Leopards …

When I am on Final Control director duty, I usually start off with a strong cup of coffee … with this drive (Thursday) been Rexon’s first WE afternoon drive since his leave … I was looking forward to something special. So I buckled up and wished Rexon and Marco good luck for the drive. Twenty minutes into the drive SAFARI the leopard was sighted … it sure felt good watching from the safety of Final Control … you see I have a thing for leopards … in my travels I have seen very few of them … and here at Djuma they are all over the place … now that is something to get used to!

After that the afternoon went quiet, with not much excitement in the air … buffaloes at GOWRIE, impalas all over the place … I started to think that maybe, just maybe, we have seen the last of the ingwe … moments later I got the fright of my life when someone informed me that a young leopard was spotted around camp moments ago!

I really did not want to hear that somewhere around camp (where I live) had seen a leopard roaming around. I have been told that young leopards show an interest in anything that moves … and with me alone in Final Control with my eyes glued to the monitors, I was an easy meal  (a tasty one at that). All of a sudden I look up at one of the monitors and BANG … a leopard at GOWRIE … I radioed the guys and in minutes they were at GOWRIE … filming the leopard in stalking mode.

Listening to Rexon talk about leopards is fascinating to say the least … all of a sudden the leopard  closed in on a nearby duiker, but the little fella had seen the leopard and sprinted off, leaving the leopard dissapointed. What a lovely time spent in the Final Control … so the next time you ask me, what is my favourite animal; I will tell you it is a leopard … INGWE.