I awoke several times during the night hearing unusual sounds (other than ex-Marine’s snoring). The leopard made his rounds and thanks to Pat’s detailed explanation and demonstration of leopard vocalization, I was positive it was a leopard I was hearing. The sounds came from right by our tent and even though we were zipped in and secure, my mind started running rampant…”could he rip a hole in the tent and get in?….what if he did get in and was in our inside toilet….and so on” There were also baboons calling to each other across the river. One would hoot and within minutes, you’d hear one hooting back…this went on for quite a while. Then came early morning, and the Weaver Birds started their ruckus…but I didn’t come this far to worry about a little lost sleep or, a lot of lost sleep.

At breakfast, the camp staff assured me that, yes, the leopard had made his rounds during the night and left his prints in the dirt!

Ishasha has a large population of lions that climb trees. Of course, lions are part of the cat family and have the ability to climb trees but seldom do…except for those in Uganda…and they are legendary. They climb into Acacia and big Fig Trees to escape the heat and spend the entire day, sleeping in the trees. No one is sure why they started do this…or when…or if it is a learned response. Whatever it was, we couldn’t wait to see them on this nice, HOT and sunny day.

Headed out on the south loop…View image…passing more Cape Buffalos, birds…until we came to an area of Fig Trees (the Fig Trees are dying out for some reason and have become more sparsely spread out)…and as we approached a massive Fig Tree…there they were! I have never seen anything like this in my life!

the tree-climbing lions of Uganda
We drove closer and started circling the tree…shooting photos madly. The lions just lay there paying no attention to us, …View image…occasionally flipping a tail, moving on the branch or getting in a more comfortable position. …paws and limbs dangling off both sides of the branches…View image…

tree climbing lion #1 in Ishasha, Uganda 

a group of tree-climbing lions, Uganda 

very tired tree-climbing lion taking a siesta in Uganda Fig Tree
There were six or seven lions in that tree including an approximately, 4-month old cub. …View image…The cutest little lion and the only one awake in the tree. He (or she) just kept watching us circling around the tree without moving anything but its head.

lion cub in Uganda was more interested in us than sleeping
After our fill of tree-climbing lions, back to Ishasha Camp for lunch, a rest and another late afternoon game drive. I took a pass on this one and sent ex-Marine with my digital camera in case something outstanding materialized.

Steve came back bursting with excitement. The game drive was akin to watching paint dry until HE spotted one lonesome hippo grazing in the middle of a big Cape Buffalo herd. This was major! The Gospel, according to Pat, this was an extremely rare sighting. The hippo probably wandered up from the river to graze and since it wasn’t considered a threat to the Cape Buffalo, was left to eat in peace. (look to the far left in the photo for the hippo) …View image… It was sort of “…one of these things is not like the other…”

Hippo grazing with Cape Buffalos (one of these things is not like the other), Uganda 

On the schedule for tomorrow? A very long day’s drive into Rwanda….gorillas…here we come…