Over Christmas 2019, we crammed our Land Cruiser as full as it could be and drove around Kenya for a month, with a 1-year old and 4-year old. It was epic and it was the most exhausting thing I’ve ever done in my life. Only now, Leo was hooked on camping and begged to go again. So, For Christmastime 2020, we lowered our expectations and set off once again, this time staying within Uganda and this time limiting ourselves to only being gone for 2 weeks. This time, however, there was a fresh excitement because we had endured the insanity that was the year of 2020, including the many intense COVID lock-downs in Uganda, which did not allow private citizens to even drive out of our compounds. Uganda was also facing an election where the young musician, Bobi Wine, faced off against long-time President Museveni.
We headed north. Destination: Karamoja. Our first stop along the way was Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary, where many good and excellent people care for and protect a rhino population that they hope one day to re-introduce to Uganda’s national parks after they were nearly poached to extinction. Upon arrival, we were greeted at the campsite by a family of warthogs. We set up camp and the boys explored the site on their bikes, running across a herd of ankole cattle with their epic long horns.
Leo and I then went on a nature walk with a ranger, first spotting some African hoopoe birds playing the grass and showing off their mohawks. The ranger pointed out all kinds of nature facts along the way, but this was not a rhino trek, so we didn’t count on seeing the rhinos. I had been to Ziwa several times before and had the privilege of spending time with the rhinos, so I didn’t think we needed to set out to see them this time. But we were lucky. We came across them in our walk and our ranger took us as close as we could get. These rhinos have a team of rangers with them 24/7 for protection. It was a special treat to see them during this visit.
After the walk, we made dinner with the warthogs for company and roasted marshmallows for dessert. The boys took a dip in their basins for a quick wash, then changed into pjs and we tucked ourselves in to our rooftop tent.
