Moving into an area where a leopard has been seen earlier in the day, my guests could sense that I and my good friend and tracker Steven were looking for something special and rare. So they asked me what I was looking for, but I laughed and said that they just have too wait and see (not wanting to ruin the surprise and just incase we didn’t find what we were looking for).

Steven found a very fresh track crossing the road; we stopped and quickly had a look at the signs that were left behind. Myself and Steven knew that there was a small dam not to far from where the tracks had been seen and we decided to head to the dam to see if we got lucky.

When we arrived at the dam we didn’t see anything at first, so we turned around to make our way back to the tracks and follow from there. Just as we were about to drive away, Steven saw what we where looking for, she was making her way to the dam for some water.

What we saw was better than we could have expected, out of the trees and the long grass came not only the leopard we had been tracking, but also two very small cubs of about two or three months old.

Myself, Steven and the guests where very excited and amazed at what we where seeing!!!!!

They came down to the water’s edge, had a few sips of water and then moved straight back into the long grasses where they disappeared.

I will always remember this day and will never forget the amazing sighting!

Stefan de Weerd – Kapama River Lodge
05/08/2012