By Frank — Lulu African Safaris · 5 May 2025 · 5 min read
The theories vary: escape from biting tsetse flies on the forest floor; a cooler breeze in the branches; a better vantage point over the plains; simply a learned habit passed down through generations. The truth is probably a mix of all four.
Where to find them
Lake Manyara National Park is the classic destination — a narrow strip of forest and lakeshore where the resident lions have been climbing acacias for decades. The Seronera Valley in central Serengeti holds another famous tree-climbing population, often draped along sausage-tree limbs at midday.
It's one of the strangest, most photogenic sights on any safari — a 180-kilo lioness balanced twenty feet up, gazing out over the plains as if she owns them. Which of course, she does.
