This day began early, very early. 4:20 AM to be precise! The sunrise drive started in the darkness at 5 AM with spotlights. Petrus again led. No animals of note were seen on the early part of the drive. However, the dawn provided an opportunity for beautiful image-making. I saw this lone, dead tree on the outbound portion of our journey. Because we flew past it at 40 km/hour on the return trip, I had only one chance to make this photo. I nailed it with my 85 mm f/1.8 lens. Priceless!
Prior to sunrise, we saw white rhino and elephants on the move. As the sun rose, Petrus told about rhino toilets. After sunrise, we saw a giraffe and hippos in the watering holde near Lower Sabie. Vultures waited in trees. What for?
Turns out, there are at least three leopards hanging around west of Lower Sabie. We found the first lounging. His overnight kill (a male impala) was in the tree above! We spotted a second leopard sitting atop a termite mound. A third leopard was sleeping in a tree.
Although there was some complaining, both kids were good sports about waking early for the cold drive. With all the leopard sightings, the scheduled three-hour drive turned into a four hour marathon. But it was worth every minute! Thanks, Petrus!
In the late afternoon, Catherine, Tracy, and I decided to go out once more. Our thought was to check on the leopards. Leopard No. 1 was laying in the sand beside the road. Vultures were again waiting, probably for the kill that Leopard No. 3 was now eating in its tree. We could hear the bones crunching in its powerful jaws!
We went back to Leopard No. 1 who had shown some interest in a herd of passing impala. But, it was settling down for a nap.
A return trip to Leopard No. 3 found a hyena arriving on the scene, presumably waiting for scraps to fall from the sky! The route to the base of the tree was blocked by the human traffic jam, causing some anxiety. As we drove away, a second hyena showed up.
As it was now 5:30 and rest camp gates close at 6 PM, we headed back to Lower Sabie. (Petrus, who had arrived on the scene with today’s sunset drivers, remained with Leopard No. 3 long after the guests departed.) Before entering the gate, we stopped one more time at the watering hole to find hippos and a stork silhouetted against the sunset. At the car park, I snapped a final photo of the rising crescent moon.
It is truly amazing to see one leopard, let alone three in a single drive. We are so blessed to have this experience. As the South Africans would say, “Fantastic!"
—Matt
Update: My Dawn photo has been featured on South Africa’s Wild Card website.
