A SAFARI TO REMEMBER
When you are about to embark on a safari you can’t help but to wonder what will be seen or experienced, you will never know as proven many times before. With no idea what the bush has in store for us we set out for safari day in day out.
On this particular afternoon safari there were some guests that has been on previous safaris and some were on safari for their first time. As we were driving out further away from the lodge the agreed on plan was to find as many living organisms as we possibly could. The plan that was orchestrated worked very well and soon many animals, birds and smaller things were spotted before it was time for the sun-downer drinks. Not long after the drink stop a call came in over the radio that a female leopard has been found in close proximity of a large herd of impala, immediately the excitement sky rocketed.
When we arrived at the sighting most of the other vehicles has left the area because the leopardess went up a very rocky area were the vehicles could not drive, we sat there for a while trying to get a glimpse of this elusive cat species and the only one’s that could see something were the trackers seeing the two reflecting eyes. After a few minutes of patience she finally made her way down to the dry river bed were the large herd of impala were feeding, using any form of rock or fallen tree as cover. We did not put the beam of the spotlight on the leopard to make sure that we do not intervene with her natural way, but rather sat in silence with the little bit of moonlight we had and so we waited. After a while we could hear the hooves of the impala walking over some rocks and then all hell broke loose with impala running in every direction alarm calling as they go, but among all that noise we could hear what sounded like an impala grasping for air. We quickly switched the lights on and drove to the area where the noise came from, as we drove around a thick green bush there on the edge of the river bed right in front of us sat the leopardess with her teeth sinking into the throat of an impala closing the windpipe. We were all caught in awe barely getting any words out as to how incredibly lucky we are and for some it was only there first ever safari.
