Ishasha sector

Ishasha sector: Located in the southern side of Queen Elizabeth national park, Ishasha sector is one of the popular areas visited in the park. The Ishasha sector is a residential area for tree climbing lions of Queen Elizabeth national park. The tree climbing lions are very rare in the world to the extent that they can only be seen in Queen Elizabeth national park Uganda and Lake Manyara national park Tanzania.

Ishasha sector is home to different wildlife species and birds but being home to the tree climbing lions makes it more popular than any other region. Ishasha is the best region to see tree climbing lions up close on the branches of big trees like acacia and cactus.

Attractions in Ishasha Sector

The tree climbing lions of Ishasha sector

Ishasha is the only area in Uganda where tree climbing lions are found. These lions are like other African lions but what makes them different is that they are able to climb and stay on trees. The lions of Ishasha sector do climb trees for so many reasons and some of them include escaping heat from the group, escaping insects that bite them, and hiding away to get a perfect spot for predators.

The best way to see these tree climbing lions is by taking part in the game drive activities that happen in the area. The game drives take you through different game tracks of Ishasha and by the end of the activity you are able to see so many lions climbing on big fig trees.

Apart from tree climbing lions, Ishasha sector is s home to a variety of animals such as lions, buffaloes, Uganda kobs, elephants, hippos, warthogs, sitatunga, Uganda kob, defassa waterbuck, topi, spotted hyenas, leopards, side-stripped jackals, olive baboons and different monkey species among others. All these can be seen during game drives, nature walks, and lion tracking activities.

Birds of Ishasha sector

Queen Elizabeth national park is home to over 600 bird species and these are seen in different regions of the park. One of the best birding regions in Queen Elizabeth national park is Ishasha sector where birds live in the riverine and savannah vegetation cover. Bird watching in Ishasha region can be done during the game drives or nature walk activities.

Birds of Ishasha do include African thrush, little swift, white-browed robin chat, Greater flamingo, Senegal coucal, common bulbul, levaillant’s cuckoo, African palm swift, greater honeyguide, African black coucal, trilling cisticola, common swift, African white-backed vulture, African emerald cuckoo, rufous billed heron, striated heron,

Mottle swift, sabine-tailed swift, freckled nightjar, dwarf bittern, shoebill stork, common moorhen, yellow-throated cuckoo, water thick-knee, helmeted guinea fowl, Marabou stork, pennant winged nightjar, klaas’s cuckoo, black billed turaco, jack snipe, buff-spotted fuff tail, black-tailed godwit, white crested turaco, slender-billed gull, and ross’s turaco among others.

During your safari in Ishasha sector, you can do other park activities that are carried out in Queen Elizabeth national park. These activities include game drives, lion tracking in Kasenyi, bird watching, boat cruises on Kazinga channel, nature walks, and community visits among others.

Best time to visit Ishasha Sector

Ishasha sector of Queen Elizabeth national park can be visited at any time of the year however there are periods that are better than the rest. The dry season is the best period to visit the area and this is because there is always little or no rainfall which keeps the game trucks dry, vegetation is shirt and thin with clear views of the animals and the roads leading to the sector are passable,

Tourists especially budget travelers can visit Ishasha in the rainy season of March to May and October to November to enjoy huge discounts on accommodation facilities. The rainy season is however characterized by too much rainfall that makes the game trucks muddy and slippery, vegetation is tall with unclear views of the park animals and the roads leading to the park are impassable.

Accommodation in Ishasha sector

Ishasha sector has a variety of accommodation facilities that vary from budget to mid-range to luxury options with where to stay depending on the person’s travel budget. These accommodation facilities include River Ishasha Safari Camp, Enjojo Lodge, Topi Lodge, Ishasha Jungle Lodge, and Bullbush River Camp among others.

Accessing Ishasha

Ishasha is located in the southern part of Queen Elizabeth national park and can be accessed by road transport or air transport within a single day. The area can be accessed in 1 hour and 15 minutes using air transport from Kajjansi airstrip or Entebbe international airport to Mweya airstrip. From here it takes a few hours to drive to the Ishasha sector in the south of the park.

By road transport, tourists can get to Ishasha sector in the south of Queen Elizabeth national park in 7-8 hours. From Kampala/Entebbe they will go through Masaka, Mbarara, Bushenyi to the park. Those in Buhoma sector of Bwindi impenetrable forest national park can access Ishasha sector in 3-4 hours by driving through Kihihi to Kanungu to the park.