Midday on the last full day of our 2024 Manyeleti Magic Photo-Safari this past June we were whiling away the hours in Buffelshoek Camp, our base for the trip, photographing a variety of birds including a pair of very obliging Pearl-spotted Owlets, a pair of Red-billed Hornbills feeding their chicks in their mud-cell nest, and a family of Cardinal Woodpeckers. Our group of eager photographers were certainly kept very entertained and busy!
It was the commotion of a group of Vervet Monkeys that moved through the camp just minutes before that first alerted us to the fact that something dangerous was about. We soon picked out the shape of a Leopard moving through the long grass, headed for the waterhole just outside of camp. Pretty quickly we were all – cameras at the ready – in the open safari vehicle and on our way towards the beautiful but very shy animal. It didn’t drink long and crept down into the drainage line, disappearing from sight.
We searched high and low for it for several minutes, but the leopard vanished just as quickly as it appeared. If this little Three-banded Plover, who was at the water’s edge the whole time, knew where the big cat went it wasn’t giving up the secret.
If this little Three-banded Plover, who was at the water’s edge the whole time, knew where the big cat went it wasn’t giving up the secret.
We’re already taking bookings for our 2025 Manyeleti Magic Photographic Safari and Workshop, to be conducted out of Buffelshoek Camp again in June of next year in conjunction with Hannes Rossouw Photography. Contact us if you’d like to join this one, or if you and a group of family and friends are keen to do something similar on other dates we’d be very glad to accommodate you!
DeWetsWild 
Dis wonderlik dat julle die luiperd so in aksie kon sien!
Die voëls is ongelooflik mooi en ek hou ook die meeste van die uiltjie.
Baie dankie, Aletta. Dis darem maar wonderlik wat mens alles kan beleef in n plek soos Manyeleti!
Dit lyk my so!
I love the way the leopard’s tail curls up at the end.
That white tail tip appearing above the grass is one of those sights that can get the blood rushing in milliseconds!
It certainly does!
The leopard is a beauty, but that owlet–so cute!
Isn’t it just the coolest juxtaposition, Lois!? Focusing on something as cute as the owlet one moment and then being distracted by something as dangerous – and magnificent – as a leopard the next. Gotta love this continent!