UWEC and Entebbe Botanical Gardens: A Spare-Day Guide

Short answerTwo easy lakeshore stops in Entebbe, next door to each other. The Uganda Wildlife Education Centre is $15 for a day visit, with behind-the-scenes programmes from $70 and a keeper-for-a-day at $150. The Botanical Gardens next door are excellent, flat and very cheap birding.

Most travellers pass through Entebbe twice and see nothing of it. These two sites sit side by side on the Lake Victoria shore, minutes from the airport, and between them fill an arrival or departure day better than anything else in reach.

The Uganda Wildlife Education Centre

Widely called Entebbe Zoo, and that undersells it. UWEC is a rescue and rehabilitation facility: many of its animals were confiscated from traffickers, orphaned, or injured beyond the point of release. It also functions as the country's principal conservation education site for Ugandan schoolchildren.

For a first or last day in Uganda — particularly with children, or with travellers who have just come off a long-haul flight — it is a gentle way to meet the species you are about to look for, or to put names to what you have just seen.

The behind-the-scenes programmes

The tariff lists several, and they are more substantial than the day rate suggests.

• Behind the scenes ($70) — access beyond the public areas.
• Keeper for a day ($150) — 08:30 to 16:00 working with keepers. Open to children aged 6 to 15. Protective gear is provided.
• Chimp close-up experience ($300) — the premium programme.

Is it a zoo, and is that a problem?

A fair question, and worth answering honestly rather than skirting.

UWEC holds animals in enclosures, so in that sense yes. What distinguishes it is provenance and purpose: the great majority of its animals could not survive release, many arrived through wildlife crime seizures, and the centre's primary audience is Ugandan schoolchildren rather than foreign tourists.

Our view: it is a reasonable thing to support, and it is not a substitute for seeing animals wild. Anyone whose main interest is the animals themselves should spend the money on chimpanzee trekking at Kibale instead — and our post on why no mountain gorilla has ever lived in captivity makes the wider point about which encounters are actually possible.

Entebbe Botanical Gardens

Next door, on the lakeshore, and one of the easiest good birding sites in East Africa. Established in the colonial era, now a mix of planted specimens and remnant lakeshore forest, entirely flat and walkable.

What you see without trying: great blue and Ross's turaco, a range of sunbirds, woodland kingfisher, weavers in numbers, palm-nut vulture and black-and-white casqued hornbill. Vervet monkeys and black-and-white colobus are usually around.

Entry is inexpensive, and night camping is also priced in the tariff. For the wider birding picture see our birding in Uganda guide.

Building an Entebbe day

Our guide to where to stay in Entebbe covers the arrival and departure night problem, and the Mabamba shoebill guide covers the best half-day within reach.

For what everything costs, see Uganda's park fees and activity costs.

Tell us your flight times and we will fill the arrival and departure days rather than leaving them empty.

UWEC and the Botanical Gardens: common questions

What is the Uganda Wildlife Education Centre? A conservation education centre and rescue facility in Entebbe, run under the Uganda Wildlife Authority, holding animals that were confiscated from trafficking, orphaned or otherwise unable to return to the wild. It is often called Entebbe Zoo, though it functions primarily as a rehabilitation and education facility.

How much does UWEC cost to visit? $15 for foreign non-resident adults and $10 for children on a standard day visit. Special programmes cost considerably more — behind the scenes is $70, keeper for a day is $150, and the chimp close-up experience is $300.

What is 'keeper for a day' at UWEC? A full programme running 08:30 to 16:00 in which you work alongside the keepers. It costs $150 for adults and $70 for children, is open to children aged 6 to 15, and requires vaccination against TB, rabies, tetanus and hepatitis if you will be working in the primate section.

Is Entebbe Botanical Gardens worth visiting? Yes, particularly on an arrival or departure day. It sits on the Lake Victoria shore, costs very little, and delivers excellent birding on an easy flat walk — turacos, sunbirds and the very loud woodland kingfisher among many others.

What can you do in Entebbe on a spare day? Mabamba Swamp for shoebills is the standout half-day. Closer to town, the Botanical Gardens and the Uganda Wildlife Education Centre sit next to each other on the lakeshore and together make a comfortable morning, particularly with children or after a long flight.

Is UWEC good for children? It is the best wildlife activity in Uganda for young children, and particularly for those below the age limits for gorilla and chimpanzee trekking. Animals are visible without a long game drive, the keeper programmes are designed for ages 6 to 15, and the whole site is walkable.