This is the longest that I’ve ever been away from the bush. It is my happy place!

With the onset of COVID, I have been forced to find the magic of the bush in other ways. One afternoon I felt the urge to paint. I used watercolour paints and started recreating sightings I have experienced.

One very memorable sighting was the reason for two of these paintings.

It was a morning drive. Myself and my tracker, Pat, were searching for Scotia; a female leopard typically found around the Southern section of the reserve.

We drove around for about half an hour with no tracks, or any other signs to go by.

Just then, the radio crackled with a message about wild dogs vocalising in the area we were driving in. I relayed the message to Pat, and we made our way to an open clearing and then just switched off the vehicle and listened.

Several minutes passed by with no sounds indicating the wild dogs were still in the area. I was just about to start the Land Cruiser when Pat lifted his right hand; a clear indication that something got his attention.

He said he wasn't sure, but he thought he caught a glimpse of something to our right.

I drove towards a sunken hole in the ground that was filled with rainwater, when to our surprise, right there was the female leopard drinking water!

We were beyond excited at Patrick’s find and his incredible knack for finding game!

We sat with Scotia as she drank for several minutes, completely unperturbed by our presence. Then we followed her down the road from which we just came, as she made her way towards a dry riverbed at a steady pace.

It was then that we caught a glimpse of a pack of wild dogs (surely the same pack that was vocalising before), standing on a crest up ahead.

Scotia saw them too and suddenly ran straight towards them. The wild dogs too gave chase and just when it looked like they would collide, the leopard scoured up a massive Jackalberry tree, to safety.

The wild dogs were running around the base of the tree when a massive bull elephant came charging out of nowhere, causing the wild dogs to scatter in all directions.

There was dust everywhere and it became a sighting where you didn't even know where to look anymore because of all the action. A sighting all of us that were in the vehicle that day will never forget!

The inspiration for my zebra pic came from this photo, taken late one afternoon at a watering hole.

My buffalo painting was a representation of the day we did the notorious boundary walk. We were on the last stretch, with about 15km to go when we came around a corner and came face to face with 4 buffalo bulls. They stared at us in typical fashion and we promptly backed away and rerouted!

Lions and leopards are frequently seen at Sabi Sabi and seeing a lioness laying down, asleep or walking straight towards you just looks so impressive and is always memorable; especially when eye contact is made. They say when the big cats look you straight in the eyes, they stare into your soul, and what a powerful moment it is!

The painting has been very therapeutic, and I can’t wait to get back to my home at Sabi Sabi to experience more of the magic that nourishes my soul.