Central Region

Today we pick up our hire car and head north, to Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary. This is a huge nature reserve which acts as a shelter for the White Rhinoceros families that are being bred here. Through poaching, the Rhino population was wiped out in Uganda, but efforts are being made by organisations like Ziwa to reintroduce them to the wild.

We planned to camp, but a huge storm is raging across Uganda, so we decide to stay nice and dry in a room. Still, it's a very basic room- a concrete cube with an exposed lightbulb and a broken bed, but we're here for Rhinos, not luxury.

And Rhinos we get. The next morning we wake up early for a guided walk to see them. They don't like the heat, so the best time to see them is just after dawn. We head to the kitchen to grab a quick breakfast, and are amazed to see a small Rhino family settled just next to the building. We're admiring them, when a large male crashes out of the bush and across the children's play area, lumbering between the swings and the slide. "Quickly! Get inside! That one is dangerous!!" cries the kitchen manager, so we run into the kitchen, safe behind fences.

After breakfast, we report for the briefing with the rangers. The one in charge advises us "If a Rhino charges at you, jump up in a tree, but beware of leopards and snakes". We have no idea if he is joking or not.

With a slight sense of trepidation, we walk out to see the Rhino family we watched at breakfast (the male has disappeared into the bush). From a safe distance, and always from behind cover, we watch them feed for a good long while. They're incredible animals- so prehistoric and clumsy that they look more like robots from Jurassic Park than genuine animals.

As the sun comes up, the rhinos seek shade for a snooze, so we head back to HQ. As we come back, another group is gearing up to set off. We feel slightly bad that they will be just seeing sleeping rhinos, mostly hidden in the long grass.

For lunch, we head to the next lodge over, which is for luxury travellers. They have a pool, and have allowed us to use it if we get lunch. And the food is amazing- pasta with pesto and fresh pineapple. Luxury travel does have its benefits.

The next morning, we're up earlier still to track shoebills- one of Africa's most elusive birds, and Katie's favourite animal. We're up before dawn, so the Rhinos are still sleeping, and it just so happens that one of the families is sleeping right next to our car. It's important that we don't startle them, as they may be liable to charge, so the ranger directs us to sneak up to the car and quietly open the doors. We do so, and I even try to start the engine quietly, easing the key slowly in the ignition. It doesn't work, and when the engine roars into life, so do the Rhinos. I reverse cautiously but quickly and get out of there before a charge destroys our rental security deposit.

We drive through the thick mud, quickly so that we don't get mired down, which takes some deft driving to avoid skidding off into the rivers which have formed on the sides of the tracks. Eventually, we arrive at the swamps, and, incredibly, we see not one, but four shoebills.

They're freakish birds- 4 feet tall, with a beak half the size of it's body and sharp enough to cut fish in two. Their huge eyes peer at us while our guide explains how lucky we are- most guests see one bird if they're lucky, and we're watching four.

We leave with a smile as big as one of those disgustingly large beaks.Читать далее