Feeding the Rhino It has been awhile since I've been able to write something for the blog. My work has been keeping me extremely busy the past few weeks with little promise of it letting up anytime soon. The good thing about my work is I still get to travel quite a bit. I spent a week in between Entebbe and Kampala, Uganda. I made a stop in Kenya for a couple days on my way home. It was my second trip to Kenya and I still didn't get around to see much of the country. Fortunately my extended time in Uganda made up for some of it.
Uganda is a land locked country, unless you count Lake Victoria. Lake Victoria is Africa's largest lake and the largest tropical lake in the world and it indirectly feeds much of the water for the Nile river. Uganda gained independence from Britain on 09 October 1962, so much of the country is English speaking with a little Swahili. The old Tanzanian joke that the Swahili language was born in Tanzania, died in Kenya, and was buried in Uganda seems to hold true. The farther you get from Tanzania the less Swahili is spoken and it seems Tanzanians will take offense to the Swahili spoken outside of their country. I imagine it is the same issue with someone from NYC trying to have a conversation with someone from the hills of Georgia. Sure it's the same language, but neither can understand each other.
The Entebbe zoo or Wildlife Education Center offers a behind the scenes tour in which you can feed several of the animals and you get an up close look at them. We were able to feed giraffe, elephant, and rhinos among other animals. It was the first time I was able to be so close and touch some of the animals. The Rhino felt softer than the elephant which I thought was a little surprising. If you're going to this zoo and have an extra $60, I strongly suggest doing the behind the scenes tour. It's another way to help them with funding for care of the animals and they can use all the help they can get. It sounds crazy, but Henry and James, our guides, were telling us they have problems with poachers sometimes even in the zoo. They have security guards near the rhino just to keep poachers from getting to them for their horns.
While we were in Uganda we stayed at the Speke resort which is a beautiful area right along the banks of Lake Victoria. They have a pool, marina, tennis courts, equestrian center, and many other things to occupy your time. I didn't have much time for most of those amenities, but the grounds and rooms were very well done.
Since the Kenya portion was so short I don't have much to say about those couple days. We went to Nairobi for a night then traveled north to stay at the Mount Kenya Safari Club. I will say, this is the nicest place I have stayed. It is right on the edge of Mt. Kenya with amazing views in the morning before the weather starts forming around the 17,057' peak. There are multiple locations around the club to partake in a Safari, climb the mountain or many other things. They even have a hedge grove maze near the main building. It is ridiculously nice. I hope to make my way back there soon.
Uganda is a land locked country, unless you count Lake Victoria. Lake Victoria is Africa's largest lake and the largest tropical lake in the world and it indirectly feeds much of the water for the Nile river. Uganda gained independence from Britain on 09 October 1962, so much of the country is English speaking with a little Swahili. The old Tanzanian joke that the Swahili language was born in Tanzania, died in Kenya, and was buried in Uganda seems to hold true. The farther you get from Tanzania the less Swahili is spoken and it seems Tanzanians will take offense to the Swahili spoken outside of their country. I imagine it is the same issue with someone from NYC trying to have a conversation with someone from the hills of Georgia. Sure it's the same language, but neither can understand each other.
The Entebbe zoo or Wildlife Education Center offers a behind the scenes tour in which you can feed several of the animals and you get an up close look at them. We were able to feed giraffe, elephant, and rhinos among other animals. It was the first time I was able to be so close and touch some of the animals. The Rhino felt softer than the elephant which I thought was a little surprising. If you're going to this zoo and have an extra $60, I strongly suggest doing the behind the scenes tour. It's another way to help them with funding for care of the animals and they can use all the help they can get. It sounds crazy, but Henry and James, our guides, were telling us they have problems with poachers sometimes even in the zoo. They have security guards near the rhino just to keep poachers from getting to them for their horns.
While we were in Uganda we stayed at the Speke resort which is a beautiful area right along the banks of Lake Victoria. They have a pool, marina, tennis courts, equestrian center, and many other things to occupy your time. I didn't have much time for most of those amenities, but the grounds and rooms were very well done.
Since the Kenya portion was so short I don't have much to say about those couple days. We went to Nairobi for a night then traveled north to stay at the Mount Kenya Safari Club. I will say, this is the nicest place I have stayed. It is right on the edge of Mt. Kenya with amazing views in the morning before the weather starts forming around the 17,057' peak. There are multiple locations around the club to partake in a Safari, climb the mountain or many other things. They even have a hedge grove maze near the main building. It is ridiculously nice. I hope to make my way back there soon.
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