African Safari Trails · Travel Guide
Rhino tracking in Uganda happens in just one place, the Ziwa Rhino and Wildlife Ranch, where you walk on foot with rangers to find southern white rhinos at close range, the only wild rhinos left in the country. African Safari Trails arranges the tracking at Ziwa, with the ranger fee and the trek folded into a Murchison Falls trip. Ziwa lies about three hours north of Kampala on the road to Murchison, a fenced ranch run for rhino conservation.
Rhinos were wiped out in Uganda decades ago, shot out during the years of war and poaching, with the last wild one gone by the early 1980s. Ziwa exists to bring them back. Since the first animals arrived in 2005, the herd of southern white rhinos has grown steadily and now numbers more than forty, and tracking them on foot is both a rare wildlife outing and a direct contribution to that recovery. It is also the piece that completes a Ugandan big five. African Safari Trails books the trek as a stop on the northern route.
A rhino tracking visit starts at the ranger post with a short briefing on how to behave around the animals. Rangers monitor the rhinos around the clock and know roughly where each group is, so you may drive part way to cut the distance before setting out on foot across the savanna and bush to find them.
Once you reach a group you stay at a safe distance of around six to seven metres, watching them graze and rest for up to an hour, with plenty of time for photographs. The ground is flat and the walking easy, which makes this one of the more relaxed and family friendly wildlife activities in Uganda. African Safari Trails arranges the ranger, the trek and the timing.
The animals you track are southern white rhinos, the larger, broad lipped grazing rhino, brought to Ziwa from Kenya and even a pair from a wildlife park in the United States to found the herd. They are placid by nature, far less aggressive than the black rhino, and tend to move away rather than charge, which is what makes approaching them on foot safe under a ranger’s guidance.
Being out of the vehicle changes everything: you hear the breathing, feel the size of an animal that weighs more than a car, and watch a calf shadow its mother across the grass. Sometimes two groups are close enough to see more than one. African Safari Trails sets the trek for the cooler morning or late afternoon when the rhinos are most active.
The main event, on foot with rangers to within about seven metres of wild southern white rhinos, the only ones in Uganda. Up to an hour with them.
An early morning walk and canoe through the Lugogo swamp in search of the prehistoric shoebill, one of Africa’s most wanted birds.
Over 300 species across savanna, woodland and wetland, with the shoebill the star and water birds, weavers and raptors throughout.
Guided day and after dark walks turn up smaller mammals, nocturnal species and the wider life of the ranch beyond the rhinos.
Ziwa is as much a conservation project as a wildlife site, run by a rhino fund together with the wildlife authority on a former cattle ranch turned over to the animals. After both of Uganda’s native rhino species were lost to war and poaching, the project reintroduced southern white rhinos in 2005, starting with a handful from Kenya and a donated pair from abroad.
The herd has bred steadily to more than forty, and the long term aim is to build the numbers up and one day return rhinos to the national parks they once roamed. Because the project relies on visitor income rather than government funding, your tracking fee goes straight into protecting the animals. African Safari Trails explains how the visit supports the work.
A rhino trek at Ziwa is the piece that finishes a Ugandan big five. The savanna parks already hold lion, leopard, elephant and buffalo, so a game drive and boat cruise in Murchison Falls covers four of the five, and the rhino at Ziwa, conveniently on the road to Murchison, completes the set.
That position, roughly halfway between Kampala and the park, is why most people fold Ziwa into the drive north rather than visiting it on its own. African Safari Trails builds the rhino stop into the Murchison leg so the big five comes together without a special detour.
A shoebill tracking safari is Ziwa’s other prize, in the Lugogo swamp that fringes the ranch. The trip sets out early on foot and by canoe through the wetland channels in search of the shoebill, the huge, still, shoe billed swamp bird that tops most birders’ lists, and Ziwa is one of the more reliable places to find it.
Because the activity starts at first light and the gates open a little later, an overnight stay on the ranch helps you catch it. Sightings are good but never promised, since the bird hides in the reeds. African Safari Trails arranges the canoe trip and an overnight so you can do it properly.
Beyond the rhinos and the shoebill, Ziwa rewards a longer stay. It is a strong bird watching site, with over three hundred species across its savanna, woodland and wetland, on four birding trails and from the canoe. Guided nature walks introduce the smaller mammals and the plants, and the ranch holds antelope, hippo, crocodile and monkeys alongside the rhinos.
After dark, a guided night walk picks out nocturnal animals and the sounds of the bush that the daytime hides. These activities turn a quick stopover into a worthwhile day or two. African Safari Trails can add the walks and birding to a rhino visit.
Ziwa can be visited all year, and the rhinos are found in every season, but the drier months thin the bush and make the tracking easier and the walking drier underfoot. The wetter months green the ranch and lift the birdlife, at the cost of muddier trails.
A dry window with thinner bush, easier rhino spotting and comfortable walking. A good time to combine Ziwa with a Murchison safari.
The other dry spell, warm and good for both rhino tracking and birding, with firm trails across the ranch.
The wetter months. Greener country and the best birding around the Lugogo swamp, with muddier trails for the rhino trek.
Ziwa sits in the Nakasongola district of central Uganda, about 176 kilometres and roughly three hours north of Kampala on the Gulu highway, around halfway to Murchison Falls, and only about an hour from Masindi. The good tarmac means no special vehicle is needed, and the gates open from the morning until early evening.
Most travellers visit on the drive to or from Murchison rather than as a day trip from Kampala, which would mean a very long day on the road. There is a lodge and a campsite on the ranch for those staying over, especially for the early shoebill. African Safari Trails maps Ziwa into the northern route and books the stop and any overnight.
Rhino tracking currently costs in the region of 50 US dollars per person for foreign non residents, with lower rates for foreign residents and East African citizens, and the fee goes directly toward the rhino conservation project. The shoebill trek and canoe, guided nature walks and night walks each carry their own separate fee, and accommodation on the ranch is extra. African Safari Trails folds these into the trip price and confirms the current rates, since they are reviewed from time to time.
Only at Ziwa, the Ziwa Rhino and Wildlife Ranch, which is the single place in the country to see rhinos in the wild after they were lost to poaching and war decades ago. A small number of rhinos also live at the Uganda Wildlife Education Centre in Entebbe, but that is an enclosure rather than wild tracking. For the real experience on foot, Ziwa is the place. African Safari Trails books the Ziwa trek.
Yes. The southern white rhinos at Ziwa are placid grazers that prefer to move away rather than charge, and trained rangers lead every trek, keeping you at a safe distance of around six to seven metres with a clear exit. It is one of the calmer, more family friendly wildlife activities in Uganda. Following the ranger’s instructions is all that is asked. African Safari Trails uses the ranch’s own trained ranger guides.
The trek usually takes one to two hours depending on where the rhinos are, on flat, easy ground, sometimes after a short drive to reduce the walking. It is not strenuous and suits most ages and fitness levels, including families. You spend up to an hour with the rhinos once you find them. African Safari Trails sets the timing for the cooler, more active hours.
Yes, and most people do, since Ziwa sits about halfway along the road from Kampala to Murchison Falls. Tracking the rhino at Ziwa adds the fifth member of the big five to the lion, leopard, elephant and buffalo of Murchison, all on one northern loop. It works as a morning or afternoon stop in either direction. African Safari Trails builds it into the Murchison leg.
It is worth it if you want the shoebill as well as the rhinos, since the shoebill trek starts at first light before the day gate opens. An overnight lets you track rhinos one afternoon and the shoebill the next dawn, and the ranch has a lodge and a campsite. If you only want the rhinos, a stop on the drive north is enough. African Safari Trails can arrange either.
Fitting Ziwa into the drive north, deciding whether to stay over for the shoebill and timing the trek for the active hours all go more smoothly with someone who knows the route, so the stop adds to your trip rather than rushing it. African Safari Trails has spent years building the Ziwa rhino trek into Murchison Falls safaris and the wider list of things to do in Uganda, working with the ranch’s rangers and supporting the conservation work your fee funds. They will tell you plainly what to expect and how to combine it, and the booking, timing and logistics are handled quietly in the background.
Want a proper quote, or just a steer on slotting Ziwa into a northern Uganda safari? Reach out to African Safari Trails and a real person gets back to you.
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