Lions, Leopards and Cheetahs
One of the main attractions of Africa is the ability to see the “Big 5 – lion, leopard, elephant, rhino and cape buffalo.” We were fortunate enough to see all 5 in our first trip to South Africa while at Sabi Sands. We will share our sightings and encounters with lions and leopards, plus cheetahs.
Leopards
We decided to visit Sabi Sands Game Reserve for one reason….Leopards. The region is known for its leopard population and the likelihood of seeing one there is better than Kruger National Park. Sabi Sands Game Reserve borders Kruger and animals freely move in between the two. We booked our stay with Notten’s Bush Camp. What a lovely lodge! We completely loved the minimal electric power (enough to charge your electronics) and the use of candles and lanterns for lighting. It was truly a lovely way to spend a couple days in the bush.
On our first drive in South Africa, we had the privilege of a leopard encounter. It was incredible to see one in the wild. He paid absolutely no attention to the truck and went about his business. We were able to move and reposition a couple of times in order to have a lot of opportunity to view this incredible animal.
We parked along the path that the leopard was walking up towards us. As we watched he kept coming and walked right beside the truck – I mean he was so close if you were foolish, you could have touched him. As he walked by, he was on Chuck’s side of the vehicle and looked up directly into Chuck’s eyes. Once the leopard passed by, Chuck turned to me and said to me, “Holy crap. I think I just messed my pants!!” It wouldn’t be until our next trip to South Africa that I would understand the intensity of that experience for him.
During our 4 days at Notten’s, we were fortunate to see 3 separate leopards on multiple occasions. During one evening drive, we were out looking for the leopards. The guides knew that they were in this one particular section of the bush. While we looked and looked the leopards were not to be found and it was time to return to base camp for the evening meal.
Sitting in the Dark
But….As we are making our way back the guides hear the bark of an alarm call of a kudo –which means that the cats are nearby. We drive back into the bush a couple more times with no luck. Certain that the leopards are nearby, our guides pull into the bush and turn off the headlights…..dumping us into complete darkness. Unless you have the opportunity to be far away from ambient light produced from cities, it is hard to imagine how dark it is out in the bush when the headlights go out.
Then, we sit in an open air vehicle in the dark, listening to animals move around…trying to find leopards!!! Ha! Talk about tension and anticipation in the air. Unfortunately, seeing the leopards that evening was not to be in the cards. We head back for a lovely meal filled with great conversation and bonding over a shared experience.
Lions
The first wild lioness we saw was in a field. She had just left her group who were feeding on another preserve. She wasn’t much interested in moving but put on a show with her calling to the rest of her pride. If you have never heard a lion’s call, it sends chills down your spine.
The next day we found more of her pride. The lionesses were resting in tall grass and the truck drove right up to the group. We were within 10 yards of them. We stayed and watched them for a while but every time our driver started the engine to leave, one of the lionesses raised her head and became alert. Our driver would quickly turn off the engine and say, “We’ll just stay here a little longer.” While the driver and tracker remained calm, it was clear that they were concerned for our safety if we moved when she was responding to our vehicle. Finally, we were able to ease out to give them space.
On the same day, we found the males. O-my-gosh! I have never seen such full tummies. These guys were blotted. I have never seen animals so full and lazy that they didn’t even stand up to urinate – but just laid there and peed on themselves!! We stayed and were able to take some great shots –but it became clear that nothing was going to happen besides – napping! We came back later in the day and the only movement was them moving around the tree to stay in the shade. The guide shared that the pride had consumed a cape buffalo the day before. They gorged themselves and now they were resting to digest the meal.
We came across a mating pair in Madikwe Game Reserve. The male was not about to leave her side and followed closely behind as she made her way through the grass. It was during this sighting that I had my “Holly cow!” moment. Dewanye had parked our truck so that we could get some great photos and video as they walked towards us. We are all chatting, enjoying the show when Dewayne calmly says, “Please folks, nobody move.” And yep, here they come right up beside the open air vehicle no more than a few feet away. Everyone freezes and there is silence. What a moment! Adrenaline pumping, heart pounding…..yep….they are that close. Once they pass, I let out a deep breath…..What a memory to have these giant cats walk by allowing us to view them in their environment. I finally understood Chuck’s experience with the leopard.
I can’t believe our luck!! Our truck was able to join the group watching lionesses and cubs. Two cubs were about 9 months old and the youngest cub was about 6 months old. Check it out – if you look closely, you can see the older cubs are gnawing on bones from their mother’s last kill. The youngest cub reminded me so much of a kitten—stalking his ‘prey’ and bouncing on one of the other cub’s tail, jumping on his mother, and just exploring the world around him.
It wasn’t too long, before the adults led the cubs into the shade to rest. Our time with them was done. In order to keep the young cubs safe, the park has a policy in place that the trucks are not able to pursue cubs into the bush until they are older. It is too easy to lose sight of the small cubs in the tall grass and they want to avoid an accident. After seeing the young cub’s erratic exploration, it is easy to see why it is too dangerous to follow them.
Cheetahs
During our first visit to South Africa, we were too far south during the winter months to see the cheetahs as they migrate north. Since we were going farther north this time, I hoped that we would get to see a cheetah. As luck would have it, we would get to see a female with her 3 almost grown cubs feeding.
Imagine, we were on our way for a sunset beverage when the call came in that there was a cheetah sighting. Do we want to have cocktails or go see the cheetahs? Is that even a question? Of course, the entire truck said, “Cheetahs, please.” And off we went to see them before it was too dark to view them or take photos. As you can tell from the photos, the sun was low on the horizon and the light quality was low. You’ll notice the female is collared and part of a study to learn more about the cheetahs. To see cheetahs in a hunt, view the BBC Earth wildebeest and ostrich videos.
Cats have always been a favorite. To have the opportunity to see leopards and cheetahs in their home environment are memories that will always be special. We hope that you have enjoyed the photos and stories. For more South African photos, visit previous postings on reagleadventures.com. Please subscribe to our blog to stay current in our adventures.
