Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda

While my trip to Uganda focused on primates, especially chimpanzees and mountain gorillas, we also spent a couple of days in Queen Elizabeth National Park observing other iconic African wildlife. Our first stop was Lake Edward where we boarded a boat for a cruise along the wildlife-rich Kazinga Channel, which connects Lake Edward to Lake George. Of all the animals and birds we saw from the boat my favorites were the crocodiles

and the hippos lurking in the shallows. 

We also saw local fishermen repairing their nets on shore and fishing from small boats on the lake.

From Lake Edward we continued to Ishasha Wildeness Camp, along the Ntungwe River in the southern part of the park. As we neared camp at dusk, we were greeted by a trio of lions in and around an enormous fig tree. This one was draped across two branches, with his apparently full belly hanging in between.

Though we laughed at his comically distended belly, in profile he looked every inch the king.

He really was gorgeous! Getting photos of him was one of the highlights of the whole trip. Lions in this part of QENP are well known for their unusual behavior in climbing and resting in trees. Apparently they do so to avoid insects and heat on the ground and to get a better view of prey. 

We spotted a number of elephants during our visit, but this quartet, a big female with three youngsters obliging lined up in size order, was my favorite group.

The littlest one just had to break away from the rest to show off.

As is typical for game drives, we got an early start. Morning fog and mist lent an air of mystery to the park.

And then suddenly it was a brilliant day with hundreds of animals in sight. Here is a herd of kob, a subspecies of antelope, and several topi.

Here is a close-up of a male kob, displaying his exquisitely curved horns (and a cloud of insects buzzing around him). 

Water buffalo are also quite prolific in the park. They seemed to watch us with great curiosity.

If you're curious to see more Ugandan wildlife, check back soon for my post on the mountain gorillas of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest.