Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary

Uganda's rhino were entirely wiped out by the early 1980s. Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary, established on private land about 170 kilometres north of Kampala, is the reintroduction project that brought them back, and it remains the only place in the country where rhino can be seen. The sanctuary holds a growing population of southern white rhino across roughly 70 square kilometres of grassland and woodland, protected around the clock by rangers who monitor each animal. Visitors track them on foot with those rangers, approaching to a safe distance — an experience quite different from viewing rhino from a vehicle, and one that makes the sanctuary a natural and worthwhile break on the long drive north to Murchison Falls.

Why visit Ziwa

• The only place in Uganda where rhino can be seen, following their complete local extinction.
• Tracking on foot with the rangers who monitor the animals, rather than viewing from a vehicle.
• A natural and genuinely useful break on the long road between Kampala and Murchison Falls.
• Shoebill tracking in the sanctuary's swamp, for those with time and interest.

Wildlife

Southern white rhino are the entire point. The sanctuary also holds Uganda kob, oribi, bushbuck, waterbuck and a good range of birds including, in the wetland areas, the shoebill.

• Southern white rhino tracked on foot
• Shoebill in the sanctuary wetlands
• Uganda kob, oribi and bushbuck

Best time to visit

Year-round. Tracking is on foot, so the drier months make for easier walking.

Year-round; drier months are easier underfoot.

Things to do

Rhino tracking on foot

A guided walk with the sanctuary rangers to approach the rhino safely.

Shoebill tracking

A canoe and walking excursion into the sanctuary swamp, arranged separately.

Guided nature walks

Birding and general walks through the sanctuary grassland and woodland.

How long to stay

Usually a two- to three-hour stop rather than an overnight, timed to break the drive between Kampala and Murchison Falls. Some itineraries overnight here to shorten the following day.

What it combines with

Ziwa is almost always visited en route to Murchison Falls on the longer Uganda circuits.