The futile search for the needle in the haystack (Day 8)

After a relaxed breakfast we drove for hours through Queen Elizabeth National Park. After about 2 hours and 90 km we have reached the Ishasha area of the park.

Now it was time to open your eyes! We were looking for the so-called "tree lions". These are "normal" lions, but due to the vegetation with tall grass that predominates here, the lions often climb fig trees here. On the one hand to cool off, on the other hand to explore the hunting ground for later. The area was huge and our chances of finding a lion here were not good. In 2019, 6 lions were poisoned by the local population. There is a belief that lion fat has healing properties. On the other hand, people wanted to protect their cattle herds. As a result, there are only 3 lions left in this area. So you can imagine how unlikely it is to see one.

Shortly after leaving the national park, we were able to stop at a project for the local population, which was started after the lions were killed by several Ugandans. Here, among other things, the women learned the art of weaving and the men carving. In addition, the participating families have also received dairy cows, for example, in order to be able to earn their living and are therefore no longer dependent on poaching.

For the rest of the trip we mostly stayed on the slopes and drove further up to the Bwindi National Park. In our accommodation we had a fantastic view of the rainforest and the opportunity for a short walk at its edge. Parallel to a small river below the lodge, we were even able to watch monkeys again before the path led us through a tea plantation back to the accommodation.

Since it was supposed to start very early the next morning, we said goodbye to our fellow travelers promptly after dinner and of course the "brain bulb" showed us the way to our rooms this time...