I am sure a lot of you have built up in your mind some sort of bucket list sighting. You hold this thought in the back of your mind and every now and then it pops up to the front just to remind you what you have not seen. You may hear stories of other people’s bush trips where they were lucky enough to see exactly what you wanted to, or they may confront you with their photos just to rub it in a bit more. Either way you just keep dreaming.
I have been lucky enough to have seen a number of incredible things here at Londolozi and I most certainly do not take that for granted.
One that has always eluded me though was seeing a leopard in full leap across the river. I have seen some amazing photos from the other guides in the team who were in the right place at the right time but never for myself. That was all about to change.
After an incredible tracking effort one morning by Rich Mthabine, he managed to find the two female cubs of the Nhlanguleni female. We spent a bit of time with them hoping that their mother would return but to no avail. Our plan was to return back to that area in the afternoon hoping she would have returned during the day so that we could view her and her litter all together.
Initially skittish she spent a lot of time in the Sand River, now relaxed she makes up the majority of leopard viewing west of camp.
We found the two youngsters fairly quickly as they were in the same place that we had left them that morning. The adult female was not there though. A little disheartened we decided to sit it out and see if she would return. The sun was still high in the sky and I thought we would be in for a long wait but luckily I was wrong. Rich – one of our guests on the car – spotted some movement some way away and our attention was quickly drawn in that direction. As we turned we watched the mother leopard emerge from a grassy thicket, softly contact calling for her cubs. There was a great reunion as the cubs ran over to her and took turns grooming and rubbing heads affectionately with their mother, just reaffirming that strong family bond.
One of the cubs of the Nhlanguleni female plays around in a Weeping Wattle. This was when Rich had tracked and found them in the morning.
The Nhlanguleni female returns to her two cubs in the afternoon before leading them in the direction of the Sand river.
That in itself would have made the most awesome sighting but these leopards were not finished just yet. Instead of settling down in the shade due to the heat the Nhlanguleni female seemed to be determined to move. She led the cubs in the opposite direction from which she had come; she looked as though she might be headed towards the river but it was too early to jump to conclusions. We speculated that she might have made a kill during the day and was leading her cubs back to it. We waited on the last road she would have to cross before we could get excited about a potential river crossing and as they walked purposefully across the road we all started to get very excited.
We watched them emerge from the thickets onto the last road before the river. From here we watched them disappear down towards the river before emerging on the sand below. You can see the river in the top right of the above photo.
Driving a bit further along the road gave us this great vantage of the three leopards as they walked along the sandy banks in the river towards the middle channel. Excitement was at an all time high at this point.
We lost view of them temporarily and quickly drove along the road parallel to the river before we saw them emerge onto the soft sand of the riverbed. They were headed towards the middle channel which they were surely going to jump across! We checked our camera settings very quickly to make sure our shutter speeds were high enough to freeze the action and held our breath. This is what happened next:
They paused at the water’s edge for a couple of moments working out where the best place to cross would be. Even though they are capable swimmers, if they can avoid getting into the water most times they will do so.
With both cubs looking on the Nhlanguleni Female takes a flying leap across the river and clears the channel with ease.
After watching their mother sail effortlessly across the water we all wondered out loud if the cubs would do the same.
A very quick shutter speed, 1/3200, and great afternoon light made it possible for me to freeze her in mid-air as she jumped across.
The cubs couldn’t quite clear the water as well as their mother did, but they all made it onto an island between the water channels. We quickly raced around to the southern side of the river to see if they would cross again but towards us this time.
To our surprise the Nhlanguleni female chose to swim through the next channel in the river. It is possible that she may have thought it was too wide to jump. Even though we were hoping for another jump it was quite remarkable to see a leopard swimming like this.
One of her cubs, on the other hand, took a very ambitious leap across and landed in the middle of the stream, completely submerging herself.
Once back at camp I became that person showing off my photos to everyone who was or wasn’t even remotely interested. All of us on the car that afternoon had the biggest smiles and could not stop talking about how lucky we had been. We had worked hard to find the cubs in the morning, Rich had tracked on foot for ages, we had sat in the hot sun for hours, we stuck to our guns and went back in the afternoon and were rewarded with a bucket list sighting. Sometimes patience pays off and other times it doesn’t but that day was ours and one that none of us would forget in a long time.
Hold on to those bucket list dreams and keep coming up with more, you honestly never know when they will come true. It may take years, or they might happen on your first safari. You may think they will never come true, until they do.
good for you all!!
Warm regards, Guido, Dina
LOVED these photos! But I especially loved the build up to the actual river crossing! The excitement was evident in your words. I know how that feels. I also know some days persistence pays off and other days it doesn’t pan out! Patience is vital in the Bush. Thanks for sharing this incredible sighting, James!
Wow James! What a fantastic sighting for you, Rich and your guests. Really nice photos captured it all!!
Wow! A dream sighting indeed James. I am definitely adding to my bucket list. Dreams do come true.
Hi James. And all that time spent in the hot sun for hours and the leopards just happening to fill your Bucket of Joy didn’t have a clue what they were doing for James Souchon!! If they had, they might never have co-operated on purpose. Cats are like that. Wendy M
Simple comment- Wow, what a fabulous day you experienced coupled with super action photos!!
Wow! What amazing sightings! Leapin’ Leopards are sure on my bucket list – maybe in 2020!
Souchon! What a fantastic experience! I can just imagine the whole afternoon and what a special time that was. I will have a big smile on my face all day! Looking forward to being at Londoz again soon and then CT for the big event! Lots of love to all, J
After 20 years of going on safari, I truly believe that every game drive is special . . . but I also know that some are more special than others. Congrats on a VERY special sighting and a great collection of images.
Wonderful photos James, you certainly hit the jackpot and I’m really jealous. But you’ve now increased my leopard bucket list (along with seeing one hoist a kill in a tree). I am back at Founders early September – though it will be dry, more of case of jumping puddles rather than rivers!
The pictures are so pleasant to look at. Thanks a lot for sharing them.
Excellent!!
Incredible!!!
This is the magic of Londolozi! With the knowledge and perseverance of the guides and trackers you always find yourself in the midst of a wonderful moment! Victoria
Happy for everyone on that particular drive. So many jumping shots and even a swim. I had to smile as Nhlanguleni swam across, whereas her Cub did a midstream belly flop! Learning lesson 101. Lol. Other than the jumping images I must say that the capture of the Cub among the soft green Weeping Wattle took my breath. Perfect composition! Great work!
With viewing like that, I think your guests won the wildlife equivalent of a national lottery win, unless it’s a ? leopard looking slightly embarrassed ? up a tree with a pack of hunting dog ? sleeping underneath
That was just sheer magic! For me, although I photograph mostly birds, the Holy Grail is a leopard sighting and photograph!
Wow! Gorgeous pictures and what a sighting!!! The day we followed a leopard around for about an hour was one of my favorite memories from our safari. We found her on a termite mound and then followed her through the brush as she walked around and then settled on another termite mound to watch the impalas and choose one for dinner 😉
Damn that’s incredible – thank you so much for sharing the experience (and taking them “risk” of capturing it…rather than just enjoying the amazing experience) #vicariousuntilreal 😎