Leopard
I'm back from South Africa after nearly two weeks. I'm exhausted after the 21 plus hours on a plane but I'm still reeling from excitement. This trip was one of the most amazing experiences in my entire life - a must do. Add this to your bucket list!
After a few days in Cape Town, my wife and I stayed at Ngala Game Reserve near Kruger National Park, which is an open range for the wildlife to enter and leave as they please. The Leopard is part of the famous big five (which we were lucky enough to see all five on this trip). The big five consist of the Leopard, Lion Buffalo, Elephant and Rhinoceros and the phrase is coined from hunters who said these were the most difficult and dangerous animals to hunt on foot.
We had a game drive every morning and evening. A couple of days into our stay there we tracked and eventually found this Leopard. Our guide, Mbhani We Zulu (goes by Barney), and tracker Innocent (his real name) spotted some Leopard tracks and we followed them them for nearly an hour and a half determined to find a Leopard (which are fairly rare to find). Barney and Innocent would stop the vehicle and investigate the tracks in the sand several times during the course of time.
When the tracks disappeared, Innocent, armed with nothing more than a radio, left us and walked off into the "bush" to try and pick up the Leopard's trail. We drove on ahead to meet up with Innocent further down the road as it looped around. In the process of our drive we located the Leopard. Innocent had not caught up to us yet as we followed the Leopard for several minutes across the savanna.
Barney maneuvered the vehicle within very close proximity to the Leopard - who seemed almost disinterested in us. We were constantly within about 20 feet of the Leopard as it worked its way across the land. We would drive over bushes and trees to keep up the pace.
All of a sudden the Leopard stopped in its tracks and turned its head slightly. A moment later Barney pointed out an Impala not much further ahead of us. We stopped the vehicle and watched as the Leopard crouched down and froze in the grass - all the while the Impala having no idea what was about to happen. My heart was racing as we all anticipated an attack.
Moments later the Leopard took two leaps and was on top of the Impala. I didn't anticipate anything like this happening in front of me and wasn't prepared either. It was an awesome yet very emotional experience - I sniffled through some tears as I snapped away on the camera. The Impala held its ground while the Leopard lunged at its neck and wrapped its paws around it to hold it still as it suffocated it with a bite.
After 30 seconds or so the Impala weakened and slumped to the ground dead. My wife and I both cried during the take down - being an appreciator of all life it was a hard thing to watch. Words can't describe the event that we had just witnessed. But during the whole ordeal my wife managed to get video and I was snapping away (pictures of the attack soon to follow).
Something I will never forget...
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