Reptile Village in Entebbe – As you wind up your Uganda safari, there are many places you can consider. These help you get in touch with more of the impressive wildlife in Uganda. Areas such as the Uganda Wildlife Education Centre, Zika Forest, Entebbe Botanical Gardens, and the Uganda Reptile Village. All these places are worth passing by before planning to fly back home.
Uganda Reptiles Village is in Abaita Ababiri along the Entebbe-Kampala road. This reptile village is home to over 20 species of reptiles. A Ugandan man, Yasin Kazibwe established this reptile village in 2002. Yasin was formerly a speed boat captain but also had good knowledge and training about reptiles. Thus, he developed the urge and passion to save them. He strived to make people understand that these reptiles were not bad and people needed to save and conserve them. Yasin Kazibwe has published different documents about reptiles including a book titled “snake bite”.
Yasin Kazibwe sought permission to start a reptile project from the government. The government categorized it under a community-based poverty eradication project. He established the Reptile Village in Entebbe to sensitize and educate the community about the importance of wildlife. Kazibwe also wanted to protect and conserve them and their importance to the future generation. Also, the place educates about the importance of many other natural resources. These include swamps, forests, and water bodies which are important in saving these threatened reptiles.
Species of reptiles at the Reptile Village in Entebbe
There is a total of 50 reptiles at the Reptile Village in Entebbe which we can categorize into 20 species. You can directly see most of these reptiles here in their new habitat where people care for them. Some dens were built for some reptiles and you can watch them from there. You’ll see reptiles such as cobras, Gabon viper, Nile monitor lizards, boomslangs, chameleons, and leopard tortoises among others and this will thrill you. This is one of the unique areas in Uganda where you have a chance to see the caretakers of these reptiles play around with snakes. Yet, you would not expect to be friendly. Regardless of how poisonous some of these snakes are, they know the best way to handle them. It is this place where you can have such unique experiences.
Visitors that go to Uganda’s reptile village take a walk around and more things to see there are two basins. One basin has different species of tortoises and the other basin has non-climbing reptile species. There is also a point where you will watch camouflaging chameleons.
The nearby swamp is a habitat for many other reptiles and a few primates. It also has several birds and fish. Therefore visitors can do sport fishing here. Wetland walks aim at a direct adventure of the reptile village to find all the hidden beauty of this site.
Canoeing as well is one of the things that you should not miss when you visit the reptile village. It takes place on a 3km manmade river stream.
The Reptile Village in Entebbe attracts different people for varying reasons. Besides adventure, some go there for study purposes while others visit the village to carry out research.
Getting to Uganda Reptile Village in Entebbe
The site is about 3 kilometers off Kampala-Entebbe highway in Abaita Ababiri. The site is open for visits throughout the week from 08:00 am to 06:00 pm.
