Buffalo Soldier

Contrary to popular belief, in Africa lions&giraffes&elephants are not as free-roaming as the polar bears that crowd the streets of Toronto. Those who wish to hang with Simba and his furry friends have to go on safari…or to the zoo. Since I was desperate to get out of the city and only had a day to spare, the zoo won. 

The Uganda Wildlife Centre is located in Entebbe, a pretty little town on Lake Victoria, about 45 mins outside of Kampala. Not too many differences between this zoo and the ones back home, other than perhaps the fact that the Ugandan version is noticeably more lax on security. The camels and some particularly unfriendly monkeys were just hanging around, cage-free, and the only thing separating the buffalos from the public was a knee-high hedge (note: my knees aren’t too far from the ground). The North American in me kept wanting to scream "LIABILITY" wherever I looked...and the African in me was all "Hakuna Matata dude". 

Taunting the tortoises

Buffalo Soldiers...and Pumba, their trusty sidekick

Pretty Lake Vicky

Bonding over oats

Pam, trying to coax out another egg?

Highlight of the day was hearing Pamela, upon approaching each fence, exclaiming how delicious the meat is of the animal inside. After the third cage I had to ask her to keep her voice down in case there was a PETA activist lurking in the bushes. Game meat is a delicacy here, and Pam is lucky enough to have tried hippopotamus (!!!), gazelle, crocodile, ostrich egg (one of these bad boys can apparently feed a family of ten), and warthog (her favorite).