Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary

Uganda’s rhinos were gone by the early 1980s, victims of the poaching and chaos of the Amin and civil-war years – both the black rhino of the north and the northern white rhino of the West Nile. Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary, established near Nakitoma in 2005, is the project bringing them back: a fenced and intensively guarded 70-square-kilometre reserve where an initial handful of southern white rhino, donated from Kenya and a US zoo, has grown through births and careful management to a herd of more than thirty. It is the only place in the country where you can see rhino in the wild, and because you track them on foot, it is one of the most exciting wildlife encounters in Uganda.

The story of the sanctuary

Ziwa is run by Rhino Fund Uganda in partnership with the Uganda Wildlife Authority, on private ranch land chosen for its grass, water and central location. The founding animals arrived in 2005 and 2006; the first Ugandan-born calf, named Obama for his Kenyan-American parentage, followed in 2009. Every rhino is monitored around the clock by armed rangers who each stay with an individual animal day and night, which is why there has not been a single poaching loss. The long-term plan is to build a population large enough to restock Uganda’s national parks, most likely Murchison itself.

Rhino tracking on foot

Tracking is done on foot, in a small group, with a ranger and a guide who use radio and the monitoring teams to locate the animals. Walks usually last one to two hours over flat, easy ground through open woodland and grassland, and typically bring you within ten to twenty metres of a group – often a female with a calf – resting in the shade or grazing in the open. Southern white rhino are grazers and relatively placid, and the guides know each animal’s name and temperament, so the encounter is calm and close. Success is effectively guaranteed. Wear closed shoes and neutral colours, move quietly and follow the ranger’s instructions on where to stand.

The other animals

Ziwa is more than rhino. The sanctuary protects Uganda’s largest population of the shy sitatunga antelope in its swamps, along with oribi, bushbuck, reedbuck, waterbuck, hippo, and a healthy population of Nile crocodile and monitor lizards. Leopard and hyena are present. The night is loud with bushbabies and nightjars. None of this is on the scale of a national park, but the mix, in a small and accessible area, makes Ziwa a genuinely interesting wildlife stop rather than just a rhino zoo.

Birding and the shoebill

With more than 300 species recorded, Ziwa is a strong birding site, and its swamp gives a good chance of the shoebill – stalked on a guided canoe trip through the papyrus, a completely different setting from Murchison’s delta and often an easier, closer encounter. Other specialities include the white-crested turaco, various weavers and widowbirds, the odd Palearctic migrant, and a good range of raptors over the grassland. A dedicated bird walk or the shoebill canoe can be added to the rhino tracking to fill a morning.

Night walks and other activities

Beyond rhino tracking, Ziwa offers a guided night walk with spotlights for nocturnal species – bushbaby, genet, white-tailed mongoose, nightjars, and sometimes leopard – and guided nature walks focused on the smaller wildlife, the plants and the ecology of the sanctuary. The shoebill canoe trip on the swamp is the other headline activity. All are booked at the entrance gate and carry their own fees on top of the rhino-tracking charge.

Amuka Safari Lodge

Amuka Safari Lodge, inside the sanctuary, is the only accommodation on site, a comfortable lodge of cottages and safari tents with a pool and a restaurant. Staying overnight is the way to get the most from Ziwa: it lets you track rhino in the soft light and cool air of early morning or late afternoon, rather than at midday, and to do the night walk and the shoebill canoe without rushing. There is also a simple guesthouse and a campsite at the sanctuary headquarters for tighter budgets.

How it fits your safari

Because Ziwa lies directly on the Kampala-Gulu highway, roughly halfway to Murchison, it is almost always built into a Murchison trip. The commonest pattern is a two-hour stop on the drive north – arrive mid-morning, track rhino, have lunch, continue to the park – or the reverse on the way back. Travellers who want the rhino experience at its best, or who would rather not do Kampala to Murchison in one long push, spend a night at Amuka and track at dawn. Either way it adds the one large mammal Murchison itself lacks.

Practicalities and fees

Ziwa charges a rhino-tracking fee per person that goes directly to Rhino Fund Uganda and the sanctuary’s running costs – it is separate from any national park fee and is usually built into your safari quote. The shoebill canoe, night walk and nature walks each carry their own smaller charge. Tracking groups are kept small, and children are welcome, which makes Ziwa a good stop for families. Wear closed shoes, long trousers and muted colours, bring water and a hat, and expect to walk one to three kilometres depending on where the rhinos are that day. The sanctuary is open daily and the last tracking usually sets out in the late afternoon.

When to go

Rhino tracking runs year round, morning and afternoon. The animals and the walking are most comfortable outside the midday heat, so an early or late slot is better if you have the choice. The tracks stay passable in the rains, though a heavy downpour can make the walk muddy and the grass shoulder-high. Booking ahead is sensible in the July-to-September and December-to-February high seasons, when the Murchison traffic is heaviest and the lodge fills.

Combining it with Murchison Falls

Ziwa sits directly on the road between Kampala and Murchison, roughly halfway, so it is the standard first or last stop on almost every Murchison itinerary – rhino tracking on foot takes one to two hours and adds no travel day. Staying overnight at the on-site lodge lets you track at dawn or dusk, when the animals are most active.

Planning a combined Uganda trip

Uganda is compact by African standards but its roads are slow, so a trip that pairs Murchison Falls with the parks to the south and west is usually a week or more, moving in a loop rather than backtracking through Kampala. Murchison sits at the northern end of the classic circuit; from there most itineraries work south through Kibale Forest for chimpanzees, Queen Elizabeth for the Kazinga Channel and the savanna, and Bwindi or Mgahinga for mountain gorillas, returning via Lake Mburo. Internal flights link Entebbe with airstrips near several of these parks and can save a day or two of driving on a shorter trip. We plan the routing, the drive times, the park fees and the permits as one package.

Good to know

Road conditions and transfer times in this part of Uganda change with the season and with roadworks, so we confirm the current route and timings before you travel rather than relying on a fixed figure. Park and activity fees are set by the Uganda Wildlife Authority in US dollars and are reviewed periodically; gorilla and chimpanzee permits are booked separately and well ahead, and the figure in your quote is the one confirmed for your exact travel dates. A yellow-fever certificate is required to enter Uganda, malaria prophylaxis is recommended for the whole country, and travel insurance is a condition of booking. Pack neutral-coloured layers for cool mornings and hot afternoons, a hat and high-factor sunscreen, binoculars, insect repellent, a light rain jacket and closed walking shoes.

When to visit

Uganda is a year-round destination that sits on the equator, so temperatures vary little through the year and it is the rain that shapes the seasons. The drier months – roughly June to September and December to February – give the firmest roads and tracks, the most concentrated game viewing and the easiest forest trekking, and are the busiest for lodges and permits. The wetter months – March to May and October to November – are greener and quieter, with the best birding as migrants arrive, lower lodge rates, and dramatic skies, in exchange for heavy afternoon showers and the occasional muddy road. There is no bad time to visit; the right time depends on what you want to do.

How we plan and guide it

Every trip we run is private and tailored – your own vehicle, your own driver-guide, and an itinerary built around your dates, your pace and what you most want to see, rather than a fixed departure. Our guides are Ugandan, have driven these routes and tracked these animals for years, and stay with you for the whole trip, which means the plan can flex on the ground when the wildlife or the weather does. We handle the park fees, the gorilla and chimpanzee permits, the lodge bookings, the internal flights and the airport transfers as one package, and we are contactable around the clock while you travel. Tell us roughly when you want to come, how long you have and the lodge level you have in mind, and we will turn it into a clear day-by-day plan and an itemised quote.

Keep exploring

Read our guide to Murchison Falls National Park, browse our Murchison Falls safaris, see where to stay, or look through the rest of our Uganda destinations. When you are ready to plan, use the form below and a planner who has travelled these routes will reply within 24 hours with a tailored day-by-day itinerary and a clear, itemised quote.