Frostee Lens Ug
Having recreations beyond just myths and allegations when the road led me to a place worth visiting all along I had paid enough attention to visit. The fears that blinded my quest to seek truth about what many we had termed as “a good snake is a dead one.”
Getting out of the comfort zones you might need a quick drive out of the misty, foggy and noisy atmosphere of the capital, Kampala city preferably taking the most convenient means from the renown Fly express transport services literally the taxi with a VIP kind of treatment where ayise omu [the chaotic rush of standard public transport] has nothing to do with them. That’s a corporate time saving plan for planned travelers and omuntu wa bulijjo [the everyday ordinary person]. From Kampala driving for about 34.8km to the center of the great headland city that hosts Uganda’s entry and exit points, Entebbe city which hosts the Uganda reptile village.
Thesis arrangements not being personally arranged, found the joy in joining the other fellows in the same quest of unlocking their misleading actions. The initiative was taken on by the lead and CEO of the Birder’s Lens, Mr. Isaac Olupot alias Blessed Isaac who in his capacity and experience collaborated with the team at the Uganda Reptile Village to have it and the rest of other fear fellows to unlock from the fears.
Time keeping a grand gesture that I take on so seriously in all I do, I checked in the place in time and was welcomed by the entrance’s man’s best friend. “Police” is the name of the dog you will always find lying right at the entrance if you only fall in the category I mentioned, time keeping. Upon arrival, the most out of the great guide of all times Mr. Shafic will take you through with interactive welcome gestures and a detailed instruction and guidelines that rule the place just to have us in check and in order.
The Uganda Reptile Village is a community-based sanctuary in Entebbe that provides a secure habitat for rescued reptiles while educating the public on wildlife conservation. The sanctuary protects over 50 individual reptiles encompassing more than 20 different species. Visitors can observe African rock pythons, cobras, Gaboon vipers, Nile crocodiles, monitor lizards, chameleons, and tortoises. The animals are housed safely within specialized concrete enclosures, open-air basins, and a large crocodile pond. Experienced guides lead educational tours, demonstrate safe handling techniques, and share insights on reptile dietary habits. Established by Yasin Kazibwe, a former speed boat captain turned reptile expert in 2002 as a community-based project.
The purpose of this place is:
- To rescue, rehabilitate, and protect injured or endangered reptiles facing human-wildlife conflict or trafficking.
- To educate and sensitize communities to help overcome fear of reptiles and prevent unnecessary killing.
- To promote environmental conservation by highlighting the vital role of wetlands, swamps, and forests.
It also operates on Working Days of which it is open Monday to Sunday (every day of the week, including holidays) with Operational Hours: 8:00 AM to 6:30 PM. Would you have it visited by now? Well this is located and Situated in Abaita Ababiri, off the main Kampala-Entebbe highway. Approximately 36 kilometers southwest of Kampala city center. The facility is located about 3 to 4 kilometers off the main highway along a dirt road. It is easily accessible by a personal car, hire taxi, or local boda-boda.
On arrival at the gate, a big word poster gets your eyes locked to it indicating you have gotten to the village of the cold fellas. As you enter through the gate the cool, cool quiet atmosphere whispers no threat but instead builds curiosity on what next your eyes would expect. You begin to feel every sense of your body working at that time. Eye sight sharp, skin sensitivity goes twice than usual, the leg muscles ready for a hundred meter sprinting just in case anything crawling on its belly randomly appears. Birds chirping and winds moving calmly through the tall trees around you would feel the constrictors’ presence even though that depends on your imagination. On your right you will find a welcoming foundation stone just confirming that your presence in that place was not in vain and you are in the right place with the time it was founded.
Carefully and you stroll down on the right you will still see the different partitions of small structures with glass sealed windows then the answers to your curiosity begin to overlap as you are now living in the guessing world in attempts to land on the suitable answer to quench your long awaited thirst of having a one on one contact with the fierce reptiles.
Behold unless the guide takes us there, we only now rely on our curiosity as his calming techniques tells him to take us all to one collection in a large shade structure at almost the end drop down towards the water body where we all fit in for guidelines instructions and a small chat before we become adventurous to explore realtime fears. To kill entitlement in this exercise the whole session was made interactive and open for everyone to express themselves and share their thoughts about snakes especially and most of the conversation revolved around snakes which looked like most people including myself were more interested in seeing the snakes than any other thing. That is when I realized that making this conversation interactive was the guide’s strategic way of getting to know who his audience was and how the audience was likely to respond to the very first encounter.
The success of the conversation was then turned to hands on when a few people were selected to leave impact on ground with each one of us having to plant a tree as remembrance and commitment to always check on the tree’s progress. I had my hands on it when I put the soursop tree seedling into the ground.
Of course the theme beyond fears, to start the exploration of these kinds of lives the calm spirits become the curtain raisers of the day with selection of the most calm groups of reptiles which the tortoises became the first on the list and everyone became handy on these masters of aging. These are slow reptiles, calm and shy in nature and pretty heavy if you attempt lifting one. Interestingly I had no idea on how people tell the age of these fellas but it gets the magic from what it carries on its back, the shell. The shell is partitioned into different patterns and each pattern has got rings on them and according to the expert in there, each ring represents a year so the number of rings you count on the tortoise are the years it carries right behind its back. Interesting isn’t it.
Drawing you back towards the other section of the masters of camouflage just next to the mamba section we encountered with the chameleons with this encounter you could see how many begin to hold back as the myth about the chameleon rang in those that still live with the assumption. Holding them was fun to every one but deep down we all knew how stressed they looked having a crowd storming into their containment and being touchy but still it was more of letting loose of our fears. Then behind the chameleons you find a well guarded section of the crocs and we will save that for another time.
Just as the next encounter was announced silence came in with every participant wondering how to perceive the moment and pretend to be cool but yet unstable as all that rang in peoples head was where do i run to and who is right behind me, same thing on my end too. Sampling a few species of snakes including the rat snake, gabon viper and the two hood killers, egyptian and forest cobras. The rat snake is said to be the easiest non-venomous snake to touch and the gabon being the slowest but with a striking attacking speed you wouldn’t see coming. The two cobras exhibited fast maneuvers threatening to be violent with hood display especially the egyptian cobra which very few of us attempted to touch and didn’t last long out of its containment as it had to be taken in back before any kind of drama would turn fatal. We were super excited, an excitement filled with frightenedness too but worth it afterall.
.In the whole session, myths and ideologies about snakes were answered in a more scientific manner, running away from the traditional ways and beliefs about snakes. Many of us still felt unanswered about certain myths which truly match the behavior of certain snakes.
The biggest takeaways that left some of us changed from the olden ways of our mindset were:
- The only good snake is a dead one (Myth): Instead, most snakes are harmless to humans and play a vital role in the control of rodents and other pests, whereby killing them might cause an imbalance in the ecosystem.
- Snakes that chase people (Myth): Snakes generally avoid people as they mostly rely on vibrations, and in most cases, what looks like chasing is simply their escape plan to find shelter.
- Every snake is venomous (Myth): Only a few snakes possess this threat, and many non-venomous snakes are found around us, posing minimal danger to us.
- Snakes wanting to attack humans (Ideology): Yet it is on record that most snakes strike mainly when there is a need to defend themselves in situations that pose a threat to them, or even from accidentally being stepped on.
- Baby snakes are not harmful (Belief): These—especially the venomous baby snakes—can still inject venom, and therefore handling them with care becomes a necessity. They offer no “dry bite,” as might be the case with full-grown snakes that value their venom for hunting and avoid wasting it on minor mistakes.
There is a lot to learn about snakes and unlocking your knowledge. Especially for nature lovers who love to explore on lonely walks in the jungle, this is the information center to visit. Discover what you haven’t known for long while living in hiding with false confidence about snakes. Getting to know their shape, textures, colors, and behaviors, and getting yourself prepared for the next trip into the wilderness, will keep you moving all through the jungle by yourself—because you are rich in information rather than sitting back in the cottage room enjoying the canopy view at a distance.
Get involved and live to experience real-time adventure well-equipped. The visit was worth it after all, and that’s all for now. Visit the Uganda Reptile Village today and get your questions of doubt answered. I got mine answered too as me I was interested in seeing snake poo! till again
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