Of Leopards, Tyres and Karma
March 2, 2010 by Jean KZN
I did a magnificent and unexpected game drive in Mkhuzi Game Reserve yesterday. The guests arrived early and asked to go out. They thought 14h30 was too early but I managed to convince them otherwise – I like early afternoon in the heat as you often get great stuff at waterholes.
We arrived in the park and at the first picnic site had a great interaction with a white rhino and calf (we were on foot and Mkhuzi’s picnic sites are not fenced). On our way back to the road we found a beautiful giraffe near a mud hole and whilst we were admiring it a great splashing alerted us to the arrival of a small heard of elephant. When they finished their swim we followed them as they fed parallel to us until they crossed the road and meandered of into a river bed. The rest of the drive was beautiful and gave us sightings of warthog, zebra, wildebeest, kudu, nyala, steenbok, impala, red and grey duiker, monkeys and baboon as well as hippo in the pan. The cherry on the top came right at the end – with Mkhuze gate only closing at 19h00 – in the twilight of late evening we saw a big male leopard in the road. He strolled along marking territory until a car coming in the opposite direction with its lights on chased him off. That was not all – as we eased off hoping for a sighting of him in the bush I noticed a small movement on the roadside and there next to a bush was a female lying not 10 meters from the road.
This is where the Karma comes in because after we drove off – late for the gate again – I called a friend and boasted about the sighing. Once we got out the gate and in the pitch dark in rural Africa – a flat tire to to end the day – A truly African experience all round