Tree climbing lions

There are two places in Africa where you can see the peculiar phenomenon of lions climbing in trees, Tanzania's Lake Manyara National Park, and the Ishasa plains in Uganda. Ishasa is in the southwest of Queen Elizabeth National Park. It is bypassed by most tour groups because it's so remote, but it really is one of the most alluring game-viewing areas in the country.

Nobody really knows for sure why the lions climb in trees here. A few studies have been conducted and they suggest that the custom of ascending trees is "culturally ingrained" - whatever that might mean in the life of a lion - though another explanation is that the lions started climbing the trees in older times to escape the attention of biting flies during an epidemic. In Ishasa the lions prefer the sycamore fig and Albezia trees and tend to climb these in the heat of the day, descending back to the ground before dusk. Our first part of the game drive brings no luck. It's still early and not warm enough for the lions to climb the trees. We have lunch by the Ishasa river. If we cross the river we're in Congo. A group of four hippo's is bading in the water. After lunch we come across a car that got hopelessly stuck in the side of the road. Fred loves the action. He gets us passed the car, driving wildly over a piece of the savanna - almost getting ourselves stuck (we call him 'cowboy Fred' and shout in excitement as he drives us full force forward over the hard bit). We get out the car and check out the unfortunate car. The passenger are hanging on the side in an attempt to get it out of the ridge and back on track. But more force is required. They have to get the help of a heavy vehicle. We continue our drive and get luck. We spot a group of vultures circling above a prey. We get close and see they are eating from the carcas of a young buffalo. They make a frantic sound and even attack eachother, everyone wants the best piece. The smell around the place is horrible and at some point it seems the buffalo is still moving, it's just the motion of the picking and tearing from the vultures. Fred reckons the buffalo died of a natural cause because he shows nog signs of torn flesh from attack by a bigger predator.

After this spectacle we get really lucky. Lions have been spotted. The first sight of the two lions - females - hanging in the tree is just amazing. They're very relaxed, and one of them has a huge belly. She hangs in a sort of coma on a branch, digesting her meal. "Good njam njam" says Fred. We drive around the tree and get plenty of time to observe and take pictures. Just when we think it can't get any better we hear two male lions have been spotted.
Waw, what a sight, the mighty lion, king of the wildlife, right in front of us hanging in a tree. One of the males looks quite old, he's breathing heavily. The other one is younger, he climbs a bit down, maybe he wants some more privacy.

We all agree, this is one of the highlights of our trip. When we arrive at the Savanna hotel staff tells us it's the first time the lions were seen this week, and the fact that we saw both females and males is quite special. Sula, the driver of the other Matoke van had never seen the male ones.
We're lucky!