We spotted this leopard (one of the big five) midway through our safari. On our morning game drive, our guide had gotten a tip from some other guides that a leopard was in the vicinity so off we were on a chase. (That's how a lot of our unique sightings worked. A tip passed on from someone else.) tearing down a pot-hole strewn muddy road, we saw ahead some trucks pulled over, folks leaning out with binoculars and cameras, staring past the trees off the road to something way way in the distance. And as he usually did, our guide pulled the truck off the road, drove through the bush (crushing trees, climbing over bushes and termite mounds) right up to a tree and here we spotted this leopard perched about twenty feet above us, a rare sight on any safari. They hunt at night and keep to the trees during the day, dragging thier kills up with them to avoid scavengers. As you have to be back at your camp by 7pm, the odds are rare you'll spot one of these lithe, cool felines during the day. As a bonus, we could see a mutilated gazelle hanging in the branch below him, its entrails hanging out like bright red battered pinata pieces. What a sight. We snapped away with our camera for about twenty minutes while the leopard cooly ignored us. We backed away and drove again through the bush toward the road, coming out just ahead of the folks who were observing safely (and legally) from afar. They looked a little envious.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment