Patience in the Bush
There was a bit of a chill in the afternoon air as we stopped for drinks in an open area after completing the first half of our safari in the South-eastern part of the reserve. There was beautiful scenery around us, with the sun setting behind the mountains. Pele (my tracker) and I had just finished setting up the portable 'bush bar' and all the guests were now enjoying a nice drink in the bush. Whilst staring into the iconic African sunset, one of my guests brought to my attention that they had seen something in the distance with "a long-curled white tipped tail". I immediately thought it to be a Leopard or a Civet, but instead of jumping to conclusions, I quickly instructed my guests to finish their drinks and we packed up with haste to go and have a look at what they may have seen.
With everyone back on the vehicle we set off in the direction they had spotted the tail. As we came around a bend in the road, we noticed a lot of commotion in the form of Impalas that were alarm calling. Then we saw it, there was an impala that had somehow been paralysed, lying on the ground unable to move, and behind it there was a Black-backed Jackal that had started nibbling off of the Impala that was struggling intensely to try and get away. Jackals are carnivorous animals and are known to be scavengers, and quite opportunistic at that, eating anything they might get their paws on.
This little Jackal had obviously hit the jackpot with a full grown Impala paralysed, and was so excited at the meal opportunity that he didn't even consider killing the animal first. After each painful bite, we gasped in desperation for the Impala. How brutal nature can be sometimes. The Impala took his last breath before eventually passing on due to blood loss.
But I was still in thought as to what it might have been that my guests had spotted on the drinks break, as it couldn't have been the Jackal nor the Impala, as neither have "a long-curled white tipped tail".
We decided to continue on after our brutal finding of the Jackal, and we drove on quite a distance away and were looking at some giraffe browsing amongst the trees. Suddenly there was a call I heard on the radio, another vehicle had made their way to the area where the Jackal was, but instead of finding a jackal there they spotted a Leopard! Then it hit me; the Leopard must've been the 'tail' that my guests spotted, it was probably in the process of catching the Impala and had already paralysed the animal. It must've gotten a fright of sorts and, because Leopards are very shy creatures, it must've temporarily abandoned the kill before finishing it off. Thus the jackal was able to come into the picture and take a chance.
When we moved off, the Leopard then kindled itself back, and returned to the kill, chasing the jackal off. That's when the other vehicle was able to see it. I informed my guests of the situation, even though we were a distance away and it was getting late and everyone was returning to the lodge, we unanimously decided to head back to the area where the Leopard was with the kill. We would have to wait our turn of-course, because many people want to try and see the Leopard, but we thought it worth it, showed a bit of patience and waited our turn.
When we got to the point where we could return to the area, we arrived in the darkness only to find the kill, but no Leopard. It was quiet in the bush, the wind rustling in the trees as we drove around shining the spotlight looking for the elusive Leopard that may still be around, only concealing itself from all the movement of the vehicles that had now all returned back to the different lodges after being unsuccessful in finding the cat. I realized that the Leopard had obviously been a bit deterred by all the activity in the area, and explained this to my guests, mentioning that there is a high possibility we may not see it. They all understood, and I then made a suggestion; to use the art of Patience. The Leopard will not easily just abandon its kill, so it is definitely still around. So I decided to switch off the engine, switch off all the lights and just sit in complete silence under the stars, not too far away from the kill. I explained to my guests that this will calm the Leopard, and it will become accepting of the conditions and may then possibly return to finish the remainder of the Impala. We all agreed, and so we waited.
The bush was calm and very quiet, and I thought to myself how wonderful the night actually is, with so many stars and sounds happening around us that we don't always actually take notice of. We sat for about 10 minutes in utter silence, and I realized it was getting very late. This is where the bush will teach us to have patience. My guests were just about to lose hope, when I told Pele to point the spotlight in the direction of the kill and switch it on. As fate would have it, there it was, the Leopard was now eating from the kill. It is just such a silently solitary animal, and it managed to make its way out of concealment to the kill, right under our very noses, without even making a sound! It was astonishing.
We watched in awe as the Leopard gnawed away at its meal. What was almost nothing turned out to be an absolutely wonderful sighting, our patience had paid off, and we returned to camp as happy campers.
