Rhino Sanctuary- Saturday, June 27

We traveled to the Rhino Sanctuary today. It was about a three hour trip southwest in a mutatu. We stopped twice: once for a short call and once for the driver to stretch and for us to be harassed by street vendors.
After Idi Amin was overthrown, many people came in and hunted the rhinos to extinction: either for a trophy or for their horns, which are highly coveted in parts of Asia. Several joint organizations have come together to create this sanctuary in order to repopulate the area with black and white rhinos. They hope to provide a place where the rhinos can be safe, have babies and then be released back into the wild. There are currently 6 rhinos at the sanctuary, and they are protected by guards 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. It is a necessary thing, but I find it a little ridiculous that we live in a world where rhinos have to be protected ALL the time.
After unloading our stuff, we went and had lunch before the rhino walk. The lunch took forever to come out (not shocking in the least), but it was very yummy. It was spaghetti with meat and a little cheese on it. We then changed into clothing for walking through the bush. Once we were ready to go, we got back in the mutatus and drove for about 20 minutes through the bush. It was a very skinny “road” and very bumpy. As we were driving, we saw small deer, guinea fowl and lots of birds. We finally stopped and split into two groups. Our group was first, so we walked another 10 minutes through the bush. The guards stopped us, I looked up and we were about 20 feet from 3 enormous rhinos! We saw Taleo, the alpha male, and Kori and Bella, two females. The guard said that Taleo weighs about 250 tons; he was enormous! They were lying down when we arrived. We were able to get to about 10 feet from them, and the guards stopped us. To stand 10 feet away from rhinos without any sort of fencing was incredible. It was yet another moment that I thought, “I am in Africa standing 10 feet from rhinos! It doesn’t get any better than this.” We hung around for about 45 minutes just watching them, trying to surprise each other with grass blades and laughing at each other. We finally began walking back to the mutatus and drove back to the lodges.
For dinner, we had another delicious meal. It consisted of chicken that was actually edible. Normally, the chicken has been really tough. We theorize that it is because the chickens here are mobile; we see them walking around the town all of the time. When you compare them to American chickens who sit there all day, you could understand why the chicken here would be much tougher. It is to the point that I will not eat the chicken here anymore because I simply cannot chew it up.
After dinner, we learned to play Texas Hold ‘Em. We were trying to play with bottle caps, but we did not have enough. One of the people who works at the Rhino Sanctuary had actual poker chips, so we were able to actually bet and practice. It was fun to be able to relax and play. Good times…
Driving back was a lesson in how to remain calm in the event of possible death. Our driver seemed very intent on driving back as quickly as possible, and there were several “almost” head on collisions between us and big trucks. Add a rainstorm to this, and you can imagine my concern about my well being. I guess I should put more faith in the mutatu drivers since they have been doing it a lot longer, but it is still something to get used to. As we arrived back in Gulu, it was culture shock coming back. The town seemed so bustling and loud, and after being in a very quiet sanctuary, it was hard to come back to. When I arrived to Gulu from Kampala, I thought the city was so quiet and small. However that was not the case returning to it today. It’s amazing how your perspective can change so quickly through new experiences.