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Published: January 5th 2014
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Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary
Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary is a wildlife reserve dedicated to preserve rhinoceros Wanted: A guide to Kampala historical buildings
I started the trip in Uganda in Hoima and worked my way back to Kampala from there. However, many places in Uganda can be seen as day trips or excursions from Kampala.
One place I saw as a day trip from Kampala was Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary, a wildlife reserve dedicated to preserve rhinoceros aka rhinos. Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary is not far from Hoima where I was the first two days I was in Uganda. I therefore thought about seeing it while I was in Hoima. But the lack of public transport between Hoima and Ziwa and the condition of the roads made it much easier to visit the rhino sanctuary from Kampala.
Rhinos all over the world are hunted for their horns. The horns are sold for a higher price per kilo than gold, and knowing that it is no longer hard to understand why poachers hunt rhinos so fiercely that the animals are in danger of becoming extinct. By keeping rhinos in sanctuaries like the one in Ziwa the rhinos stand a much better chance to survive than if they were in the wild. The staff at the sanctuary
Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary
Rhinos all over the world are hunted for their horns follows the animals around 24/7 to protect them. When we visited the park I asked the guide how many rangers that were lurking around in the forest around us. He said they were two rangers for each rhino. So to protect the 13 animals in the sanctuary there are constantly 26 rangers guarding them.
I arrived to Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary by bus. To get from the bus stop to the ranger station I took a motorcycle taxi but to get into the actual park from the ranger station I could not use taxi. In the park a 4 WD is needed. The park rangers have jeeps for rent for a decent price so that was not a problem. The park entry fee and car rental together set me back $60, and that is in my opinion not very much considering how much people that are involved in keeping the animals safe.
This was the first time in my life that I saw rhinos but I hope it won't be the last. I enjoyed seeing them, even though they were very inactive at the time since they were taking a rest while I was there, and I sure wouldn't
Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary
By keeping rhinos in sanctuaries like the one in Ziwa the animals stand a much better chance to survive than if they were in the wild mind doing that again.
Another place that can be visited on a day trip from Kampala is Munsa Earthworks north of Mubende. Munsa Earthworks is an old fortress. However, it doesn’t look like fortresses usually do. Instead of building high walls they made use of some high granite boulders to create their fortress. The boulders were used as a combined shelter, living quarter and lookout. Around the boulders they dug a deep ditch, almost like moat but I don’t think it was ever filled with water, to make it more difficult to mount an attack on the fortress.
Kampala city centre is very close to the equator. Not far from Kampala is a village named Nabusanke and the equator cross right through that village. They have marked the exact position where the equator is and this is a popular stop for people travelling through.
I don’t see that I will get too many chances in my life to take a photo of me with one foot in the northern hemisphere and one foot in the southern so of course I had to go there. The line that shows where the equator is continues into a local restaurant.
Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary
I enjoyed seeing them, even though they were very inactive at the time since they were taking a rest while I was there There it is possible to sit on a chair having one buttock in each hemisphere. I had a cup of coffee sitting in that chair!
As I mentioned in the
previous blog entry Uganda is a republic but within Uganda there are several small monarchies. The largest of these monarchies is Buganda and the republic of Uganda and the monarchy of Buganda share the same capital, Kampala. The royal family of Buganda has their own burial ground, the Kasubi tomb.
The Kasubi tomb was in 2001 added to the UNESCO world heritage list. 9 years later the tomb was partly destroyed when it was ravished by a fire. According to a guide at the site the fire was the work of as arsonist and the reason for setting the tomb on fire was to destabilise the kingdom of Buganda.
Before the Kasubi tomb was the designated area for royal burials the monarchs were buried in other places. The tradition was that when the king died his palace was turned into a tomb and he was buried there. So each king had his own burial site. The last king to get his own tomb was Kabaka Suuna who is buried
Warning for rhinos
Sign in the park that warns for rhinos. They aren't really dangerous but if you get too close to them they might get annoyed in the Wamala tomb a few kilometres away from Kasubi tomb. I went there too hoping to see what a tomb that has not been destroyed by fire looks like. Unfortunately the Wamala tomb was at the time of the visit being renovated, they were replacing the old roof with a new one, so I didn’t get to see that tomb either in the way it is supposed to look.
When I plan a journey travel I use various sources to find what places that are worth visiting. One of them is a US based NGO named World Monument Fund. Their mission is to preserve historic architecture and cultural heritage sites. Every other year World Monument Fund make a list of sites they are going to work with, the watch list. In 2004 they entered Kampala Historic Buildings on the watch list. Since there wasn't much else to see in Kamapala I decided to try to locate two or three of these buildings. I quickly realised that without some kind of guide to these buildings it is too difficult to locate them. I found one, the old railway station, and that was all.
Finally I would mention one
thing about Uganda that I don’t like: the lack of gay rights. In Uganda they have recently tried to change the laws to criminalize homosexuality altogether. On the positive side I can add that the tough laws on homosexual activities are controversial also in Uganda. In a newspaper I read an op-ed that criticized the proposed laws. I also understood that the president is somewhat reluctant to sign the law. For the gay people in Uganda I hope the proposed laws get shelved and never see the light of day again.
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
Great information
Really enjoyed this blog. You've included a lot of valuable information. I'm glad the Rhinos are well cared for. Coffee on the equator...very cool.