“A leopard skin is about the finest coat on any animal in all of Africa.”
That was from Nigel, our head safari guide, who was telling the group about the Big Five: lion, leopard, water buffalo, elephant and rhino, considered the most dangerous, and, therefore, most sought after, on the continent.
We were preparing for our first hunt and I was quietly hoping for the most stealthy and hard to track, the leopard. I had never shot a wild animal before and was approaching it with a mix of trepidation, anticipation and pure adrenaline.
The morning of the shoot started at 4:30 am since Nigel had said the night before “You hunt when the hunters are hunting.” We groggily acknowledged each other, there were 6 of us counting the two guides, and loaded our equipment into the two safari trucks.
As dawn was beginning to break, we headed out into the bush over dirt roads full of potholes created by the heavy rains over the last two weeks after a six month drought. We bounced along (sometimes violently) for over an hour seeing nothing but impalas, deer-like creatures that would likely be breakfast for some hungry lion or leopard.
Along the way, I noticed several officially marked vehicles with six to eight men brandishing serious-looking firearms. I asked Nigel what they were hunting for.
“Poachers. Guys who take out big game illegally,” he said.
“What do they do when they find one?” I asked. Nigel replied slowly, “Their standing order is: “Shoot to kill.”
As I pondered that scenario, the walkie talkie suddenly started squawking “I’ve got a leopard tail. We’re in
the southwest quadrant, Angel Road.” This was from another guide nicknamed “Young man,” also working on our private reserve.
Nigel, driving the lead vehicle, quickly turned into a maniacal homing pigeon, flying across the rutted road in hopes of catching up to the sighting of a leopard sleeping in a tree.
When we got within 300 feet of “Young man’s” vehicle, Nigel turned off the engine and we rolled to a stop next to the other intently silent group.
After much excited hand signals and the occasional whispered “there” by the guides, I could make out what looked like a tail about 40 feet up a tree. Then the tail twitched and the body of a large animal began rising and stretching. It was indeed a leopard and it was time for his breakfast.
The subject of our rapt attention began to slowly work its way down the tree. The colors and the spots on his supple torso glistened and shimmered in the early morning sunlight. He indeed owned “the finest coat on any animal in all of Africa” as Nigel had promised and this beautiful creature appeared to revel in it. Even his tail seemed to enjoy the ride.
When he reached the main branch, he stopped, turned his head and looked me straight in the eye. All I could hear was my shallow but excited breathing and the staccato sound of my Nikon D7000 trying desperately to capture an image of this incredible moment.
Then he turned and was gone.