Uganda lost its rhinos to poaching and civil conflict by the 1980s, and Ziwa exists to reverse that, one generation at a time. Southern white rhinos were reintroduced here from Kenya and Disney’s Animal Kingdom starting in 2005, and the sanctuary now protects a growing, closely monitored population as a step toward eventual reintroduction into Uganda’s national parks proper.
The visit itself is simple and effective: a ranger-led walk on foot, tracking a specific rhino or small group by radio signal from their tracking collars, closing to a respectful distance on open ground rather than from a vehicle. It is, at the time of writing, the only place in Uganda to see a rhino at all, and doing it on foot rather than through a windscreen is a different kind of encounter than a game drive delivers.
Ziwa sits directly on the route between Kampala and Murchison Falls, which is largely why it gets visited — an hour or two added to a drive that most travellers are already making, rather than a separate trip in its own right.
Half a day covers it comfortably: the tracking walk itself runs one to two hours depending on where the rhinos have wandered, easily folded into a Murchison Falls itinerary without adding a night.
Park entry fees and gorilla and chimp permits in Uganda are set by the Uganda Wildlife Authority.
