It was not, however, always our choice in our proximity to them. We have one young male leopard who fancies our lodge grounds. During one of our drives during which we had seen the young leopard resting in the group of bushes in the middle of the dried river bed over which most of our tents look. We watched him rest, roll around in the sand, and then stalk something that led him up the edge of the river bed into the lodge grounds. He apparently missed his prey that time and ended up with a guest's laundry bag placed on the side of the walking path during the morning cleaning. The laundry in the bag was left unscathed and dropped further down the path when he must have realized this orange and brown bag did not have the taste or texture he sought. I'm sure the cleaning women were none too pleased about that one.
Later, the rumor was that he did get a baby nyala on site.
Hence, the likely attraction he must have acquired for our lodge area.
Interestingly, however, despite his ease and desire for our lodge site, he
seemed to remain quite aloof to the guests. Upon an escorted walk to dinner
after dark with our Guide, Formen, he pointed out our resident leopard friend
underneath a bush next to my tent. Hmmm, this is interesting. I had been told
by one of the lodge managers that he had seen leopard prints next to my tent
after my first night there. It appears I have a friend.....No one seemed too
concerned about his presence, but naturally precautions were taken in walking
to and from tent sites at night.
I could not be more pleased with the luck I've experienced
in seeing so many of these leopards and lions during my first few drives here
at Tanda Tula. For more of my pictures, see My African Safari Photos
More here: Timbavati Tanda Tula Best Shots 2
More here: Timbavati Tanda Tula Best Shots 2
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