Bwindi Impenetrable National Park which involve a lot of hiking.

So you walk alongside your ranger guide till you get to the rhinos.

Walking alongside the ranger guide at Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary

Being face to face with the Southern White Rhinos at Ziwa is a feeling that can only be best described by someone who has experienced it before. The moment is special, seeing these endangered species enjoying their time at the sanctuary, feeding, resting under the trees is an adventure that stays with you.

Two rhinos resting under the trees on a sunny afternoon at Ziwa

The rhinos are powerful animals with a large body mass; you get to watch them exist in the sanctuary. Some will be feeding, others just relaxing on a hot afternoon under the trees while others will be moving around the sanctuary.

A rhino at Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary

You are allowed to spend one hour with the rhinos, watching them and taking photos if you would like. After this one hour, you then walk back to the starting point where you end your rhino trek.

The starting point has a visitor’s center with a section where you can look at pictures of the rhinos that have spent their years at the sanctuary, the pictures include details about these rhinos, their parents, when they were born and their names. An example is a rhino named Donna, whose mother was Bella, the rhino was born on 10^th January 2012 and she is 13 years of age. The display at the visitor’s center includes details of other rhinos as well.

After ending your rhino trek, you then head to Murchison Falls National Park for your wildlife safari or head back to Kampala if you are doing the 1-day Ziwa rhino trekking tour.

How to prepare for rhino trekking and what to wear for rhino trekking

One of the main things that you have to prepare for when going rhino trekking in Uganda is what to pack or wear. So, for what to wear we recommend you pack long sleeved shirt, long pants, hiking boots/closed shoes, drinking water, a sun hat and insect repellent.

The preferable colors for the clothes that you pack should be khaki, dark neutral green or safari style colors. The reason for these colors is because they will help you blend with the environment while on the trek and also protect you from tsetse flies, colors like black are not recommended because they attract tsetse flies and you would like to avoid being bitten by the flies.

Rhino trekking Ziwa cost

PS: Please note that for foreigners living in East Africa, a valid work permit is required.

Ready to get started on your rhino trekking safari? Send us an email here: info@56africatours.com