24 Hours of First Spots
on Aug 08, 2023As a young boy growing up with family in the Lodge industry, I always heard of the magnificent expanse of natural wilderness called the Lowveld. The excellent game viewing and the top-notch quality lodges resonated from many people’s lips, but one thing always stood out to me… the leopards!
Upon arriving at Sabi Sabi as a trainee guide, the excitement to get out and explore the bush was overwhelming. After several short introductory safaris, we were spoiled when former Sabi Sabi guide and professional photographer Richard de Gouveia came for a visit and offered to go out on a couple of safaris with us trainees. This was the start of what was likely to be the most memorable 24 hours of game viewing of my life, to date.
We set out in the afternoon, looking for any animals to photograph with the aim of learning the fundamentals of wildlife photography. With time running out we decided to rush back to Bush Lodge for dinner, but the bush had other plans. Turning the very last corner before Bush Lodge, in the middle of the road stood the stunning figure of a leopard. My heart almost stopped… My first leopard at Sabi Sabi!
She wandered across the road and proceeded right into Bush Lodge where she scent-marked before disappearing into the drainage line. The leopard was a female called Kigelia, whom I have since got to know well and have grown very fond of with her characteristic walk due to an old injury. I recall going to bed that evening constantly thinking “That was the best safari of my life!”, not expecting what was to come the very next morning.
Just after sunrise, we headed out once again, looking for leopards. Reports of a leopard came over the radio, in the eastern section of the reserve. We steadily made our way to the location of the leopard discussing the population dynamics of these animals. We arrived at the location, and I was immediately stunned by the sight of the most adorable young male leopard. The young male, now known as Nottins, about a year old at the time was lounging in a Tamboti thicket and having a go at hunting some Crested Francolin. A stunner of a leopard and rightfully so as we were told that he was fathered by the handsome male known as N’weti, a large dominant male regularly seen on Sabi Sabi.
The thought never occurred to me that I would be seeing more leopards soon but tracks of a male and female leopard were spotted nearby, soon leading to their whereabouts. Still processing the amazing sighting of Nottins from earlier, we entered the location of the two leopards, only to be met by the all too majestic N’weti male in all his glory, stretched out on a termite mound.
My jaw dropped to the floor in admiration of his size and stature. Not long into our stay, the female emerged from the bushes. Richard said, “Get your cameras ready, they are likely to mate.” I’m just thinking it’s too good to be true, another first for me. His words weren’t cold, when the female headed straight to N’weti growling and rubbing up against him. It took little convincing as they proceeded to mate surprisingly aggressively on the termite mound. Overwhelmed by the emotions of seeing all these leopards in such a small space of time, adding mating leopards to the equation resulted in me not being able to hold back my tears as we watched the N’weti and Tengile, repeatedly mate in true big cat fashion.
As a young man growing up, spending a lot of time in the bush, it took me 20-odd years to see my first leopard. Years passed after that, only getting fleeting glimpses of leopards in the Kruger National Park. Being able to see all these leopards, at different ages, doing what they do naturally was and to this day still is nothing shy of absolutely spectacular. We are immensely blessed and fortunate to be able to view these incredible animals and share a home with them here at Sabi Sabi.
Blog by JP van Rooyen (Bush Lodge Ranger)
