It is a goal when on safari to see the "big five". Had the good fortune to see a leopard twice - once at night as he was sleeping behind a log and once when a leopard was trying to get a drink of water from a watering hole. Here are a few pictures of these special experiences.
One beautiful animal.
He was a bit sleepy and just ignored us. Apparently we won't taste that good!
We had the chance to watch the leopard move ever so close to the watering hole. But his efforts were thwarted by a large elephant and a mother rhino and her "little one" - who was not that little. We saw the leopard off in the distance moving ever so slowly. Finally, as he was near the water, the elephant chased him away. We sat and watched for the better part of an hour. Even three impalas were able to cautiously drink but the elephant would not allow the leopard near. The mother rhino also moved her large body to protect her baby. Finally, after it looked as if the leopard could get a drink, a herd of elephants approached and the leopard then reclined against a log. It looked like a long night for him. We had to leave as it was getting late and there is a curfew to get back to the camp.
You can see the leopard in the brush.
And here is the elephant and two rhinos drinking.
Here comes the leopard. Slowly, slowly, slowly.
And here comes the elephant.
So the leopard lies done and watches. And waits and watches.
Baby rhino protected by his Mom.
And here is a landscape shot of the leopard, rhinos, and elephant. The leopard is getting closer.
But alas the elephant will not let the leopard get any closer. If you look closely, the leopard is drinking at the very corner of the water hole. But the elephant chased him away.
The leopard leaves the other animals but keeps looking back to see if he has a chance.
The elephant is facing the leopard. The leaopard moves away.
The leopard is also keeping an eye on the situation.
The leopard moves away from the water, but he does not leave the area.
The leopard patiently waits and waits and waits.
But alas, more elephants come to the watering hole and we suspect it was a long time before the leopard was able to return to the watering hole. It was getting late. The elephants would only stay for a short while, but more and more elephants came to drink.
Even the very timid impalas were able to drink, but this impala stood guard as they could smell the leopard. The leopard did not charge as they were essentially protected by the elephants.
To add to the challenge, another rhino joins the others at the watering hole.
And the leopard just reclines by the log and and patiently watches and waits for his chance to drink. It was unfortunate that we could not watch any longer. As you can tell, it was getting a little dark and we had to head to camp. Hope the leopard got his long awaited cool drink of water.
