Samburu National Reserve: African Leopard. August 13, 2023. Such an expected and typical animal to see on safari in Africa, a member of the legendary Big 5.
Yet, for me, an absolute bane. Had one asked me what species I'd expect to be one of the hardest to see, I'd have never guessed the Leopard. I spent two weeks in the Mara, narrowly missing Leopard sightings all the while. Over the following two weeks, I spent time in some of the most famous African parks in the world, including Tsavo and the Aberdares, but failed to see Leopard. Everyone told me Samburu was my best shot. Two nights here and nothing but tracks. 5am the morning of my final morning in Kenya, and I hear something slinking around the camp. Daylight comes and the animal sneaks back off into the brush. Come to find Leopard tracks in the camp. We try to relocate the animal to no avail. We make one final, seemingly futile drive along a dry riverbed. It's time to turn around, I have a flight to catch. No sooner do I catch a glimpse of what looked like an unusual jumble of branches across the river. And here we are.
Great shot! We only saw one leopard as well. It was on the last game drive in the Maasai Mara. There were a lot of vehicles. It was resting in a ravine and we basically had to do a quick drive by. Unfortunately I can't seem to share the image on this forum but it ended up being a bit blurry.
