As guides we are often asked about our excursions into the bush, how many kills we have seen or if we could choose one moment that stood out above all the rest? To be honest, it is very difficult to choose just one as they have all been amazing in their own way.
There is definitely great skill, a sixth sense almost all the tracker’s possess when it comes to finding the animals and I must say I am very privileged to work with some of the best in the business. The tracker’s knowledge and their ability to read the unspoken signs of the bush is mind blowing.
Every now and then we are lucky to catch one of these ‘great moments’ and at the end of the day it comes down to being at the right place at the right time and often the most memorable experiences unfold when you least expect it.
I have been guiding at Londolozi for the past year and I must say it has by far been the best year I have had in the bush. There is just something very special about this place that words simply cannot describe.
On a recent game drive with Paul and Kathy Neff we decided to try and find the Marthly Male who we had viewed earlier that morning. We followed him one morning for about two hours, watching him on a territorial patrol through the center of his territory. The Marthly Male, now almost 13 years old and possibly my favourite leopard at Londolozi, holds a special place in my heart. I first saw Marthly Male six years ago and as I watched him drag a fully grown male Impala for about two kilometers, trying to find a suitable tree to hoist his kill, I remember thinking to myself how majestic and incredibly powerful he was.
It’s not only the thrill of tracking and finding an animal that makes a sighting enthralling but following an animal and trying to understand it’s behaviour, what they have done, what they are doing and trying to figure out what they are going to do next.
On this particular day it looked like he had not eaten for a good day or two. As we followed him, he attempted to hunt a Nyala which was unsuccessful as it’s bark-like alarm call alerted all the animals in the area to the ever present danger.
We followed him for a little while longer as he continued scent marking until he decided to take cover in some thick vegetation next to Vomba dam to see out the heat of the midday sun.
That afternoon we headed out for what was to be an unforgettable drive. We were very keen to try and find the Marthly Male again and see what he had got up to since we left him earlier in the morning.
It was still relatively warm and I explained to Paul and Kathy that when trying to relocate a leopard, it can always be a difficult task as they do move around a lot more during the day unlike lions, especially considering he was looking hungry but on the other hand it had been a very hot day and there was also a possibility that he was still resting and conserving energy to continue his patrol in the late afternoon. Fanoti, my tracker, suggested that we head back to the area where we had left him and try to see if we can get a good idea as to where he may have gone.
As we drove from the airstrip down towards Vomba Dam nothing could prepare us for the sighting we were about to witness…
As we were approaching the watering hole there was a family of warthogs who had come down to have a drink of water after foraging for most of the day. They seemed fairly relaxed as they made their way down to the waters edge and from where we had parked we could not see into the thicket where we had left Marthly Male. Briefly looking at the situation we presumed that he had obviously moved some time during the day.
After just a few minutes with the warthogs, it became clear that all was not as well around the waterhole as it had appeared.
Suddenly warthogs darted off in all directions as a sense of panic broke out.
The pictures below reveal what happened next…..
The moment when one of the warthogs realise that there is a leopard a mere 10 meters away and alerts the rest of the family. Paul Neff
The warthog family regrouping and starting to panic. At this moment the family has 2 choices fight or flight and considering there are young piglets its very risky to fight. Paul Neff
The Marthly Male had been lying in the same thicket all day waiting and hoping that sometime during the day an opportunity like this would present itself. The leopard sticks his head out to get a better view at the warthogs and waits for the perfect moment to launch his attack. Paul Neff
The Marthly Male decides its now or never and heads off in pursuit of the warthogs. Paul Neff
The male leopard runs straight towards us and passes the vehicle at high speed and at this moment is a couple of meters behind the warthogs. Paul Neff
The Marthly Male has locked onto his target which is one of the young piglets. As you can see all 4 legs off the ground and is literally flying. There are warthogs, dust and a sense of panic everywhere. Paul Neff
The adults make a brave and bold move. They realize that flight is not working so instead of continuing they turn around and charge straight towards the leopard.
This breaks the leopards focus on the small piglet and has the Marthly Male running down the bank looking for cover. Paul Neff
After the chase and being unsuccessful the Marthly Male had used up a huge amount of energy especially considering it was still very hot. He walked up to a puddle of water to quench his thirst before returning to the thickets to rest. Paul Neff
This was definitely a sighting that i will remember for a very long time and just shows us that anything can happen at any time….
Written by: Trevor McCall-Peat
Photographed by: Paul Neff
Excellent blog Trevor -felt like I was actually there 🙂
Fantastic pictures, fantastic story, Paul & Mike. Just another exciting day at Londolozi – the most amazing place in the world!
What a great sequence of pics of a beautiful leopard. Reminds me of the day we saw the three cheetas, Hyena, Jackel and leopard veying for the fresh Cheeta kill. Please don’t use up all the great sightings befor we get back in September. Really enjoying your pictures. Bob & Jane
Ha, ha. One for the little guys. Warties are my second favorite after rhinos. Of course I love the predators, but sometimes you want the prey to win.
Cool; very cool….
Loved Londolozi; can’t wait to go back…
Incredible sightings and brilliant photographs! Unbelievable that a leopard of this size was still running for cover when confronted by the adult warthogs
Can’t help but cheer for the warthogs!! Great blog post!
What a thrilling set of images. Although Marthly Male was left hungry, I am happy that the Family Wart Hog remain a unit!
Well written Trevor and great photos Paul! I love the shot with all 4 of the Leopard’s feet off the ground running…fantastic!
WOW!!! SUPER AMAZING! Thank you for sharing!!!
Poor leopard!
Great blog Trevor, hope to see some more of your writing. Well done Paul the series of pics are excellent, my favourite being the one with the leopard off the ground.
Epic Stuff. Great photos, Paul!
James T
great story…well captured…incredible to see, in the pic of him drinking, how many ticks the old boy has on him – is this simply a fucntion of the time of year?
Pass this message to Chris, please.
Dear Chris,
I hope that you do well.
Now I want to get a visa for South Africa.
And so I ask you to send me an invitation on the firm form from Londolozi indicating expanded purpose and duration of my visit.
Best wishes
Sergey Gorshkov
Dear Sergey,
I have forwarded your message into Chris so you should be hearing from him soon.
Kindest regards,
Kate
Superb photos!!!!
What an exciting afternoon! The photo of the Marthly Male with all fours off the ground is
wonderful.. Thank you for sharing your excitement with us!
Trevor. Thanks for the memories!!!! Great reliving the experience through your blog! I’ll remember that day the rest if my life. Londolozi is the all time best , it’s it often in life when something exceeds your expectations and Londolozi , Trevor ,and Fanoti did for us!!!!
Thank you so much for sharing these great pictures with us Paul! It was so wonderful to work with you in the Creative Hub. I hope you are enjoying your canvases! Regards,Kate
Awesome pics!!
Wow Trevor & Paul, this is a truly amazing blog! The Leopard off the ground is epic & may never be seen like that again. Congratulations
Dang! We left Londolozi 3 days before this encounter. We should have stayed longer. Trevor did a great job on the description of the encounter. We had Trevor as a guide. He, and the tracker, Fan, were first rate. Thanks to the Neffs for sharing these photos.
great story and pics