As I write this blog post I am sitting by the river in Ishasha Wilderness Camp in Queen Elizabeth National Park. We have just come back from a game drive in which we saw two of the tree climbing lions for which this portion of the park is famous. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let me start at the beginning.
The distance from Bwindi to Ishasha is not great so we asked Joseph our driver if we could have some time shopping in the small shops just outside the park grounds in Bwindi. We all bought a few baskets and beads in these very small huts that are run by locals in the area. Chris, Christie and Janis found a shop that was run by the Batwa tribe. The Batwa are the local tribe of pygmies that have a community nearby. Proceeds from the sale of items in this shop support that community. We also found a shop that supported the local school and we bought some items there as well. Christie likes her beads so well, that she is not sure she will give them to her sister to turn into other kinds of jewelry.
By mid-morning we were on the road to Ishasha, but there was a problem. It seems that that incredibly bad road we used to go to Ruhiga yesterday damaged one of our tires. It was not holding air very well so we had to stop in Kihihi at a service station in order to get it fixed. Since they had difficulty locating a tube for this tire (yes, they still used tubed tires in cars in Africa) we had some time to kill in beautiful downtown Kihihi.
Kihihi is a very small African city which consists of a few streets (some of which are actually paved) and numerous shops. These shops consist of at least half a dozen beauty shops and another half a dozen or more stationary stores. No Internet unfortunately so I couldn’t post a blog anywhere.
Once again it was Christie who provided the unintentional “this is Africa” moment for our group and for the entire main street of Kihihi. After purchasing some paper and other items for the lesson they will teach in Kasiisi, Chris and Christie left the shop and headed for the street. As in Entebbe there is a ditch that goes across all these shops with mere boards and logs going across it to go from the shops to the street. Christie unfortunately chose a particularly tippy half log (round side down) and promptly fell into the ditch “screaming (as she puts it) bloody murder.” Of course all of the good citizens of Kihihi turned to watch the Muzungu attempt to climb out of the ditch in the center of town. Christie did eventually get out with Chris’ help and with damage only to her dignity.
Back at the car Christie was once again covering herself in Purel, even though this sewage ditch was dry. Yesterday, at Ruhiga Christie had purchased a Gorilla t-shirt that said “Muzungus in the Mist” on the back. But today, as we told her, it was a Muzungu in the ditch. Later Christie would respond by saying, “I’m so glad I was able to provide you and the entire town of Kihihi your daily entertainment.” It seems that being the “daily entertainment” is indeed Christie’s fate for this trip.
Back on the road with our tire fixed we entered QENP and Ishasha in a relatively short time. We first stopped by the River for a lunch we had packed at Bwindi. The river itself represents the border between the Congo and Uganda, but the animals have no respect for this political boundary. We saw hippos in the river in two different areas. On a sandy bank on the other side of the river was a very large hippo momma and her not as large hippo baby, sunning themselves. Directly across from our lunch area were two hippos, grunting, roaring and opening their mouths into a very large yawn. Chris got some good video of this activity on her super duper HD video camera with 200X zoom.
We also saw a black African Bee Eater bird that Joseph pointed out across the river in the Congo. Joseph often guides bird watchers and he points out that they can be a curious group of clients. One time he pointed out the Bee Eater (which is a fairly rare bird) to a client, but the client refused to write it down on his list because the bird was in the Congo (on the other side of the river) and not in Uganda. Another time as they were leaving this lunch area, Joseph noticed the lions beginning to hunt in the area and pointed this out to his bird watching client. The bird watcher was not in the least interested in the lions, but instead wanted to add more feathered species to his list. The bird here are neat, but that is a bit of what we would term “unexpected behavior.”
After lunch on a game drive in the park, we saw a number of animals, hundreds of Ugandan Kob, and many Topi and White backed Vultures. But we were looking for Lions. After much driving we went into the Fig Tree area of the park and Chris eventually spotted a tail hanging from a tree straight ahead. We went strait for it, parked our vehicle under the tree no more than 30 feet from two female lions who were absolutely unconcerned as we photographed and videoed them. They looked at us and yawned and went back to their afternoon nap.
The Tree Climbing Lions of Ishasha are not a different species from other lions. The fact that they climb trees and spend most of their day in them is a local adaptation in this part of Africa. Naturalists believe that this behavior started because the lions wanted a place to nap during the day out of the hot sun and away from biting insects on the ground. At sunset these lions will come down and go hunting for Kob of which there is a plentiful supply.
Lion spotting accomplished, we started back to look for the Wilderness Camp. Much of Ishasha has recently been burnt in what Joseph tells us is a controlled burn to renew the vegetation and get rid of material that would cause a disastrous fire. We drove for quite a while spotting a number of different bird species including eagles, vutures, shrikes, grey backed lapwings, and yellow throated crows. At one point in this long ride Janis turned to Joseph and asked “Where are we??!!!” Joseph just laughed. But Janis’ point was valid. If you looked around us when she asked this question all you could see was Savannah and no matter which direction in which you looked it all looks the same. But Joseph knew exactly where we were and he eventually got us the Ishasha Wilderness Camp, where we were met with cold towels and apple juice by the attentive staff. This is a tented camp, but it is quite comfortable and we will stay here tonight and tomorrow night as well. Perhaps more lions tomorrow and maybe Njojos (elephants) and the resident leopard as well.
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