With the Manyeleti River flowing again for the first time in two years, a pool of water had accumulated around a large set of granite rocks. At that point, the southern bank of the river is adorned with large trees within lush thickets while the northern bank is a steep and rocky cliff face on top of which grows a stand of euphorbias.
On Friday, a stone throw away from Sable Camp, we experienced all the pre-fight drama one might expect before a world title clash between two heavyweight boxers. The contestants: the Inyathini male and the Senegal Bush male.
It is human nature to find fresh cause for optimism and to keep on believing despite the odds. A year of tragic losses within our leopard population left us reeling and desperately searching for that eternal spring called ‘hope’. While we were doing that, the leopards were getting on with life.
The textbooks tell us that to truly appreciate nature, it must be looked at void of any human emotion, especially when doing so through the eyes of conservation. However, six years with the Airstrip male taught me more about leopard behaviour than any textbook possibly could.
Whilst enjoying a cup of coffee in the early morning before the game drive, the peaceful atmosphere on the deck of Sable Camp was shattered by the unmistakable sound of a buffalo bellowing in distress.