In Search of a Leopard

White-Browed Coucal

After all the excitement this evening we were all very tired and we were in bed by 9.30. I must have been asleep by 9.35 and only woke once in the night when I heard a hyena call somewhere close to the camp. Ian however had a restless night - here's why. Firstly the Xylophone frog was giving a tremendous performance, he might have even had a few mates round, well it was Friday night. Secondly the hyena was going around the camp calling loudly. Thirdly Simon the hippo spent several hours outside our tent eating and snorting. He had very heavy footsteps and ate nosily, harrumphing and chomping. There was another animal about as we saw very clear hoof prints across our path the next morning– no poo though so we were unable to put our new, poo identification skills to use. Did you know you can age an elephant by its poo, well I do and I know how to do it? I did sleep soundly through most of this whilst Ian was slightly traumatised by the hippo event & was a bit jaded from lack of sleep the following morning. This soon vanished when we set off at 6.30 for our last game drive. Leopard, leopard please come out. Did she??
The ground was still sodden from yesterday’s rain & slippery with early morning dew. It is still overcast but warm. Simon the driver, not the Hippo, has returned for our last day. The river is very swollen & there is talk that we may not be able to cross it to get the airstrip. Last night the people coming back in from the Mara, had difficulty getting across the river as it was so high & came over the wheels of the jeep & foot tread thingy’s that you use to climb in. The water came inside the jeep & they had to lift all bags off the floor as it was getting wet.
We come across the lions from last night, this time the cubs & females are chewing on bones, not much meat on them though. We are not sure if it is another kill or the same one from last night. One is chewing on the horns and another is running around with the Wildebeests tail in it mouth, more of a toy I think. No sign of the males anywhere. I expected they are lying in a bloated sleep somewhere nearby. We go down by the river but cannot cross as it is too deep – spot leopard tracks – In & out of the bush we go – find more tracks – we can see she has the cubs with her. The tracks get fresher, she is hiding well. Simon says she is very close. Leopard leopard come out, come out wherever you are they softly say. But she does not hear, she stays hidden. We are very disappointed for ourselves & for Simon & Josphat who have tried so hard but time was against us in the end.
Of all the people we have met this week we are the only ones not to have seen a Leopard unless they are all LIARS! Possibly but I think not.