ACTIVITIES AT ENTEBBE ZOO

Going to Uganda Wildlife Education Centre in Entebbe is one of the most weekend activities that one can participate in. Entebbe is an interesting town where various activities can do while in Uganda. Entebbe Zoo is on 72acres with many walkways to the different animal enclosures and a forest.

The Zoo is located along the shores of Lake Victoria and tourists can spend a lot of time there having a long safari to the national parks since it is near the airport.

In 1950, Entebbe Zoo was a rehabilitation center for injured, orphaned, and recused animals. The Zoo was founded by the colonial government with the help of the Wildlife Conservation Society and in 1960, it acted as a traditional zoo for people who would love to view famous animals like tigers, bears, and lions among others.

Activities in Entebbe Zoo

Entebbe Zoo is home to over 120 bird species,23 primate species, and also animals like the lions, tigers, cheetahs, giraffes, elephants, hyenas, baboons, chimpanzees, Uganda kobs, camels, waterbucks, egrets, shoebill stork, snakes, pythons and tortoise which can all be viewed during the visit to the Zoo.

Due to the nature of the Zoo, there are no Mountain Gorillas so you can have an opportunity to go for Gorilla trekking in Bwindi impenetrable national park but you can have a chance of viewing the Ostriches, peacocks, cattle, crocodiles, crested cranes, parrots, goats, chicken, warthogs, cobras, impalas, topis, eland and forest hogs apart from the animals, tourists can see the beautiful flowers, trees, and the butterfly species.

Opening and closing hours: Entebbe Zoo opens between 8:00 am and closes at 6:00 pm. For quality time with the attractions in the Zoo, we recommend you visit at 4:00 pm.

Things to do at Entebbe zoo

Behind scenes Experience and Tour: This experience gives the visitors an opportunity to interact with the animals closely while getting to their stories of how they got to the Zoo.

You will be observing their behaviors from the time they wake up, feed, and close for the night and this activity cannot be done with a standard Safari in Uganda. A behind-the-scenes tour costs $70 per person.

Keeper’s guided tour: During the keeper’s guided tour, you will be assigned a caretaker who will give you details about the center before embarking on the journey of visiting the animal chambers, visiting the staff offices, and all other facilities, and during the tour you meet animals like Charlie the Elephant, Sushi the shoebill stork, Mutagama the lioness, Kabira the Lion, Ndugu the Chimpanzee and Albert the Giraffe and the tour lasts for 3 hours, the guided tour can be done in the morning while the animals are feeding and in the afternoon. The keeper’s Guided Tour costs$40 per person.

Keeper for a day experience: The experience involves visitors participating in the daily activities that the caretakers go through and this always starts with a briefing of the day’s activities, getting the animal food ready, and loading the food tractor in order to be served to the animals in their chambers.

The keeper for the day will feed the animals, check their overall behaviors, and also get a chance to touch the python or any of the lions. The visitor will also be involved in the rehabilitation of the newly brought animals in the center. This experience costs $150 per person.

The vet for the day experience: This experience is open to everyone under the supervision of the veterinary doctor with a briefing, the doctor will lead you to the animal chambers where the health checkups will do and you will also participate in driving the unhealthy animals to the health facility for more proper checkups.

You will visit the animal pharmacy while following the precautions. During the visit to the food preparation area, you are advised to follow the cleanliness procedures to avoid animal infections.

Guided tour: A guide will take you around the facility while telling the educative story of the animals that he /she will be showing while answering the various questions that you will be asking the guide.

The guides request $10 for the services that they will be rendering to the visitors.

Chimpanzee habituation experience: Uganda has the largest number of chimpanzees though there has been on a decline due to the increased poaching Uganda Wildlife Educational Center has a specific chimpanzee tour where the visitors can also participate in feeding the chimps under the guidance of the guide at an extra cost. Tourists are not allowed near the primates if they have a transferable disease so all the tourists who are willing to view the primates, first undergo a medical check-up.

Volunteer: Entebbe Zoo accepts volunteers from the whole world few months or weeks the participants are designed a program that they follow and also involve in cleaning the sleeping chambers of the animals, feeding the animals, fundraising efforts, program development, student training, research, and guiding guests around the facility.

Forest Trail and Bird watching: Uganda Wildlife Education Center is located in an area with remarkable scenery and beautiful forests where you can go for a nature walk along the forest trails with an opportunity of viewing butterflies, birds, small primates, plants, and chameleons during the walk you can move a guide who will be explaining the importance of the different plants and their importance. The walk in the forest can take about 1 to 2 hours.

Accommodations while visiting the Zoo

The Uganda Wildlife Education Center has accommodation facilities within the Zoo which are cottages built with African-style bandas which are self-contained and cost about $30 each is spacious and furnished with a fridge, private bathroom, mosquito net, and cooking equipment.

There are also large dormitories for the budget tourists and students, these dorms have shared bathrooms and one computer for internet.

Meals are served from the restaurant overlooking the lake which closes at 6:00 pm. Bandas at the Zoo is more comfortable and highly recommended for the basic accommodation facility. Those who need luxury accommodations can book them outside the Zoo.

NOTE: They are vervet monkeys that move around at the zoo freely and some are infected with rabies so keep your distance and avoid feeding them.