Botswana Safari
Surprise: Elusive Leopard Sighting
Copyright © 2006 Kay
L. Trotman
On
one of several African safaris, specifically designed for
travel agents, known in the business as a FAM, this one arranged by KAI
and the
Botswana Tourist Board, was a phenomenal experience.
After a short flight from Gaborone to Maun,
Botswana, our safari started at Chief’s Camp in the Kalahari
Desert of the
Okavango Delta. Chief’s
Camp is a
luxury-tented camp located in the Delta.
It is not the type of tent one would generally think of.
It’s more like
a permanent structure, with zip-up ‘doors’ and
windows. It has its own
‘en-suite’ bathroom and shower.
From the
deck of the dining area, off to the side is a lovely pool. Looking directly in front
is a group of
impala gently walking in stride across the savannah.
As our group continues their conversation, an
elephant slowly strolls by, and pauses to take a drink from the small
pool of
water left over from the previous rains.
We all look up in astonishment.
If this is an indication of what we will see when we go
out on safari,
let’s go.
Our
driver and guide, Stanley, was very accommodating to his new
guests, anxious for the adventure to start.
He leads us to our open safari jeep, with just a cover on
the top to shade
us from the scorching sun. As
we head
out on our adventure, he points out the sights and sounds of the vast
Kalahari
Desert. The
Kalahari Desert stretches from South
Africa to Botswana, and east to Namibia.
As we ventured out on the savannah, the sun beating down on us,
our guide frequently was able to identify birds by the sound of their
calls,
quick to point out that when vultures are spotted hovering in the sky,
it
generally means a ‘kill’ is not far off.
I think we all felt like we were in the midst of a
Discovery Channel
special with photo opportunities we knew would be at every turn. Not many have an
opportunity to experience
this type of adventure.
The
afternoon was clear. Sounds
of lions mating in the distance were heard over the desert floor. Our guide mentioned it was
getting late as he
beaconed at the slowly sinking sun. I remember as our group was
marveling at a
pride of lions, 'brothers' as we were told by the guide, spectacular
lions with
black manes doing what they do best, resting on the floor of the
savannah.
Blending in with the high grass, barely visible except for the
occasional black
manes one would see as they turned over, yawned and then fell back on
their
side continuing their R&R. Suddenly a call came over the
guide's radio. A
leopard sighting! The guide asked if we wanted to go, it was late in
the
evening, the sun was beginning to set. The guide explained that it was
a ways
off and the leopard, as elusive as it was, may have moved from the spot
by the
time we got there. Unanimously, we all agreed to take that chance.
We
began to tear across the savannah, only able to drive on the
existing trails. Drivers are not allowed to make their own trails not
in this
neck of the woods! As we bounced from side to side in our open Land
Rover,
getting closer to the leopard every moment, the sun sank further and
further.
And then...no, not the leopard, but we saw four lionesses taking down a
zebra.
The zebra was barely alive, with one lioness on the throat; one on the
rear
end, one underneath and another resting close by. Finally, with the
zebra
succumbed, they begin to enjoy the fruits of their labor.
We
begged the driver to stop and he said, what about the leopard?
We told him to wait until after we take pictures of the sighting.
Cameras clicking
away, we spent way too much time there, but worth every minute, as the
sunset
became more beautiful with each passing moment. And then off we went,
rushing
to see the leopard!
Still
with some daylight remaining, we arrived to see the most
spectacular, stunning and regal leopard perched atop a huge rock,
barely
visible when his head was down. As he lifted his head out of the same
calorie
of grasses surrounding him, oh my god, what a sight! Gently he moved
his head
from side to side, surveying any potential threat or danger and gently
laid his
head back down as if to say can you please let me get some rest here.
As if
posing for our hundreds of pictures, the leopard casually and slowly
got up to
move, from the heat of the sunlight to the shade of a nearby tree, as
the sun
was slowly going down in the distance. And as the sun set, and we could
only
see the eyes of the leopard, we realized it was pitch black in the
Okavango
Delta.
How
do we get back? How do we see? Can we find the roads? We're
not in the city; there are no streetlights, no signs, and no
headlights! Like
most guides, ours knew exactly where to go and how to get there. But
first he
asked us, who knew the way back? Everyone pointed in a different
direction, so
we chose his. Tearing back across the savannah, the only things visible
were
the many eyes of animals in the bushes or out in the open. The guide
pointed to
the eyes, and would say, there's a hyena over there, there's a lion
over there,
but really the only eyes we wanted to see were the eyes of the Chief
Camp's
guides as they greeted us back at camp. WHAT AN ADVENTURE!