Wildlife | Travel | Uganda | Monthly Challenge

We Laughed Hysterically When the Stork Stole Their Lunch

And other wildlife tales while living at a zoo in Uganda.

In May of 2022, we were fortunate to live in a zoo for a month in Entebbe, Uganda. Well, it's not really a zoo in the sense that we Westerners know zoos to be. It is more like a wildlife rehabilitation and education facility. From what we could see, the organization's mission is to educate Ugandans about the importance of wildlife so that they can protect it and preserve it moving forward.

Many of the animals had been rescued from various situations including their sole elephant, Charlie. She had been at the zoo from 2 months old after she was rescued from poachers that had killed her mother. Her story was very sad and at some point, I would like to tell it in more detail, but this article isn’t about the animals that were living in the zoo.

This story is about the wild animals that live AROUND the zoo.

Uganda is located between the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Kenya. It sits on one side of Lake Victoria, the source of the Nile River, and the equator runs through the southern part of the country. It is a country of very diverse landscapes — from glaciers and lush mountain regions to low and dry savannah lands. Considering its relatively small size, there is something for everyone.

One thing that the whole country has in common, though, is that there is a ton of wildlife!

This was our second time visiting Uganda and we made the zoo our first stop upon re-entry. We were to speak with the outreach director of the zoo, formerly known as UWEC — Ugandan Wildlife Conservation Education Center. He was interested in the potential of having us paint murals in schools that featured animals and wildlife.

After a day of touring around the facility with him, we could see that there was a need for some areas to be spruced up with murals. We were staying in an on-site bungalow that currently wasn’t being used because of low tourism due to COVID. Our initial arrangement was for just 2 or 3 days, but when we saw the visitor center, which is located just inside the front gates, we suggested that we paint a mural for them in exchange for the opportunity to stay there longer.

Of course, they heartily agreed to our proposal.

Each morning we would walk 1 km from our bungalow to the entrance of the zoo to paint our mural. Along the way, we would stop and watch the animals and say hi to the ones in cages. Inevitably we would also run into numerous monkeys along the way. In fact, there were 5 different troops of monkeys that lived in the trees above the zoo.

We relished in our encounters with them and always laughed at their silly antics. Each species of monkey had different mannerisms and it was interesting to see them interacting with each other. Mostly they seemed to co-exist peacefully, but we did happen across a turf war between the vervet monkeys and the DeBrazzas one day. It was pretty interesting to witness this interaction and we were surprised at how aggressive they became with each other.

We ended up staying at UWEC for almost a month which meant that we really got to know some of the animals that called this zoo their home. As I said, they weren’t necessarily the ones in cages either — many of our interactions were with the ones that were free to roam anywhere. But we could sense that it was a safe and good place for them to hang out. All animals were treated kindly here, nobody was chasing them away and throwing things at them like they might of outside the zoo gates. Plus, we found out one day, while we were fortunate enough to be zookeepers for a day and go on a feeding run, that the monkeys would swoop into some of the enclosures and steal food that was fed to the animals that were in the cages.

It was quite comical.

One day we returned to our bungalow to find a whole troop of black and white colobus monkeys hanging out in a nearby tree. After watching them for a while, our necks became sore so we went and got chairs from our place and sat under the tree to watch their antics for over an hour. They didn’t seem to mind us — they just sat on their branches lounging about and picking bugs off of each other.

We watched them while they watched us.

As we wandered the road back and forth, we would often see this maribou stork hanging out near the aquatic animals. Obviously, it was there to scavenge the food that was given to the residents. Quite often it was perched in the turtle enclosure and would stand high up on a stone bridge. We are assuming it was trying to get a better view of what was going on (and to see where the food was).

They are such ugly birds, if you ask me.

One day in particular the vervet monkeys were climbing all over the net that is in the background of the above photo. The babies were using it as a trampoline and were running and jumping all over the place. Meanwhile, a few adults sat perched on a wall looking the other way. One couldn’t help but feel like it was a group of parents who had dropped their kids off at the park. Their backs were turned to them as they all sat in the sunshine contemplating life.

This short video shows them jumping around:

As we walked past a few of them and through a narrow path between two stone walls that circled the otter enclosure and the crocodile enclosure, we were surprised when a couple of them jumped from one wall to the other, right over our heads! We like to think that the monkeys at the zoo became comfortable and familiar with us over our time spent there.

On our second last day at the zoo, we were walking back to our bungalow and came across a group of DeBrazzas monkeys, like the one in the lead photo. Our interactions with them had always been peaceful and it was clear that they weren’t scared of people. Because of this, they definitely became our favorite species of all the monkeys that lived in the trees around the zoo.

Plus, just look at how damn cute they are! Such an innocent-looking and adorable face. I just love their little brown brush cut that sticks up above their eyebrows!

We watched them with interest for about 20 minutes when all of a sudden one started approaching us via the handrail that we were standing at. It walked confidently along the railing, getting closer and closer until it was right in front of me. I couldn’t help but reach out my hand and pet its back as it walked by. Almost immediately it looked at me and shot out its hand toward my arm, then gently petted me back.

It was a thrilling moment!

The most hilarious encounter with the many animals at the zoo was one day while we were eating at the on-site restaurant. It sat about 50m above the beach that flanked Lake Victoria but there were tables that cascaded down the outside and all the way to the lake shore. It was a weekend, which always brought more people to the zoo, so the tables were packed and families were out in full revelry enjoying their time together.

We were sitting well above the grass field by the water, so we had great seats to witness the antics play out. First, we noticed the storks. Being the scavengers that they are, they were hanging out on the grass just waiting for a morsel of food to drop that they could grab. But then, as a family was looking the other way, we saw one approach a plate of food and snatch part of the patron's lunch right off of their plate.

I guess it pays to be such a big bird!

Of course, there were screams and cries from the people and their little boy got straight to business chasing the storks around the grass. It was a comical scene as the huge storks would simply flap their wings once, rise up in the air, only to come down again a few feet away, as the little boy spun in circles trying to shoo them away.

While we were laughing at the silliness that was going on below us, we heard a loud crash and cries coming from the restaurant kitchen. Of course, we turned to see what all the commotion was about, and it was then that we saw a monkey jump out of a hole in the kitchen wall, its mouth full of spaghetti, and another carrying a raw, uncooked chapati (a Ugandan type of fried flatbread) in its hand. We were laughing hysterically, while simultaneously feeling sorry for the kitchen staff. I’m sure it is a daily battle for them!

TIA — this is Africa!

Of course, there were also numerous bugs, insects and butterflies that were constantly flitting about, and we were lucky to have numerous praying mantids (they are good luck you know!) come into our room to hang out. We didn’t mind, we had a mosquito net over our bed, placing us in our own protective cage.

We are still so grateful for our time spent at UWEC and it is surely amongst the top experiences that we have had during our past 6 years of full-time travel. I feel like, for the whole month, we had wide smiles on our faces as we set off to walk the road to our painting project and back again while visiting and interacting with all of the animals.

Each day brought some new and exciting entertainment, and we were constantly enthralled with it all.

This article is a prompt response to Globetrotter's monthly challenge — Wildlife. Learn all about it:

Read more wildlife tales from Africa by these talented writers:

Scott-Ryan Abt

Brad Yonaka

To learn more about our time spent at UWEC:

If you like my writing and want to read more, follow me and sign up here to get my articles by email. We would also be happy if you considered leaving me a tip by using the link to Patreon or Ko-Fi below:)

We have been nomadic since 2017! Join our journey by hitting these links:

Website | Instagram | Facebook | LinkedIn| Patreon| YouTube | Medium | Twitter | Ko-Fi | Unsplash