Londolozi is well known for the number of leopards they have living within the bounds of the property, and I was lucky enough to see three of them during my visit. They were elusive at first though, and it wasn’t until our third afternoon game drive that we finally saw our first leopard; the lions stole the show for the first half of our visit.
The photo opportunities were slim based on how the vehicle had to park, and how deep under the bushes the leopard was. Thankfully, the light was decent (unlike when we saw the lion cubs!) so I managed a few obstructed shots.
It was around 4:30 when Talley took a call that a leopard had been spotted with a fresh kill, and even though the viewing was not likely to yield great photos, we headed in that direction anyways, since we had yet to see a leopard.
When we found him, he was deep under some bushes with an impala ram. He had already had his fill, but was still working on pulling the fur off of the impala. The view from the vehicle was obstructed by the bushes, while I managed to get a couple shots and a short video clip, mostly I just watched.
This boy had a full belly, but he wasn’t about to leave his kill for another animal to steal anytime soon. As the light started fading, we left him alone so he could hoist the impala or drag it to a new location to avoid hyenas.
We came across this leopard, as well as others, the next morning. The photographic opportunities and the story of that morning viewing were amazing!
The Camp Pan male leopard with an impala ram, April 4, 2013 at Londolozi.
Written and Photographed by Jen Sawicky – Londolozi guest
Originally posted on her own blog. Thank you Jen for sharing with us!
Wonderful way to spend a drive… Seeing the wonders of the bushveld..
Thank you for sharing.
You managed to get a better shot than me. Too many branches in the way. Congrats and nice photography.